On 21 April 1992, exactly 25 years ago, representatives of the Governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and Romania signed the Agreement on Friendly Cooperation and Partnership in Europe in Bucharest. To this day, the Treaty lays the foundation for the political, economic and cultural cooperation between our two countries. The fall of the Iron Curtain in Europe paved the way for undertaking resolute steps in a spirit of partnership in order to overcome the division of Europe for good. Our aim was to create a permanent pan-European peaceful order and to build a common Europe united by human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

Our two countries enjoy wide-ranging and close relations based on the solid foundation of our shared cultural heritage and in particular on close interpersonal ties. The German minority in Romania has had a significant impact on the country’s history and culture and on the renown that Germany enjoys in Romania. At the same time, the many Romanian citizens who live in Germany enrich the close relations between our two countries. These daily contacts between Romanians and Germans, between people with different identities in both countries, are an impressive illustration of how harmonious and natural coexistence can be in Europe.

Friendship and mutual respect in Europe are key elements of our wide-ranging political, economic and civil-society relations, which serve as an example of coexistence and cooperation in Europe. These relations provide testimony of the good cooperation between Germany and Romania at governmental, Land and regional level.

Germany accompanied Romania closely on its path to the European Union. Since Romania’s accession to the European union ten years ago, our two countries have worked closely together with the aim of uniting Europe on the basis of human rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law. To this end, we conduct an open, constructive and results-oriented dialogue. Our membership of NATO shows that we are also part of a strong community based on the principle of solidarity as regards common defence and security issues.

Sixty years after its foundations were laid by the Treaties of Rome, the EU is currently facing a wide range of challenges, including challenges to cohesion between the Member States themselves. We reaffirm our determination, expressed in the Rome Declaration of 25 March 2017, to address these challenges in the spirit of European integration. Europe is our common future and our essential framework for action. The European Union provides the best framework for ensuring security and prosperity in a sustainable and social Europe that plays a crucial role in the world and helps to shape the ever-closer interconnections between our countries and societies on the basis of our common values.

We reaffirm our commitment to the European integration project, which is a project of peace, freedom, democracy and the rule of law and has developed into one of the most important economic areas with an unprecedented level of social security. Together, we want to uphold this historically unique project and to adapt it to the challenges of the future – in the interests of a safe, prosperous, competitive and socially responsible Europe!