PM Orban tells Palestinian counterpart his visit reflects political interest in sustained, substantive dialogue

Romania's Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said after a meeting in Ramallah on Wednesday with Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh that his visit to Palestine reflects bilateral political agreement and interest in "a sustained and substantive dialogue."

"I am happy to be in Ramallah today. This visit marks an important milestone in the development of Romanian relations with Palestine while reflecting our agreement and political interest in a sustained and substantive dialogue as well. The in-depth discussions I had with Prime Minister Shtayyeh reaffirms the friendship between Palestine and Romania and reflects our good co-operation in various areas of mutual interest, as well as the importance we in Romania have attached to our bilateral relations and the institutional strengthening of Palestine. (...) Our dialogue has been extremely fruitful as far as our bilateral relationships are concerned. I reminded Prime Minister Shtayyeh that Romania wants to develop its co-operation with Palestine, and in that context, we discussed the current status and prospects for strengthening Romanian-Palestinian bilateral co-operation," Orban told a joint news briefing on Wednesday with his Palestinian counterpart Mohammad Shtayyeh.

Orban said that he and Shtayyeh welcomed the decision of the two foreign ministers to organise the fourth intergovernmental committee meeting in 2021.

"I am convinced that my visit here will provide an opportunity to continue and strengthen our co-operation in various areas of interest to both parties, such as education, home affairs and agriculture," Orban said.

In his conversations, Orban underlined the special significance of the Romanian community in the Middle East and thanked his counterpart for Palestine's support to the Romanian community.

Orban added that the meeting was also a good opportunity to discuss in detail with the Palestinian prime minister the future of the Middle East peace process, especially taking into account recent developments in the region.

"I reiterated Romania's support for any action that could lead to a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in direct negotiations to advance the two states' settlement based on international law and relevant UN resolutions. It was agreed that peace could be achieved through dialogue and diplomacy," said Orban.

The head of the Romanian government underlined that he also had the opportunity to mention Romania's constant support for Palestine in its relations with the European Union in order to start negotiations for the signing of an EU-Palestine association agreement.

He said he had exchanged views with his counterpart on efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and agreed on the importance of international solidarity and global co-operation in that regard.

Orban mentioned that he will also have a meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, during which discussions will focus on issues of common interest to Romania and Palestine, recent developments in the Middle East, as well as bilateral ties.

On his visit to Palestine, Orban also attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Yasser Arafat Mausoleum.

Prior to his visit to Palestine on Wednesday morning, the Romanian prime minister also met Benjamin Gantz, alternate prime minister and defence minister in Israel's rotation Netanyahu-Gantz government.