ROMANIA WANTS TO FACILITATE ECONOMIC COOPERATION BETWEEN BLACK SEA ZONE, EU
Rompres news agency, Bucharest
25 Jun 07
["Romania – Connection Bridge Between BSECO and EU, Considers Adrian
Cioroianu" – Rompres headline]
Istanbul, June 25 (Rompres) – In its capacity as EU member, Romania
wants to become a connection bridge between the Black Sea Economic
Cooperation Organization (BSECO) and the EU as factor of economic
development in the region, said on Monday Romanian Foreign Minister
Adrian Cioroianu on the occasion of the conference of foreign ministers
of BSECO countries. The meeting marked the start of the 15th summit
of BSECO.
"During Romania’s presidency of BSECO, a comprehensive reform process
was launched and it enabled the organization to make headway,"
said Cioroianu.
He added Romania would continue to closely follow the regional
cooperation in the Black Sea basin, a proof in this sense being the
fact it agreed with the voluntary rise in its contribution to the
BSECO budget. Moreover, Cioroianu said in the future BSECO must make
the economic projects a priority and hailed the granting of observer
BSECO statute to the European Commission.
Along the hosting Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah and Adrian
Cioroianu, the meeting at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul was also
attended by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Greek Foreign
Minister Theodora Bakoyannis, Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Kalfin,
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuc Jeremic, Georgian Foreign Minister Gela
Bejuashvili, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Moldovan
Foreign Minister Andrei Stratan Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan and Albanian
Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha. The top diplomats of the BSECO member
countries will adopt on Monday an official declaration occasioned
by 15 years since the establishment of this structure of regional
cooperation.
The BSECO has 12 member states: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria,
Georgia, Greece, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation,
Turkey, Ukraine and Serbia. It was officially launched through the
signing of the Istanbul Declaration on June 25, 1992. BSECO covers
2.2 million square km and represent a market potential of some 350
million consumers. The Istanbul summit will be attended also by
representatives of the 13 states with observer status: Austria,
Belarus, Czech Republic, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Italy, Poland,
Slovakia, Tunisia, France, Germany and the USA.