In phone conversation, ForMin Aurescu invites Algerian counterpart Boukadoum to Bucharest

Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu had a telephone conversation on Thursday with his Algerian counterpart Sabri Boukadoum to assess the current state of bilateral relations and the ways in which they are developed, as part of Romania putting forth a draft of a joint declaration for the establishment of a roadmap to deepen bilateral co-operation between the government of Romania and the government of Algeria.

According to Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE), the two dignitaries expressed political will for the development of co-operation between the two countries and highlighted the conviction that the roadmap will be a good tool for deepening and diversifying the bilateral relationship.

Aurescu expressed confidence that the negotiations over the joint declaration will be over quickly and invited his Algerian counterpart to pay an official visit to Romania for the signing of the bilateral document. The invitation has been accepted.

The head of Romanian diplomacy welcomed the traditional nature and upward dynamics that characterise the political and diplomatic dialogue between Romania and Algeria and noted the opportunities for expanding co-operation in areas of common interest, especially economic co-operation, including by resuming the work of the joint business cooperation committee.

At the same time, according to MAE, Aurescu highlighted the opportunities in the field of education, including the Eugen Ionescu scholarships granted by Romania. He pointed out that every year Algeria ranks first in terms of candidates for the Eugen Ionescu scholarship programme coordinated by MAE and administered by the University Agency of La Francophonie, with Algerian researchers having very good results and being among the best trained fellows. In 2020, 10 scholarships were awarded to Algerian researchers and PhD students.

One of the matters discussed during the conversation was Romanian-Algerian co-operation in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, with the two dignitaries expressing support for the combined efforts to counteract the health, economic and social effects of the crisis. The two ministers underlined the importance of overcoming this exceptional situation that imposes certain restrictions in order to avoid epidemiological risk, mentioning the importance of international co-operation and solidarity.