Melescanu, Barry: We will take measures to relaunch Romania - Burkina Faso bilateral relations

Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu announced on Tuesday that he has agreed with his counterpart from Burkina Faso, Alpha Barry, that it is necessary to relaunch bilateral relations in the interest of the two countries. 

"I was honored by the visit to Bucharest of Burkina Faso's chief diplomat, with whom I have had substantial talks and who strengthened my conviction that the relaunch of Romania's relations with the sub-Saharan African space and, in general, with the extra-European space is a fair measure and an appropriate corollary of the European and Euro-Atlantic orientation of our country. It is not the first such visit this year and (...) this dimension of our foreign policy will be further promoted with perseverance. We have agreed that it is necessary to take measures to relaunch bilateral relations in the interest of both sides," Teodor Melescanu said in a joint press statement with Alpha Barry, at the Foreign Ministry's headquarters in Bucharest. 

At the same time, Melescanu said that he signed with his counterpart from Burkina Faso a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the two countries "in various fields, from political dialogue to forms of bilateral cooperation at the sectoral level", especially cooperation in education, which is (...) an area of excellence of Romania's relationship with sub-Saharan African partners. In this field, we can benefit from the experience gained in the university environment in Romania and the cooperation will take into account the interests and needs specific to each side," Melescanu said. 

He also said that he had an exchange of views with Alpha Barry on regional and international issues of interest to both sides, starting with the efforts made by Burkina Faso within the structure called G5 Sahel that brings together four other states in the region - Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Chad - in order to coordinate their efforts to combat the terrorist threats present in a special area of interest for Romania and for the whole of the European Union. The link between the efforts made in this area and the need to combat illegal immigration (...) is obvious and for our country, as the country to hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in the first half of next year, it is of special importance," said Melescanu. 

He also specified that he had with his counterpart from Burkina Faso an exchange of views on Romania's priorities within the UN system, while exploring the possibilities of coordinating the positions of the two countries on the main points on the UN agenda. 

In his turn, the Foreign Minister of Burkina Faso said he enjoyed the discussions he had with his Romanian counterpart in areas such as agriculture, medicine, education and economic exchanges. 

"We will intensify these relations," said Alpha Barry, adding that the relations between the two countries are "old." "I say the relations are strong and old because many people in Burkina Faso have been educated in Romania," Foreign Minister Burkina Faso said. 

He also mentioned that he also discussed with Melescanu on security issues. "We are still looking forward to developing this multilateral relationship, very soon, between the European Union and the G5 Sahel," Alpha Barry said.