New Strategy Center participated on Thursday, March 23, 2023, in the proceedings of the first Romania – United Kingdom Bilateral Forum, which was organized in London, on the occasion of the signing of the updated Joint Declaration of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The event was opened by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, and his British counterpart, James Cleverly.

This year’s edition of the forum was organized by Wilton Park and brought together British and Romanian experts from several fields. New Strategy Center was represented by Ambassador Doru Costea, member of the Scientific Council.

The Romania – United Kingdom Bilateral Forum is an initiative that will take place annually, alternately in London and Bucharest, bringing together officials, members of academic circles, from both the business and non-governmental environments from the two countries, with the aim of identifying opportunities to strengthen bilateral cooperation. This dialogue is important in the context of the development of the strategic partnership between Romania and the United Kingdom on several levels, a cooperation all the more important taking into account the security challenges generated by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. In addition, cooperative relations are developing at a good pace, with commercial exchanges exceeding, for example, 3.6 billion euros in 2022. At the same time, the discussions during the debates also emphasized the important role of the more than 1.2 million Romanian citizens from the UK, which represents a very well-integrated community from a socio-economic point of view, with a substantial contribution to the development of British society and the bilateral relationship.