Radio România Internațional

Tag: Brexit vote

  • Strategy for Romania’s Future

    Strategy for Romania’s Future

    Ten years after its EU accession, Romania does not yet have a national strategy to outline its future in Europe, and this has to change, President Klaus Iohannis said on Monday, during a new round of consultations with the PM, the Central Bank Governor and the leaders of the main parties in Parliament, after Britains EU referendum. The head of state believes Romania needs a post-accession strategy and suggested, during the consultations, that a task force should be set up to this end.



    Klaus Iohannis: “Unfortunately, in Romania weve had a lot of so-called country projects, which have neither lasted, nor been implemented, because there was no political consensus in this respect. This time, we will join forces and draw up a strategy to guide Romania within the EU in the medium and long run, to define Romanias place, role and ambitions in the Union.



    The idea enjoys political consensus, the President also said, and added that this is what the previous strategies lacked, and what prevented their implementation.



    Klaus Iohannis: “The best would be for this task force to be subordinated to the Presidency, given that this year we have parliamentary elections. I would also like to emphasise the very constructive nature of these talks, and the fact that all political leaders have embraced this project. Such a national strategy may only work if all stakeholders adopt, approve and support it.



    The country project coordinated by President Klaus Iohannis will broadly define Romanias goals in the forthcoming years, and will include an economic component, among other things, PM Ciolos said in his turn, just one day before launching a public debate on a strategy entitled “Competitive Romania: a project for sustainable economic growth, which, he explained, will be a component of the country project.



    Dacian Ciolos mentioned that, at the start of his term in office, the Cabinet announced public debates on two topics, namely a plan for Romanias economic development and the countrys position within the EU ahead of the Romanian presidency of the EU Council in 2019. These two topics, PM Ciolos said, are in line with what President Klaus Iohannis has suggested.

  • July 1, 2016

    July 1, 2016

    EU PRESIDENCY – Slovakia is today taking over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union from the Netherlands, against fears sparked by the Brexit vote. Prime Minister Robert Fico has warned that the future of a Union with 27 member states cannot be decided by the few, referring to meetings of some Western officials immediately after the referendum in the United Kingdom. The Slovakian official said the EU would have to redefine its underperforming policies, especially those referring to migration. Romania and Bulgarias accession to the Schengen Area is one of the priorities of Slovakias term in office, according to Radio Romanias Brussels correspondent. Slovakia will host an informal EU summit in September, the first to be organised outside Brussels since 2000.



    TALKS – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis on Monday has invited Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu, as well as the leaders of parliamentary parties, to a new round of talks in the wake of the Brexit vote. Britains decision to leave the European Union has had less influence on financial markets in Romania than on those in other states in the region, but this doesnt mean the impact wont be more serious in the future, National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu has said. The Romanian official pointed out that the result of the referendum has fuelled uncertainty on international markets.



    ROMANIA AND NATO – Romania is a trusted ally of NATO and remains a pillar of security and stability in the region, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis has said while attending the inauguration ceremony for NATOs two command centres in Bucharest. Klaus Iohannis explained that NATOs command structures in Romania have a major role as part of collective efforts to improve the Alliances capability of successfully responding to current and future threats. The president also referred to the recent inauguration of the anti-ballistic defence facility in Deveselu, recalling that Romania has increased its defence budget and will do so up to 2% of its GDP by 2017. The Multinational South-East Division Command in Bucharest has joined other five NATO units on its eastern flank in Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. At the 2014 NATO Summit in Wales NATO decided to set up these command centres as a response to Russias ingressions in Ukraine. The event in Bucharest is held one week ahead of the NATO Summit in Warsaw.



    BOMB ATTACK – The three men involved in the bomb attack at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, which killed 44 people and wounded over 250, were all from the former Soviet Union, Turkish sources have announced. One man was from the Northern Caucasus, while the others were from Kazakhstan and Kirgizstan. Turkish officials say that most of the existing data point to the involvement of the Islamic State terrorist cell. The organisation has not claimed the attack, but this is true of other similar attacks in Turkey. The triple bomb attack on Tuesday is the fourth and most serious in Istanbul this year. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has announced the authorities would increase security forces in all airports.



    WIMBLEDON – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, ranked 5th in WTA standings, is today playing Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, 28th WTA, in the third round at Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. On Thursday, in the second round, Halep trounced Francesca Schiavone of Italy, 6-1, 6-1. Also in the third round, Monica Niculescu, 47th WTA, is playing Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland, 11th WTA, after on Thursday she defeated Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia, 6-1, 6-4. The Wimbledon tournament has been disrupted by the heavy rain this week.



