Foreign Ministers meeting in the G7+ format in Bucharest: It is necessary to improve the energy connections of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova with the EU

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, Bogdan Aurescu, highlighted the importance of solidarity and joint efforts to strengthen the energy security of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, in order to build a more resilient, integrated and stable regional energy sector. The foreign ministers met in the G7+ format on the sidelines of the NATO Ministerial Meeting, which is holding its work in Bucharest. Bogdan Aurescu emphasized the difficulties encountered by the Republic of Moldova as a result of the bombings in Ukraine and showed that there is a need to improve the connections of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova with the EU. "The effort of the international community must be directed urgently to repair the electricity transmission infrastructure in Ukraine, as well as to address the structural problems that currently limit the options for providing emergency aid to Ukraine through the provision of electricity," said in his speech Aurescu, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania. In this context, Aurescu evoked the meeting in Odesa, on September 15, 2022, of the Trilateral format, initiated by the Romanian Foreign Minister, of the foreign affairs ministers of Romania, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, to which the energy ministers from the three countries were also invited states and within which common lines of action were agreed for the development of interconnectivity and the consolidation of the energy security of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, in the medium and long term. The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Annalena Baerbok, and was held in the presence of the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, being focused on identifying solutions for restoring the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, significantly affected by the recent Russian missile attacks. The meeting was attended by ministers of foreign affairs or other high representatives from the G7 states (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Great Britain, USA), as well as from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, together with representatives of NATO, the European Union, the EBRD and the World Bank.