prijava
SARAJEVO, February 3 (FENA) - In the period from January 1 to 30 June 2019, Romania will preside over the Council of the European Union, which will be its first chairmanship since the country became a full member of the European Union.
Interviewer: Hana Imamović
Under the motto "Cohesion, a common European value," Romania's chairmanship of the Council of the EU will focus on finding solutions that will focus on the interests of the member states and the vision of European institutions in terms of strengthening the spirit of a united Europe.
As the Ambassador of Romania to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dana-Manuela Constantinescu, said in the interview with FENA, Romania's presidency comes at a time when joint efforts are needed by EU member states and institutions to find effective solutions to the great challenges facing the EU.
During the presidency of the Council of the EU, Constantinescu added, that a meeting in Sibiu on May 9 will be organized on Europe Day, shortly before the elections for the European Parliament, with the goal of using that moment to send a message of unity within the EU, but also to look into its future.
"Romania has coordinated its chairing program with Finland and Croatia, but also with its predecessor, Austria, in order to ensure a high degree of continuity and consistency of the EU programs," said the Romanian Ambassador to BiH.
Romania's Ambassador to BiH Dana-Manuela Constantinescu referred to the Western Balkans topic in terms of further enlargement of the EU, noting that this area is of strategic interest to the EU and will also be at the top of the priorities during Romania's presidency of the Council of the EU.
"Therefore, in addition to achieving continuous progress in the EU enlargement policy within the agreed parameters, and in line with the progress noted, special attention will be paid to supporting reforms, democratization and reconciliation in the Western Balkans," she stressed.
Also, Romania will pay attention to supporting the European perspective of the Western Balkans with a view to a new incentive to the enlargement policy as the basis for ensuring stability and prosperity in the region.
The Ambassador further noted that attention will also be paid to the implementation of the principles, criteria, and instruments of enlargement policy, bearing in mind the provisions included in the Stabilization and Association Agreements and the decisions of the Council of the European Union.
"Romania will continue to provide strong support to the EU and NATO perspective of the Western Balkan region, bearing in mind its own experience in that the accession process, where the implementation of the necessary reforms plays a key role, is by no means an easy task," underlined Constantinescu.
She referred to the positive fact that all three members of the BiH Presidency had their first official visit to Brussels since taking office, where they managed to coordinate with the EU officials further efforts towards strengthening the European path of BiH.
"The EU was created to be special, and over time it turned out it was created to be unified as well. It is more than a union of states, it is a union of history, formed with the purpose, and I believe that BiH could be a part of it, but most of the work must be done by the country itself in terms of fulfillment of the undertaken commitments," said the Romanian Ambassador to BiH.
Speaking about bilateral relations between BiH and Romania, the Ambassador stressed that the two countries have very good political relations, but believes there is always room for improvement of relations, bearing in mind that countries are geographically close and share a common history.
Romanian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Constantinescu concluded that the relations can also be improved in the cultural field, given the fact that the Western Balkan region is a combination of the traditional way of life and the western influences making this a unique space.
(FENA) S. R.
