Interim Foreign Affairs Minister Oana Toiu paid a visit to Germany on Tuesday, travelling to Bonn, Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, where she met with representatives of the Romanian community, Romanian entrepreneurs and German officials, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE).

In Wiesbaden, Oana Toiu held a meeting with Manfred Pentz, Minister of Federal, European and International Affairs and Debureaucratization of Hesse. The discussions covered bilateral relations, the regional context, economic and investment opportunities, as well as the situation of the Romanian community in the state.

One of the main topics was the resumption of the activity of the Romania-Hesse Joint Economic Commission. The two officials agreed that it would meet in Bucharest this autumn, for the first time in eight years since its establishment. The meeting will be accompanied by a gathering of business representatives, as trade between Romania and Hesse has reached 2 billion euro annually and increased by 10% compared with the previous year, the Romanian Ministry said.

The discussion focused on the significant contribution of the Romanian community in Hesse, which, among EU citizens who have moved to Germany, is 'the largest community contributing to the social security system, with the highest employment rate.' The two officials discussed supporting Romanian-language education in schools in Hesse and German-language education in Romania.

Another topic was the European agenda, with an emphasis on negotiations on the future Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028-2035 and the importance of maintaining cohesion funds. Oana Toiu also presented the common position of the 16 EU member states in the Friends of Cohesion group.

Within the meetings in Frankfurt and Bonn, Interim Foreign Affairs Minister Oana Toiu, together with Ambassador Adriana Stanescu and Romania's Consul General in Bonn, Alexandra Subescu, reaffirmed the MAE's availability for permanent, direct and transparent dialogue with representatives of the Romanian community in Germany.

'Germany is Romania's most important trading partner, this year, in June, we surpassed the 21-billion-euro mark in trade, while entrepreneurs, the Romanian community, Saxons and Swabians here, as well as the German minority in Romania, have been connecting our countries across generations. (...) This evening in Frankfurt, we also began cooperation between the embassy, the Ministry of Culture and the community to prepare for 2028, when Romania will be the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse, the world's most important book and creative industries fair of the year,' Minister Toiu said, according to the MAE.

In Frankfurt, Oana Toiu announced that mobile consular services for the Romanian community in the area would be launched in September, pending the opening of the Consulate General of Romania in Frankfurt, scheduled for early 2027. The nomination of an honorary consul for Hesse was also announced.

At the same time, the interim minister said that the number of consular services provided annually by consular teams in Germany increased by 20%, with 53,000 consular services provided this year, and that there were plans to expand the consular team at the Consulate General in Bonn in order to facilitate access to consular services for Romanian citizens in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Oana Ghita; EN - writing by: Rodica State)