Germany and Romania have announced a deepening of their cooperation in armaments and other economic areas, particularly in light of the Russian war against Ukraine. Following a meeting with Romanian President Nicusor Dan in Berlin on Friday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) said the foreign ministers of both countries had signed an "action plan" that will bind Romania and Germany "even closer together, in terms of security policy, economic policy, and also personally."
The agreement provides for the expansion of "armament policy cooperation" as well as increased coordination in promoting investments, Merz continued. "Bilateral trade volume reached a record high of over 42 billion euros last year," he added. "We agree that there is still room for improvement. We want to exploit this potential."
Merz emphasized Romania's importance within NATO. The country, bordering Ukraine, plays an important role simply due to its geographical location. Berlin and Bucharest are working together to "further increase the pressure on Russia and support Ukraine. This will bring Moscow to the negotiating table one day," the Chancellor said. Both countries are also working together to bring Moldova closer to the EU and prevent destabilization by Russia.
The pro-European Romanian President Dan emphasized that the further east a country is located in the EU, the stronger Russian attempts to exert influence are. In this context, Dan mentioned the Romanian presidential election, which he himself emerged victorious from after a runoff vote in May.
The first round of voting had been declared invalid by the Romanian Constitutional Court due to suspicion of Russian election interference. Dan added that he had spoken with Merz about cooperation in the fight against Russian influence through cyberattacks or disinformation campaigns.
Merz said that Russia's attempts to "systematically divide the European Union, weaken NATO, and misinform our public" are "probably one of the greatest challenges we face in our open and free societies." In this context, he discussed with Dan deepening cooperation between the authorities of both countries. "Because we must exchange all the information we have in order to be as well prepared as possible for any further form of attack on our democracies," the Chancellor added.
According to Merz, Germany and Romania also agreed to intensify cooperation in the areas of education, culture and media.
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