EU leaders discuss bloc's strategic agenda in Romania

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) – European Union heads of state and government discussed the bloc's strategic plans and agenda for the 2019-2024 period at an informal summit Thursday in Sibiu, Romania.

"We talked both about internal affairs as well as global challenges, bearing in mind that the world around us is becoming increasingly changeable and unpredictable," said European Council President Donald Tusk.

He was speaking at a joint press conference with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, whose country currently holds the presidency of the EU Council.

The leaders exchanged views on the EU's internal affairs, global challenges and priorities for the coming years and agreed to meet again on May 28 in Brussels to discuss the outcome of the European Parliament elections and start the process to nominate the next leaders of EU institutions.

The results of the discussions will come in June, when the European Council will adopt the EU’s priorities for the next five years -- also known as the strategic agenda -- Tusk said, calling on everyone to “live up to their responsibility to make this possible”.

"Naturally, this process will follow the rules set down in the treaties. It should reflect geographical balance as well as demography so that both large and smaller countries are represented in the highest positions in the EU," he said.

Tusk also stressed that he intends to carry out the election of heads of EU institutions in a "swift, smooth and effective manner".

The officials adopted the Sibiu Declaration as a sign of their "unity and confidence in the future of the EU" while marking Europe Day, which commemorates the presentation of the Schuman Declaration in 1950 which proposed the implementation of a European Coal and Steel community -- a precursor to the European Union.

- Turkey's drilling operations in Eastern Mediterranean

Tusk said Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades informed the leaders about Turkey’s drilling activities within the "exclusive economic zone of Cyprus".

"The European Union stands united behind the Republic of Cyprus and expects Turkey to respect sovereign rights of the EU member states. The European Council will continue to follow these developments closely," Tusk said.

Ankara rejects statements on Turkish-led drilling activities in its own continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean.

As the country with the longest coastline in the region, Turkey is determined to protect its "own rights and interests within our continental shelf" as well as those of the Turkish Cypriots on the island of Cyprus, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said earlier in a statement.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island's Turks and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including the collapse of a 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the U.K.

Turkey has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration’s unilateral drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying Turkish Cypriots also have rights to the resources in the area.