For Italy, Romania is an extremely important partner in bilateral, European and international terms and we want Romania to fully enter the Schengen area. This was stated today by the President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, who is on an official visit to Bucharest at the invitation of his Romanian colleague Klaus Iohannis, Agerpress agency reported, quoted by BTA.
At a joint press conference with Klaus Iohannis, Italian President Sergio Mattarella expressed a desire for Italy to insist to the European Council on the abolition of land borders, which would allow Romania to become a full member of the Schengen area.
On March 31 this year, Romania and Bulgaria joined Schengen, but only their air and sea borders.
„This is a condition that we hold dear and insist on. We have an intensive Euro-Atlantic cooperation and we often cooperate with the armed forces, which have a very important part in all plans related to the Atlantic Union", Sergio Mattarella said at the press conference in connection with the full accession of Romania to the European space without border checks.
At the press conference, the Italian president spoke of "excellent bilateral relations at all levels". He mentioned the large Romanian community in Italy and the large number of Italian companies in Romania, which contributes to the “excellent economic relations between the two countries".
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that trade between Romania and Italy last year reached 20 billion euros, and his Italian counterpart expressed hope that it would grow even more.
The two presidents also discussed the results of the European Parliament elections and the enlargement of the European Union, the Italian president announced at the press conference. Mattarella noted that he visited the Republic of Moldova yesterday and said that Italy supports the European path of Moldova and Ukraine. The President of Italy also focused on the need to strengthen the European pillar of NATO's defense, as well as maintaining support for Ukraine.
Regarding the peace conference held in Switzerland over the weekend, Mattarella said it was a “first step, a preliminary step to start peace talks”.
„We hope that the Russian Federation will be ready to confirm the rules of international law in order to find a viable solution”, the Italian president pointed out.
Romanian head of state Klaus Iohannis also welcomed Italy's valuable contribution to the security of Romania's neighboring areas, noting that the two countries will continue to work together and with their allies to strengthen NATO's role in preventing any war and protection of both parties.