PRAGUE, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Czech Republic supports Romania's entry into the Schengen Area, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said Thursday when meeting with his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu in Prague.
"I reassured Bogdan Aurescu of our support for the Romanian accession to Schengen," Lipavsky said in a tweet after their meeting.
He added that the Czech presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) wants to "achieve progress in this matter." The Czech Republic is currently holding the half-year presidency of the Council of the EU.
Aurescu said he thanked Lipavsky for his country's "reconfirmed and full support" for Romania's Schengen accession, a goal Romania hopes to advance during the Czech EU presidency.
Romania joined the EU in 2007 and is one of the five EU countries that are not included in the Schengen Area.
During their meeting, the two ministers also talked about the cooperation within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and ways to strengthen bilateral relations after the COVID-19 pandemic recedes. ■
