ForMin Bogdan Aurescu pays official visit to Italy

Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu will pay an official visit to the Italian Republic on Wednesday at the invitation of his counterpart, Luigi Di Maio, a release from the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) informs. According to the said release, sent to AGERPRES, the head of the Romanian diplomacy will have a round of consultations with Di Maio and a meeting with the President of the Italian Senate, Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati. Minister Aurescu will address with his counterpart "concrete ways of strengthening cooperation between Romania and Italy, politically, economically and sectorally, and will emphasize the importance the Romanian community in Italy has in the whole bilateral relationship," the source said. The consultations between Aurescu and Di Maio will also focus on the priorities of the European agenda, with a focus on cooperation at EU level in combating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing the Union's resilience, the upcoming debates at the Conference on the Future of Europe, the implementation of measures aimed at economic recovery, the Union's enlargement policy, and the revitalisation of the Eastern Partnership. At the end of the bilateral consultations, the two chiefs of diplomacies will deliver a joint press declaration. Minister Bogdan Aurescu's agenda will also include a discussion in video-conference format with the heads of the Romanian consular offices in Italy, in which the MAE priorities regarding the reform of consular services will be addressed, as well as topical matters related to the specifics of the Romanian community in Italy. The Minister of Foreign Affairs will also participate in a ceremony to decorate people who have carried out charitable actions in support of the Romanian community during the pandemic crisis.AGERPRES(RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Maria Voican, editor: Simona Iacob)