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Focus on south-eastern Europe – Foreign Minister Wadephul visits Bulgaria and Romania for talks
Sofia - Palace of Justice on Vitosha Boulevard © ZB
Bulgaria and Romania are strategic NATO and EU partners in south-eastern Europe. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is visiting the two countries on 13 and 14 October. His talks in Sofia and Bucharest will focus on our common security and defence capability.
Visit to Sofia, Bulgaria
The first part of his trip will take Foreign Minister Wadephul to the Bulgarian capital Sofia. His meeting with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev will cover the wide-ranging and close ties between our two countries, as well as the geopolitically particularly important topic of EU enlargement. With its imminent accession to the euro area and its experience as a former EU candidate country, Bulgaria can serve as an important guide for the countries of the Western Balkans in their own paths to EU membership.
Prior to his departure, Foreign Minister Wadephul stated:
Bulgaria shows how closely linked security and integration are. Its forthcoming accession to the euro area sends a clear signal of stability – for Sofia and for the whole of Europe. Bulgaria knows how challenging, but also how rewarding, the path towards Europe is. Bulgaria’s experience is a compass for the countries of the Western Balkans, whose Foreign Ministers I met in Belfast just last week. That meeting made clear once again that EU enlargement is not a technical issue. It is valuable; it is vital for security policy; and it also makes economic sense.
Visit to Bucharest, Romania
After his visit to Sofia, Foreign Minister Wadephul will travel on that evening to Romania, where he will meet Foreign Minister Oana Toiu on Tuesday morning. The focus of his first official visit to Bucharest will be on showing Romania how much we value its neighbourly support for Ukraine since the start of Russia’s war of aggression and how closely we stand with our partner Romania.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Romania, which is situated at NATO’s eastern flank, has been particularly important for our joint defence at the Black Sea. Romania has repeatedly been the target of Russian disinformation campaigns, but also of other hybrid threats, most recently drones. Ahead of his visit, Foreign Minister Wadephul underlined the following:
Russia’s aggression is being directly felt in Romania, most recently when Russian drones violated its airspace. Such attacks on the sovereignty of a NATO partner are unacceptable. Germany stands by Romania’s side – with our Eurofighters, which are policing the skies over south-eastern Europe alongside Romanian jets. We are firmly resolved to work with Romania to protect and defend Europe.