Romanian Foreign Minister at Gymnich meeting

Romanian Foreign Minister, Teodor Melescanu, has participated, on 30 and 31 August, at the informal (Gymnich) meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers from EU Member States, hosted in Vienna by the current Austrian Presidency of the EU Council.

EU Foreign Affairs Ministers have gathered in Vienna for the informal meeting (also known as Gymnich) upon joint invitation by Federal Minister Karin Kneissl and the High Representative and Vice President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini. These informal meetings take place bi annually and are hosted by the country holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. They offer the possibility to discuss important issues in an informal manner.

Meeting in Vienna addressed issues on the European and international agenda, such as the Middle East, the transatlantic relationship and the Western Balkans.

During talks related to the Middle East, ministers have mainly approached recent developments in the region, with a focus on the Middle East Peace Process, Syria and Iran.

Foreign Ministers also held informal talks with counterparts in the candidate countries aimed at identifying new cooperation opportunities to make multilateral action more effective in defending and promoting the rule-based global order, in line with the EU's Global Strategy objectives.

Considering the next half-year Presidency of the EU Council to be held by Romania starting with January 1, 2019, Minister Teodor Melescanu reiterated Bucharest’s support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans and implementation of necessary reforms in the region. He also stressed the importance of critical infrastructure and interconnectivity, also the need to step up EU cooperation with states in the region that are exposed to similar challenges, such as hybrid threats, in order to strengthen resilience jointly.

Aside Gymnich meeting, Austrian Presidency of the EU Council held an informal lunch with South Eastern European partners and Turkey on Critical Infrastructure and Digitization, hosted by Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl.

Source:RRA.Translated by Miruna Matei