Cluj-Napoca Mayor spoke at the European Summit held in the French city of Marseille. During his speech, he highlights the challenges that bordering countries experience as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.

He highlighted the fact that of the 50,000 refugees who remain in Romania at the time of his speech, 18,000 are small children who need to be integrated into health and education.

He highlighted the strong support across all the border countries and that people are on the ground and helping. He further expressed his pride in the European Union for having a united voice and that the trust in the EU will grow. He also explained that he feels that the worst is yet to come and that “this is not just a sprint of support, it is a marathon”.

Romania is asking to activate the EU Civil Protection Mechanism as well as asking to extend sanctions to Belarus and support the acceleration of Ukraine and Moldova to become a part of the EU.