The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oana Toiu, had a meeting with the European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, during his visit to Romania, in which the head of Romanian diplomacy underlined our country's commitment to democratic principles.

According to a Foreign Ministry (MAE) release sent to AGERPRES on Friday, Thursday's discussions mainly focused on aspects regarding the European Shield for Democracy, the European Commission's proposal to strengthen the EU's democratic resilience.

Oana Toiu stated that Romania would continue to be a proactive supporter of the strengthened action at the European Union level in promoting democratic values and principles, concretely signaling the interest in the discussions on the subject that will take place on February 24, at the General Affairs Council meeting on the future Center for Democratic Resilience, as a pillar of the European Shield for Democracy, the cited source informs.

The Romanian minister considered the European Commission's proposal as 'an important step towards protecting the values and the European project as a whole, in the current context, showing that the involvement of citizens and civil society in general and the press in promoting these objectives is essential'.

She also indicated the importance of expanding the instruments for promoting and consolidating democratic values also in relation to the EU candidate countries, building on the lessons learned from the recent experiences in these countries.

Toiu stressed the relevance of the extensive and efficient use of all instruments already agreed at European level, such as the Digital Services Act or the Media Freedom Act, while also showing interest in a complementary approach with the promotion of dedicated financing instruments, such as the AgoraEU proposal provided for in the future European budget, which are likely to contribute to achieving the objectives targeted by the Shield.

'Through these tools, independent press, fact-checking networks, but also civil society organizations, academic institutions and local communities will have the opportunity to access funds and tools specifically intended for democratic resilience. In the context of an information space in the member states in which the democratic debate is often dominated by foreign influence and manipulation campaigns that actively use social networks, the defense of democracy cannot remain a slogan. Beyond European regulations, concerted action and coordination are needed to respond to the challenges,' the minister said.

Romania can use its institutional experience in defending democratic institutions and processes in support of the candidate states for accession, including within formats such as the Odessa Group or within the Romanian Presidency of the Central European Initiative, she added.

Commissioner McGrath thanked Romania for its constant support in promoting the EU's democratic values and specifically for the European Democracy Shield. He highlighted Romania's concrete contributions to the discussions so far in defining the components of this initiative.

At the same time, he mentioned the involvement and consistent interest of the EU Member States in the European Commission's approach, their contributions being extremely relevant and applied to the legitimate interests of the EU.

The European Commissioner also welcomed the progress of the trilateral cooperation between Romania, Moldova and Ukraine in the field of cybersecurity mentioned by the Romanian Foreign Minister and thanked Romania for adopting legislation on the criminalization of the circumvention of international sanctions, appreciating that our country's approach represents an example of good practice at European level in this regard. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Oana Ghita; EN - writing by: Bogdan Gabaroi)