00:00EU foreign affairs ministers, except the Hungarian minister, are in Kiev pledging to ensure, quote,
00:05full accountability for the war crimes Russia is accused of committing in the past four years.
00:10For more on their visit that started in Bucha, the city outside Kiev, known for the massacre back in
00:15March 2022, we spoke to the Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toy from Kiev. Yes, we have visited
00:22together Bucha, also commemorating the victims, but in the same time being witnesses to this
00:28moment of resilience and how Ukrainians have taken back occupied territory, have liberated
00:35Bucha that has been under Russian occupation with terrible war crimes we have seen and heard
00:40stories of civilians that were simply crossing the streets of children that were killed under
00:46Russian occupation. 400 children were kidnapped and have recently returned to the Ukrainian
00:53community and here the common effort to return kidnapped children back to their families, back
00:58into the community if their family did not survive that part of the war. This is something extremely
01:05important. We saw President Zelensky traveling over in Saudi Arabia, looking elsewhere for
01:10financial support, given that 90 billion loan is still on hold. Is the relationship then a little
01:16bit awkward today because of this? I wouldn't use that word in any sense. It's a good relationship.
01:22It's a strong partnership. And of course, we need better instruments inside the European Union also to
01:28have faster decisions. But in terms of the Middle East and the relationship between Ukraine and Middle
01:34East, we have visited this morning defense facilities and we have seen also interceptors that are built in
01:42Ukraine to counter Shahed drones, the Iranian Russian drones that have been used in Ukraine and that are used in
01:51the Middle East. So what we see is something that myself and my colleagues have said for a long time,
01:56which is the
01:58fact that conflicts around the world are interconnected. And it is very important now that we also use the
02:04expertise gained through the resilience in this war by Ukraine. Also on the Romanian side, for example, we have planned
02:11to
02:11build together a drone facility in Romania. This has been part of the agreements between President Volodymyr Zelensky and President
02:18Nikosho
02:19and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Now you're there physically today, but not all foreign affairs ministers from the
02:25European Union are there. What does that say about United that you support for Ukraine?
02:31Well, some of the European foreign affairs ministers that are not here today have had previous bilateral visits.
02:37So it depends on how the schedules are in different countries. There are countries where, for example, you've just had
02:41elections and you have a caretaking government. But I would reconfirm the fact that the European
02:46Union support is strong and will continue to be that. And of course, for us as a country bordering the
02:52war, having 650
02:53kilometers of the border, it is also very important that we move ahead with decisions such as not to allow
03:00Russian war
03:01combatants in the future to gain Schengen visas, to go ahead with the common investments at the border. For example,
03:08we're now
03:08building a highway that connects the part of Romania with Chernobyl, the Ukrainian region with a strong
03:15Romanian speaking minority. And this is part of the SAFE financing instrument, which is the European
03:21instrument, as you know, to help us build better capacity, not just in terms of defense procurement, but also dual
03:27use.
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