    EURO 2016 – The national football teams of Belgium and Wales are today playing in the second quarterfinal at the European Football Championship in France. In the first match on Thursday, Portugal knocked out Poland at the penalty shootout. Portugal will be playing the winner of todays match. On Saturday, former world champions Italy and Germany are pitted against each other. The host country France is playing Iceland on Sunday. Romania was knocked out in the group phase after grabbing 1 point in three matches.



    COCAINE – A record high quantity of 2,5 tonnes of cocaine, worth an estimated 625 million euros, was seized by the border police from a container in the port of Constanta, south-eastern Romania. The ship carrying the cocaine was coming from South America. The drugs were supposed to reach European markets. Investigators have detained five people, all foreign nationals, in this case.



    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • The Week in Review, June 20-24

    The Week in Review, June 20-24

    Reactions to the Brexit vote



    Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, has said after talks with Central Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu, that there are no reasons for concern for Romanian economy, following Britains historic decision to leave the European Union. Iohannis has also said, after discussions with the Romanian political leaders, that Romania must further follow the European path. The head of state invited Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, Central Bank Governor Isarescu and parliamentary party leaders to discuss Britains recent decision to exit the EU. Central Bank experts say that Britains decision to leave the EU will affect Romanias development but the impact will be small, of about 0.5% of the GDP. The experts have given assurances that the Romanian banking system is solid and measures will be taken to temper the leu/euro exchange rate. On the other hand, Brexit might ruin the plans of Romanians willing to work in Britain, as the access on this labour marked will be more difficult. At present, over 180 thousand Romanians are legally working in Britain.




    Political decisions in Bucharest



    Romanias president Klaus Iohannis has notified the Constitutional Court of Romania regarding the law on the statute of elected officials, according to which mayors, local and county councillors with suspended prison sentences for acts of corruption are allowed to keep their mandate. The president argued that the law goes against the Constitution, the jurisprudence of the Court and the principles of the rule of law. Additionally, Klaus Iohannis believes the law is also hindering the fight against corruption. Also this week MPs have adopted a draft law according to which those who hired their relatives in their personal cabinets before August 2013 cannot be accused of conflict of interests. The law passed with 306 votes in favour and one abstention. Pundits say that by decriminalising conflict of interests, MPs have created a loophole to get off unpunished. The National Integrity Agency has warned the decision breaches the regulations in the Criminal Code, which has been sanctioning conflicts of interests ever since 2003.




    Financial measures


    Starting July 1, the Government has simplified procedures for granting parental leave and child-rearing benefits. The Government has adopted a new methodology for implementing the regulations, which will benefit some 140,000 parents. The allowance will be recalculated automatically, without additional documents being needed on their part. Additionally, parents who opted for a 1-year parental leave can benefit from another 12-months extension. Procedures for granting child-rearing benefits have also been simplified, Labour Minister Dragos Pislaru has said. The Labour Ministry will also draw up a guide to help parents who want to apply for child-rearing benefits.



    Brussels calls for EU-funded projects to be carried out at a faster pace



    European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu has called on the Romanian Transport Minister Dan Costescu to speed up the projects financed through the European structural and investment funds. Cretu has warned over delays in transport projects under way and the lack of new products. Although the European Commission approved 30 out of the 123 transport projects affected by delays, national authorities have failed to send all necessary documents to Brussels, so there is the risk for Romania not being allowed to use the European money allotted to it, thus having to resort to its own budget. For the 2014-2020 Large Infrastructure Operational Programme, Romania has been earmarked 9.4 billion euros, under both the European Regional Development Fund and also the Cohesion Fund.

    The President of Germany paid a visit to Bucharest


    Germanys president Joachim Gauck paid a three-day official visit to Romania where alongside his counterpart Klaus Iohannis attended a meeting of business people from the two countries. On this occasion, Iohannis said Romania plans to develop a new model for economic development, based on innovation and competitiveness, and voiced hope that, on the long term, economic cooperation would be expanded to numerous sectors. The two officials also travelled to Sibiu, in central Romania, an important hub of coexistence between Romanians and ethnic Germans. Moreover, Joachim Gauck commended the Romanian model of interethnic coexistence and thanked the Romanian authorities for the way they manage the German minoritys cultural and identity problems.



    Flooding and heat in Romania



    Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos has called on local authorities to asses the damages generated by the extreme phenomena that have affected Romania lately. For about three weeks Romania has been confronted with extreme weather, such as heavy rainfalls, flooding, storms, hail and very high temperatures. The bad weather claimed the lives of several people and caused serious material damages. The heavy wind left hundreds of houses without their rooftops and dozens of localities without electricity. In other regions, hail destroyed thousands of hectares of crops.