Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu participated today in the 37th session of the Francophonie Ministerial Conference held via videoconference, highlighting on the occasion the activities carried out by Romania this year in support of La Francophonie and of the French-speaking space and welcoming the result of the recent presidential election in the Republic of Moldova, the Foreign Ministry said in a release.

The Romanian top diplomat mentioned in his speech Romania's participation in UN and EU peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction missions carried out in French-speaking states and the French language training of the staff officers who participate in this type of missions, the financing and co-organization of the Eugen Ionescu doctoral and post-doctoral research scholarship program dedicated to young researchers from French-speaking countries, and the financing of development cooperation projects in OIF member states.

Also, Minister Bogdan Aurescu welcomed the result of the recent presidential election in the Republic of Moldova, emphasizing that newly elected President Maia Sandu, a former Minister of Education, shares the values of La Francophonie. The Romanian official encouraged the OIF member states to support President Maia Sandu's plan for democratic reforms and sustainable development.

In another thread, Bogdan Aurescu commended the adoption, during the ministerial meeting, of the resolution on "Coexistence during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the post-COVID world", which expresses the concern of French-speaking states towards the effects of the global crisis triggered by the pandemic and invites the community to international cooperation in order to respond effectively and in solidarity to these challenges.

The meeting takes place on November 24 and 25, in the context of the 50th anniversary of institutional Francophonie and of the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Bamako Declaration, with the ministers of the 54 OIF member states evaluating the activity of the organization and the measures identified for managing the COVID-19 pandemic in the francophone space.

The Ministerial Meeting is preparing the 2021 Francophonie Summit in Tunisia, with OIF member states taking stock of the commitments made in the Vademecum document on the use of French in international organizations adopted at the Bucharest Summit (2006) and in the Yerevan Summit Declaration and resolutions (2018), in areas such as crisis situations and peacebuilding in the French-speaking world, human rights, respect for linguistic and cultural diversity, the cited source said.

The meeting also provided an opportunity to exchange views on recent developments in the field of peace and security in the French-speaking space and ways to streamline the Organization, both internally and in terms of strengthening measures to monitor compliance with the Francophone acquis by candidate countries, as well as by all OIF member states.

The new Economic Strategy of La Francophonie for the period 2020-2025 was also adopted on the same occasion, with the document also approaching the negative repercussions of the pandemic, the economic recovery, inclusive sustainable development in French-speaking states.

Romania has been a full member of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) since 1993. AGERPRES (RO - author: Alina Novaceanu, editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - editor: Simona Klodnischi)