LIVE VIDEO Ilie Bolojan now presents the conclusions of the visit to Brussels

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan holds a press conference on Thursday in Brussels, where he went on a working visit for talks with several high-ranking European officials.

HotNews transmits LIVETEXT the Prime Minister's statements

I arrived last night. We had a first meeting with the Romanian MEPs, in such a way as to synchronize the positions in the European Parliament with those of Romania from the point of view of the projects that are on the parliamentary agenda, from the point of view of our internal problems.

This morning, having half an hour free, I paid an unannounced visit to the Romanian Consulate in Brussels. For me, what Romania does, through its consular services, for our communities abroad is very important.

I wanted to make sure that our services are running in good conditions and I appreciate that at least the Consulate in Brussels is operating in a proper space. We must ensure that all our consulates and all embassies operate in a space where Romanians and guests are treated correctly, quickly, so that people feel respected. The improvement of consular services will remain a priority for the Government. We will insist on the opening of new consulates in Germany or France.

The Prime Minister met in Brussels with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who “appreciated the reforms adopted by the Government and the fact that Romania remains on the assumed trajectory regarding the reduction of the budget deficit”, according to the statement sent by the Victoria Palace after the meeting.

“The Prime Minister presented the state of implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, with an emphasis on the fulfillment of milestones related to the reform of magistrates' pensions and the decarbonization process. The two officials agreed that Romania's requests will be analyzed at the level of the European Commission, with a view to adopting the final decision on payment requests 3 and 4, and they will send an answer, in the first part of March,” the statement added.

According to the Government, Prime Minister Bolojan spoke about the “progress in the implementation of the SAFE program”, and Ursula von der Leyen “appreciated the important steps taken by Romania” in this regard.

“At the same time, the president of the European Commission appreciated Romania's efforts in promoting the EastInvest projects, an initiative designed to facilitate access to support in the form of loans for the member states of the European Union that border Russia, Belarus and Ukraine”, concluded the Government.

“Romania is on the right track”

Prime Minister Bolojan also met in Brussels with Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Implementation and Simplification.

“I was happy to meet with Prime Minister Bolojan to take stock of Romania's fiscal situation and the implementation of the PNRR. Romania is on the right track, but it remains important to maintain the course of solid fiscal policies,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, on Thursday, in a post on the X platform, quoted by Agerpres.

Discussion with European Commissioner Roxana Mînzatu

Also on Thursday, Ilie Bolojan also had a meeting with Roxana Mînzatu, executive vice-president of the European Commission and European commissioner for social rights and skills, quality jobs and training, in which the prime minister “stressed that the absorption of funds from the PNRR is a priority for the Government”, according to a statement.

“The main challenges are aimed at fulfilling the assumed milestones and accelerating the pace of project implementation, the main objective being the unlocking of the European funds allocated to Romania. Aspects from the field of social policies were also addressed. In this sense, opportunities were explored for attracting funds from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)”, the Government also transmitted.