Between 2004 and 2009, Aurescu was his country's chief counsel in the Maritime Delimitation in the Black Sea case, a boundary dispute with Ukraine that Romania brought before the International Court of Justice.

[2] Between 2010 and 2011, he was the head of the Romanian delegation for the negotiations on the Romanian-American Ballistic Missile Defense Agreement, and of the Joint Declaration on the Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century between Romania and USA.

In November 2016, he was elected by the United Nations General Assembly as a member of the UN International Law Commission for a five years mandate (2017–2021).

[5] In 2004, Aurescu ran for a seat in the Romanian Parliament on behalf of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) in Dâmbovița County, but he did not win.

Recently released from prison, where he was imprisoned being sentenced twice for the corruption offenses, Năstase was next to Aurescu, who had just been appointed Foreign Minister, at a book launch event.