RRA Exclusive Interview: Meleşcanu on the Romanian Diplomacy Meeting

The annual meeting of the Romanian Diplomacy starts today in Bucharest, with the theme "A changing world. The stakes of the Romanian Foreign Policy”.

Special guests include the Foreign Minister of Egypt, the Head of the Diplomacy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister.

The annual meeting of the Romanian Diplomacy represents an opportunity for an evaluation of the work of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as a reflection on the future priorities of the Romanian diplomacy, in the context of regional, European and global trends.

The host of the meeting is the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Meleșcanu. The Heads of the Romanian diplomatic missions are to be received, as every year, by the Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis.

Teodor Meleşcanu, the Romanian Foreign Minister, offered RRA Reporter Carmen Gavrilă an exclusive interview, for the Morning Call Show.

Teodor Meleşcanu: The main feature of this annual meeting of the Romanian Diplomacy is the reflection on the change and the strategic stakes that Romania has in the years to come. So what concerns us is to see what has changed, what will change in the world, because there are things that we are most interested in, and as a diplomat, the implications of these changes on our interests and conduct become vital.

Reporter: This time, the Romanian Diplomacy Meeting includes a special communication and dialogue session between diplomats and the Romanian business environment.

Teodor Meleşcanu: This year we have decided to organize a special session dedicated to the economic diplomacy and the promotion of Romania's economic interests in the world. The Romanian Prime Minister, Mr. Tudose, will take part in this meeting; we will organize it together with the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Prime Minister will once again emphasize Romania’s main priorities in terms of the development of its economic relations. However, I thought it would be good if - on an occasion such as the reunion of all Heads of Diplomatic Offices, Ambassadors and General Consuls – there would be a direct contact with the Romanian realities. And, consequently, we organized a visit to the Măgurele laser project, because we need a better connection of our diplomats with Romania’s most innovative and recent projects. The message they should bear is that of a creative, scientific, dynamic Romania that must be promoted externally. And finally, I dedicated the last day of the reunion to a “field” visit.I am talking about Prahova County, more precisely the city of Ploieşti, where we intend to have a dialogue with the local and regional authorities, to get to know the successful development projects that can also inspire them (the Heads of Diplomatic Offices, n.a.) in the discussions they will have; we also intend to see the industrial area of Ploieşti and, at the same time, to pay a visit to a local wine-cellar, Dealul Mare, in order to present one of the most important Romanian exported products, a very good brand of Romanian wine.

Reporter: The Luxembourg and Egyptian Foreign Ministers will join the talks of the first day of the Romanian Diplomacy Meeting in Bucharest. What expectations do we have from the countries they represent?

Teodor Meleşcanu: From the Egypt's Foreign Minister, we are looking forward to hear a vision in reference to the political solution in the Near East and in the conflict in Syria and Iraq. We have our own assessments, and it is very important that we also have the assessments of someone who lives in that area and knows the issues perhaps deeper than we do. For our Diplomacy, this issue of peaceful settlement of conflicts is one of the main themes. Regarding the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg, Mr Asselborn, his presentation will focus on the vision of a country that is a founding member of the EU in relation to the EU's evolution and priorities in the coming period; the special importance of the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry contribution is that it comes from a pro-European country with no political stakes and with a clear interest in the future development and consolidation of the EU, something that we, too, want. And the personal experience of Mr. Asselborn, who is a Foreign Minister for over 25 years, can be very useful to us all.

Reporter: The next day of the meeting, tomorrow, seems to be dominated by the European themes, the Romanian agenda in the field and the preparation of the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council in 2019. What is our short and medium term agenda for European affairs?

Teodor Meleşcanu: From our point of view, the possibility that we have, the Presidency of the EU Council in the first semester of 2019, really gives us a special opportunity to engage in a dialogue on the future of the EU. As we see it, the main concerns at the moment are, firstly, those that are related to ensuring logistics in order to have a successful presidency and, secondly, those that are related to the important themes that we will suggest for debate to the other EU Member States. However, we also have a special focus on the EU's external relations and, in particular, on the future of security and defense policy, because in the coming months they (the EU Member States n.a.) will begin to defend new approaches, particularly with regard to enhanced cooperation in this area, and we undoubtedly need other opinions to help us set up a substantial contribution of Romania in these debates, not only as an organizing country, but also as a member country of the EU.

Reporter: The Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister will join the second day of the meeting. What expectations do we have from him?

Teodor Meleşcanu: I believe that we will have the opportunity to have a presentation of the Hungarian Foreign Minister, who is also Trade Minister, who comes to Bucharest as a follow-up to the invitation I have received and honored by attending the Annual Meeting of Hungarian Diplomacy. I believe that the presentation will be linked to the basic idea that Romania and Hungary have a common cultural heritage, a common present, but especially a common European future, which is fundamental to our countries and citizens. We have minorities with potential for a better mutual understanding and, as we have pleaded in Budapest, I will take advantage of our meeting to support the relaunch of the Romanian-Hungarian Partnership, based on the foundations of the principles enshrined in the 1996 Basic Treaty: mutual respect, multifaceted cooperation and good neighborhood relations. We are Hungary's second economic partner after Germany, so we have a very solid base and a lot of things in common that we need to use in developing the relations between us.

Source:RRA.Translated by Miruna Matei