The international community must support Ukraine to repel Russian aggression

„Am presented to President Boric the evaluations and position of Romania as a neighboring state of Ukraine regarding the war of aggression launched by Russia. This, the war, has serious consequences on Romania’s security and on a European level, but it also has effects on a global level, including up to Chile. We agreed that we will continue to work together in multilateral fora to condemn the war and to promote the rules-based international order. It must be clear to everyone, Russia has forcibly violated Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty, including the UN Charter. The international community has a duty to support Ukraine to repel Russian aggression and regain its sovereignty and freedom”, says Klaus Iohannis, in a joint press statement with his Chilean counterpart, Gabriel Boric.

The two heads of state also discussed the developments recorded in a series of priority regional files.

„It is no coincidence that both for Romania and for Europe, Chile occupies a privileged place, considering the active role it plays in maintaining security and stability at the regional and global level. Romania, like Chile, is interested in solving crisis situations in the world through dialogue, through multilateral instruments and through compliance with international law. We have a common mission regarding the defense of democracy in the face of threats, including hybrid risks“, says President Iohannis.

He states that the Republic of Chile is one of Romania’s traditional friends in the Latin American region and an economic partner with an important potential.

„We have a long relationship, characterized by mutual respect and trust, and in 2025 we will celebrate 100 years of diplomatic relations. There are promising prospects for expanding our bilateral relations on multiple levels and we agreed that in the next period we will develop cooperation in important fields for both Romania and Chile. I mean the development of trade and investments, green energy, environment and climate change, civil protection, education, culture, research, innovation, but also digitalization. I am convinced that we will continue to work together to encourage businessmen from Chile and Romania to start joint projects both bilaterally and in third markets. We also encouraged the development of partnerships between the local authorities of the two countries“, adds Iohannis.

The head of state mentioned the signing of a memorandum of collaboration between the two institutions responsible for managing emergency situations and the establishment this year of the first Romanian language lectureship on the Latin American continent, at the Universidad de Chile, with the support of the Romanian Language Institute.

„I want to recall an important moment in our common history. Romania was the first country to offer political asylum to Chileans. In total, over 6,000 refugees from Chile transited Romania, about 2,000 of them settling in our country, which became their second home. Their story represents, Mr. President, a link of Romanian-Chilean relations. Thus, today I have the pleasure of handing over a series of archive documents, testimonies of that period. I thank President Boric for the very good discussions and I sent him the invitation to visit Romania“, concludes Iohannis.

Klaus Iohannis is visiting Latin America until April 26.