Ciuca: Romania remains one of the most active supporters of Ukraine's European journey

Romania remains one of the "most active" supporters of Ukraine's European journey, Romania's Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said in a video message to the 22nd edition of the Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum taking place at the Romanian Parliament House in Bucharest.

"Romania remains one of the most active supporters of Ukraine's European journey. The recent recognition of Ukraine's status of a candidate for EU membership, together with Moldova, is a concrete sign of hope for those who have taken up the option for freedom and democratic values," the prime minister said in his message.

He also said that Romania has intensified its efforts to help Ukraine export its grains.

"We have stepped up our efforts to help Ukraine export its grains, successfully doubling the quantities. And we continue to mobilise on our roads, railways and ports on the Danube and the Black Sea, giving priority to flows from Ukraine or Moldova," said the prime minister.

Ciuca added that since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, on February 24, over 1,400,000 Ukrainians have entered Romania, and over 100,000 decided to stay.

"The Ukraine war has turned into a long war of attrition and destruction. It is far from a war of the 21st century, as it uses unguided bombs that destroy buildings, shops, malls, hospitals and kindergartens. More importantly, Putin's war in Ukraine has directly challenged the rules-based order," said Ciuca.

He added that appropriate commitments were made at the recent NATO summit in Madrid to go further and ensure the defence and security of all member states - "continued support for Ukraine as needed, but also support for the countries exposed in area - Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina."

"The new strategic concept underlined Russia's real status. (...) The document strengthened support for Ukraine and invited Sweden and Finland to become full members of the alliance. Equally important to Romania is calling the Black Sea and the Western Balkans regions of strategic interest for the alliance," added Ciuca.

According to him, everyone is concerned about the prospect of change in the Ukraine war.

"The challenges are already present as interdependent and overlapping crises we have to face: the COVID-19 pandemic, energy prices and shortages, the large-scale war in Ukraine, food security and economic crises. No government is spared the impact of these crises on the citizens. But we have proved to be more resilient and united than some autocratic countries thought we would be, and we have managed to overcome the difficulties of war through the cohesion of democratic countries, and that is the most important and best news we can convey to our citizens," said Ciuca.