ForMin Aurescu to attend informal meeting of EU foreign ministers on situation on border with Belarus

Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu will attend an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Gymnich format, September 2-3, in Kranj, Slovenia, under the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Featuring on the agenda of the two-day event are the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan, the EU's approach to the Gulf region, EU-China relationships, and the migration situation on the border with Belarus. According to a press statement released by the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE), the migration situation on the border with Belarus will be considered in terms of its impact on Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. The Romanian official will express Romania's full solidarity with these countries and show that using migration against some EU member states is unacceptable. He will also show that Romania is open to supporting the adoption of new restrictive measures against Belarus in order to discourage the conduct of the Belarusian state regime. At the Gymnich meeting in Slovenia, European foreign ministers will thoroughly assess the impact of the crisis in Afghanistan on EU's strategic interests and analyse EU's policy options, as well as possible humanitarian and security actions. Aurescu will release Romania's preliminary assessments of the political and security situation in Afghanistan, with a focus on the risks that the crisis may have on the region and the EU. The head of Romanian diplomacy will voice his support for a new EU strategy for Afghanistan and will emphasise the importance for united EU action. He will also draw attention to the humanitarian dimension of the crisis and reiterate support for the civilian population while emphasising that creating the conditions necessary for Afghan citizens who still want to leave the country to do so safely must remain a priority. Aurescu will also point out to the importance of European and Euro-Atlantic solidarity, as well as of EU coordination with the UN and NATO. Discussions will also address ways to intensify dialogue and co-operation with countries in the region, as well as with other actors that could contribute to the management of the crisis in Afghanistan. The European ministers will also have an informal lunch where India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is a special guest, allowing for an in-depth discussion on the relationship between the European Union and India. On the sidelines of the Gymnich meeting, Bogdan Aurescu participates, on September 2, at the invitation of his Slovenian counterpart, in the Bled Strategic Forum, the panel on "EU's Challenging Eastern Partnership Summit 2021: Calibrating Its Agenda," together with the Czech foreign minister and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition leader in Belarus. AGERPRES (RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)