Victor Yushchenko met with Romania’s President Traian
Basescu for talks in the city of Sighetu Marmatiei, president's press office reported.
The two leaders spoke about regional and European issues,
especially how to boost ties between Ukraine and Romania.
The Ukrainian President told a press conference after the
talks, “Our relationship is based on European ideas and Ukraine’s aspiration to
become a full-fledged member of the European Union and NATO.”
Yushchenko said they had formulated procedure rules for the
Ukraine-Romania Presidential Commission, which will convene during his visit to
Romania. The Commission will also hold a round table on border cooperation,
involving local officials from border areas of the two countries.
The President said they had also agreed to liberalize visa
rules.
“Ukraine will impose no visa requirements on the citizens of
Romania as EU citizens, while Romania will not charge Ukrainians for its visas,”
he said.
The leaders also agreed to jointly control the border between
Ukraine and Romania.
Yushchenko said Ukrainian businessmen wanted to privatize
Romania’s Daewoo Automobile Romania and take part in the NABUCCO gas pipeline
project.
Basescu said Romania wanted to be Ukraine’s partner on its
way to Europe: “The first thing we must do is to make Romania a bridge between
Ukraine and the European Union.”
He added that our country’s good relations with the EU and NATO
were within Romania’s interests.
The Romanian leader also said they had discussed ways to build
more border stations between Ukraine and Romania. He promised that this border,
which has recently become a border between Ukraine and the European Union, would
not be a “border of isolation, but an open border for the citizens of Ukraine.”
