Romania and Ukraine sign deal to ensure the transit of Ukrainian products and the construction of a road bridge

While on a visit to Ukraine, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal, signed on Wednesday, at the end of the joint meeting of the executives of the two countries, held in Kyiv, a memorandum on “ensuring the safe transit of Ukrainian products and a strategy on the development of border crossing points Ukraine – Romania and related road infrastructure”.

Also, an agreement was signed between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of Romania regarding the construction of the border road bridge over the Tisa River, on the Romanian-Ukrainian border, between the localities of Bila Tserkva and Sighetu Marmaţiei.

On the list of documents signed at the end of the joint meeting of the two executives, there is also an Implementation Protocol between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of Romania of the Agreement between Ukraine and the European Community regarding the readmission of persons, as well as a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Economy of Romania and the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine on defense industry cooperation.

At the same time, a Memorandum of Understanding in the pharmaceutical field was signed, as well as a Declaration of Intent between the Romanian Ministry of Health and the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.

The European Commission welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Romania and the Government of Ukraine, “which will further contribute to increasing the capacity of the solidarity corridors, especially considering the damage caused to the transport infrastructure in Ukraine due to Russian aggression”, according to a press release transmitted by the European Executive.

According to the cited source, Romania has an essential role in the operation of the solidarity corridors and engages constructively with all the parties involved, including through the EU-Ukraine Joint Solidarity Corridor Coordination Platform.

The Commission encourages such close cooperation between EU Member States and Ukraine. The Commission continues to support the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Corridors and the Ukrainian Action Plan on the export of Ukrainian grains, in particular by facilitating cross-border links and transport operations.

Ciolacu: Official language for the Romanian minority in Ukraine is Romanian from now on

Starting today, the official language for the Romanian minority in Ukraine is Romanian, not Moldovan, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Wednesday in Kiev.

The Romanian PM said, at the end of the joint meeting of the governments of Romania and Ukraine, that the authorities in Kiev decided, on Wednesday, to recognize the Romanian language as the official language of the Romanian minority in Ukraine.

The measure was adopted in the context of Ukraine’s obligation to fulfill the criteria for joining the European Union, one of the criteria also referring to the rights of national minorities.

“We are talking about the rapid accession of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the European Union. For this accession there are also some principles regarding the rights of minorities. These principles are at the European level. And Romania has respected all the necessary principles of accession to the European Union. Regarding the rights of minorities, I am convinced that Romania can make the entire legislation available to Ukraine, this approach being a good practice in Romania. The inter-institutional relationship between me and Mr. Prime Minister is no longer at the level of making promises. We decide together what is best for the peoples we represent. There was a government meeting within the joint meeting between Romania and Ukraine and the Government’s decision was that on the territory of Ukraine the official language is Romanian,” said Ciolacu.

The Head of the Executive also referred to the rights of Orthodox priests from the Romanian community in Ukraine, who have the right to officiate services in the Romanian language.

“I think it is equally important to ensure that Romanian Orthodox priests will continue to officiate religious services in the Romanian language. Religious freedom is a fundamental right, and the preservation of religious identity and the language of service are fundamental principles for any society”, he added the prime minister.