Poland/Romania – Just a week before Finland officially joined NATO on 4 April, nearly doubling the length of the Alliance’s eastern border in Europe, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and his Romanian counterpart Nicolae Ciucă announced in late March, from Bucharest, new plans to cooperate more closely in the field of armaments and further strengthen NATO’s eastern flank.
Here is what the Polish Prime Minister had to say about his visit to Bucharest: “Polish-Romanian intergovernmental consultations are taking place in the Romanian capital.
We are discussing security issues with Prime Minister Nicolae Ionel Ciucă, Polish-Romanian economic cooperation, preparations for the NATO summit, and the Russian aggression against Ukraine and its consequences, including for the grain market.
I see in Romania a great ally. Together, we pursue what is in our best interest.
I believe that in the triangle formed by Ukraine, Romania, and Poland, it will be possible to develop important strategic plans and shape a secure European future.”
Morawiecki later published a brief summary of the discussions:
“Romania is Poland’s ally in many areas and in the struggle for common interests.
It is difficult for me to imagine a better partner for cooperation today, especially in the face of a challenge as important to our security as the war in Ukraine.
Over the past year, we have been united by three main goals:
These issues received the most attention today during the Polish-Romanian intergovernmental consultations.
In addition, two documents were signed:
- a memorandum on the agreement between the Ministry of Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Sports of Romania in the field of sports, as well as
- a declaration on cooperation in the field of civil protection between the Ministry of the Interior and Administration and the Ministry of the Interior of Romania.
We also talked about the development of the Three Seas concept and our flagship infrastructure project in the east of the EU, the Via Carpatia,
as well as the issue of transporting cereals to the eastern EU countries.
Due to procedural flaws, some of the grain has remained here when it was supposed to be exported to the Middle East. (…) Poland will do everything to solve this problem. ”
With regard to cooperation in the field of armaments, Mateusz Morawiecki explained in particular that [Polish-Romanian] cooperation in the field of defence in various sectors, the agreement on the parameters for procurement, training, conservation, maintenance, and
the joint acquisition of military equipment with EU funds for Ukraine’s fight show how real our alliance is.”
