Italian President Sergio Mattarella said Monday in Rome at the meeting with the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, that time has come for Romania to be part of Schengen. President Iohannis invited his Italian counterpart to visit Romania and Mattarella said that he will honor the invitation, Mediafax informs.
President Klaus Iohannis discussed with the Italian President Sergio Mattarella, during his official visit in Rome, about Romania's accession to Schengen, on which occasion President Mattarella reiterated his support.
"Time has come for Romania to be part of Schengen", the Italian president declared, according to a press release by the Presidency.
In the context of the current European agenda, referring to the EU's external relations issues, Klaus Iohannis talked about the importance of ensuring a European perspective for Moldova at the Riga summit to be held in May.
In his turn, president Mattarella assured that Italy would support Romania’s approach in supporting the Republic of Moldova.
Sergio Mattarella thanked Romania for its stand in the last week's extraordinary European Council in Brussels on migration, saying that our country was one of the states who showed the highest sensitivity to this issue.
They also reviewed the topics on the international agenda such as the situation in Libya and the intensified phenomenon of international terrorism.
The two presidents agreed to have a sustained dialogue during their mandates. In this context, President Klaus Iohannis invited his Italian counterpart to visit Romania. President Mattarella thanked for the invitation, stating that he will "honor it with great joy."
President Sergio Mattarella wanted to clarify in particular the significant contribution of the Romanians in Italy to the economic development of the country.
In his turn, President Iohannis thanked his counterpart for the support provided by the Italian authorities to the Romanian community integration in the Italian society. "The Romanian community in Italy is equally important both for Italy and for Romania", President Iohannis underlined.