BUCHAREST, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Tuesday confirmed his country's "convinced support" for Romania's efforts for its accession to the Schengen Area.
Italy's position on this issue is "the result of harmony in the political, cultural and social matters between the two countries," Mattarella told a joint press conference with his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis.
According to the Italian president, the accession of Romania to the Schengen Area will imply a further increase in the solidity of the European Union (EU) as well as the impact of Romania on the EU.
Iohannis thanked Italy and President Mattarella for the reconfirmation of their constant support and stressed the importance of preserving the Schengen Area's functionality.
He restated his country's interest in the membership, which, according to him, will considerably contribute to the strengthening of the EU's external borders.
According to Iohannis, the two presidents agreed in their talk to bring the economic cooperation to a higher level, showing that the commercial exchanges have already reached a record value of over 13 billion euros (14.58 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of 2015, with Italy the second largest commercial partner of Romania.
Iohannis emphasized the need to continue joint efforts to support the Romanian community in Italy and to increase their participation in the social and political life of the country.
Schengen accession has been a long process for Romania, whose entry into the border-free area has been constantly delayed since 2011, despite Bucharest authorities' claims that the country had done all the needed preparations.
