The first Romanian presidency of the Council of the European Union was launched on 1 January; during the presidency elections for a new European Parliament will be held in May 2019.

It marks the start of the "trio" presidencies, including also Finland and Croatia, the work of which must be based on continuity.

On this occasion on 15 January in Sofia H. E. Mr. Ion Gâlea, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to the Republic of Bulgaria presented the priorities of the Romanian Presidency to his colleagues - the ambassadors of the EU Member States, Switzerland and Norway. The deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva who attended the event addressed the ambassador with the words: " Romania and Bulgaria do not just share a common border; together, we have been following our dream: full EU membership. We have similar priorities and face similar challenges... You can always rely on our support."

H. E. Mr. Ion Gâlea stated: "The Romanian Presidency will build upon the work done by the Bulgarian Government. We shall continue to devote special attention to the Western Balkans. We shall continue to pursue the Sofia Agenda and the decisions of the European leaders adopted in Bulgaria."

On January 16, the Romanian priorities were presented to a wider audience - ambassadors, diplomats, politicians, sociologists, journalists and others. The event took place in the House of Europe and was organized by PanEurope Bulgaria, the Embassy of Romania in Sofia and the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria.

The Romanian presidency will be under the motto "Cohesion, a common European value" and will have four main priorities: Europe of convergence, a safer Europe, Europe as a strong global actor and Europe of common values.