Vice Prime Minister Dan Barna attended the Meeting of Heads of State or Government at the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Summit

On June 17, 2021, Vice Prime Minister Dan Barna attended the Meeting of Heads of State or Government at the SEECP Summit in Antalya. The meeting was organized by the Turkish Chairmanship-in-Office of the SEECP.

In his speech, Vice Prime Minister Dan Barna referred to the anniversary context of this meeting, namely the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of SEECP, and emphasized its political, direct and visible contribution to strengthening regional stability and advancing the participants' closeness to the EU and NATO.

The Romanian dignitary also pointed out that the experience caused by the Covid-19 pandemic reconfirmed the viability of the main format of regional cooperation in South-Eastern Europe, which generated solidarity in the efforts to overcome the challenges of the current crisis. In this context, Vice Prime Minister Dan Barna encouraged further cooperation between the SEECP participating states, to strengthen regional resilience in all areas of impact for participants. Furthermore, the Romanian official reiterated Romania's support for stimulating inclusive and constructive political dialogue.

Vice Prime Minister Dan Barna underlined Romania's firm support for the continuation of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration processes in the South-East European region. At the same time, he emphasized that maintaining a credible European perspective for the region, also through the enlargement process is an objective of strategic importance for both the EU and the Member States, as well as for the candidates and potential candidates participating in the Process.

Moreover, Vice Prime Minister Dan Barna referred to the security challenges in the region as well as the opportunity for strengthening the response capacity to new types of threats, especially hybrid ones. In this regard, Dan Barna announced the operationalization, by our country, of the Euro-Atlantic Resilience Center based in Bucharest.

Another message conveyed by Vice Prime Minister Dan Barna focused on the importance of cooperation based on solidarity, unity and democratic values for the benefit of citizens.