Press remarks by President António Costa following the meeting with the Prime Minister of Romania, Nicușor Dan 21:10 Press remarks by President António Costa following the[...]

First of all, I would like to personally, and now here in Bucharest, commend President Nicușor Dan for his victory. Let me wish you all the best in your tenure as President of the Republic of Romania.

And thanks, of course, for welcoming us here today in this very important moment, when we are preparing the coming political year in the European Council.

We have two main priorities.

On economics, to boost our competitiveness, it's essential to feed economic growth, to create and sustain better jobs, and to increase prosperity in our societies.

The second one is security.

Both priorities are interlinked because it's not possible to have a good economic situation if we don't have strong security.

And I would also like to commend Romania for the unwavering support to Ukraine
and your full commitment to European security.

All Europeans know very well that our security depends on the security on our Eastern border. And Romania is a key pillar of European security. We will all stand for your security, as we know very well that our security depends on Romanian security.

We also had the opportunity to discuss the future of our Union.

Enlargement is for the European Union the most important geopolitical investment in the future of our security.

Of course, the Western Balkans are very important. Ukraine is very important. But Moldova is a key opportunity for all of us.

The Moldovan government is doing very well, delivering the reforms that are necessary. And that's why, by unanimity, the last European Council endorsed the proposal to open formally the first cluster of negotiations with Moldova, and for sure immediately after the coming elections, on 28 September, we will have the conditions to open formally the negotiations with Moldova, and this is very important to strengthen our Union.

Finally, we are also preparing the debate for the next long term European budget. We have now very ambitious policies on security, on competitiveness, and for this we need to have a budget fit for purpose and with the capacity to sustain our development and to strengthen cohesion within our Union.

Dear Mr President, thank you very much for your welcome and we will continue now working.

Thank you.