Radio România Internațional

Tag: British-Romanian relations

  • March 29, 2017 UPDATE

    March 29, 2017 UPDATE

    PRINCE CHARLES – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, on Wednesday received, in Bucharest, Prince Charles of Great Britain, whom he awarded the “Star of Romania National Order in Rank of Grand Cross, in token of appreciation for his activity in Romania and for promoting the countrys image abroad. The two discussed ways to develop and deepen the bilateral Strategic Partnership, also in the field of security, the evolution of relations after the launch of Brexit talks, laying emphasis on the situation of the Romanian community in Great Britain, as well as about the charity work conducted by Prince Charles. The British Crown Prince laid a wreath of flowers at the Unknown Soldier Memorial in Bucharest on Wednesday, the first day of his official visit to Romania. Although Prince Charles has frequently visited Romania in recent years, this is Prince Charles second official visit to this country. In 2016, Prince Charles set up his own foundation in Romania, whose goal is to protect the national heritage and support this countrys sustainable development. The owner of several properties in Transylvania, the Prince is passionate about Saxon medieval architecture in central Romania, fortresses, churches and houses built by the German settlers in Transylvania in the Middle Ages.



    BREXIT TALKS – British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday confirmed in the British Parliament that the UK invoked article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which starts negotiations for the countrys leaving the EU. The British ambassador to the EU, Tim Barrow, on Wednesday personally handed over to the European Council President, Donald Tusk, a letter of notification regarding the start of Brexit talks. This notification opens up a two-year period of negotiation to establish the way in which Great Britain can leave the community block and to structure the future relations between London and the EU. Donald Tusk announced that on Friday he would come up with a proposal which will include the main guidelines for the negotiation process. He also said the team holding the negotiations will do everything possible to reduce the costs of Brexit for European citizens and firms as well as for the member states.



    ROMANIAN-BRITISH RELATIONS – To Romania, the United Kingdom is an essential partner and it will remain so, says PM Sorin Grindeanu, given assurances, in a communiqué, that the Romanian Government will get actively involved in the effort to protect the rights and interests of the Romanian citizens in Great Britain, after the Romanian government took note of the official launch of Brexit talks. According to estimates by the Romanian authorities, over 250,000 Romanians are currently living in the UK. In turn, Romanian foreign minister Teodor Melescanu said in an interview on Radio Romania that Bucharest is currently preparing a plan and an update to the partnership with London, based on which to develop bilateral relations after Brexit.



    LEGAL SYSTEM – At the moment, it is not appropriate to start the mechanism of revoking Romanias Prosecutor General and the Chief Prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate. The statement has been made by justice minister, Tudorel Toader, which analyzed the activity of Romanias Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazar, and of the Chief Prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, for two weeks. He initiated this evaluation after the Constitutional Court noticed that the National Anti-Corruption Directorate overstepped its authority in case of the investigation into the way in which the government made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats promoted the controversial emergency decree which partially decriminalized the abuse of office. The justice minister has said the National Anti-Corruption Directorate overstepped its authority and put pressure on the Government. Tudorel Toader added that the National Anti-Corruption Directorate can function only in full compliance with principles of the rule of law. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • The Week in Review December 6-12

    The Week in Review December 6-12

    David Cameron pays a visit to Bucharest


    Bucharest and London boast important bilateral relations and the two sides want to strengthen and develop this partnership, said Romanias President Klaus Iohannis after the talks he held with the visiting British Prime Minister, David Cameron. The Romanian President said the military and security dimension of bilateral cooperation had a major role, in a complex context marked by challenges. The economic side of the relationship between Romania and Great Britain was also tackled during the talks.



    President Iohannis underlined that trade exchanges last year reached the highest level so far. In turn, the British PM Cameron said that Romanians have a valuable contribution to the development of Great Britain in important domain such as finances, science and medicine. However he highlighted what he called the pressure put by the free movement of labour force on the public services in the UK. In turn, the Romanian Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos, said upon his meeting with his British counterpart, that most Romanians who work in Great Britain are paying their taxes.




    The state and social security budget


    For the new technocratic government in Bucharest led by Dacian Ciolos the state and social security budgets for 2016 are a major challenge. If parliamentary parties have generally agreed with the draft budget, the representatives of civil society expressed their discontent with being consulted rather late. Institutions such as the Fiscal Council also criticized certain infringements of the fiscal rules.



    According to the bill proposed by the Ciolos cabinet, the Education and Healthcare Ministries will receive additional money, alongside the Interior, Defense and European Funds Ministries. Less money will be channeled towards the Labour Ministry. The budget is based on a deficit of 3% of the GDP, the maximum threshold agreed upon with the EU, and on an economic growth rate of 4.1%. The two draft budgets have already been forwarded to Parliament, which, according to the established timetable, is to give its verdict next week.




    Important decisions by the Supreme Council of National Defense


    As many as 1,200 Romanian soldiers and over 1,500 gendarmes will participate in various NATO, EU, the OSCE and UN missions abroad in 2016. The decision was made by Romanias Supreme Defense Council, in a meeting chaired by president Klaus Iohannis and attended, for the first time, by the ministers of the new government. On the occasion, they approved the Guide of the National Strategy for the Countrys Defense for 2015- 2019 and the Intelligence Strategy of the Romanian Intelligence Service, valid for the same period of time. Also, according to the Presidential Administration, the members of the Supreme National Defense Council have ascertained that the line Romanian institutions applied the sanctions set up at international level between October 2014- September 2015.




    The anti-corruption fight continues


    The National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) has registered the highest credibility rate among the population thanks to its relentless fight against corruption of the last years. This week the DNA has opened a new case related to illegal retrocession, a common crime, that brought huge revenues to those involved in the case, among whom two public figures: journalist Dan Andronic, the director of the well known post-Communist daily paper, “Evenimentul Zilei, and the controversial businessman Remus Truica. In the early 2000, the latter was the head of the chancellery of the then PM Adrian Nastase, himself sentenced to prison on corruption charges. Prosecutors accuse the abovementioned of several acts of corruption and of setting up a criminal group to deal in illegal retrocession.



    The estimated damage in this case exceeds 136 million euros. In another DNA case, the High Court of Cassation and Justice has decided this week that the Liberal MPs Ioan Oltean, a veteran of post-Communist politics and Catalin Teodorescu, alongside the former head of the National Authority for the Restitution of Property, Crinuta Dumitrean, should be subject to legal restrictions pending trial. They are being investigated in a case related to illegal compensations worth more than 20 million euros, granted to a businessman by the National Authority for the Restitution of Property.




    Demography on a downward trend


    In 2014, Romanias population dropped under the threshold of 20 million – a level similar to that reported in mid 1960s. According to the National Institute for Statistics, last year Romanias population dropped by 80 thousand people, let alone the 40 thousand citizens who migrated. Such a great number of people is equivalent to the disappearance of two small towns every year. The president of the National Institute for Statistics, Tudorel Andrei, claims that until 2013 the number of population was reduced especially due to migration. In the years to come the main cause of the demographic downward trend is expected to be the low birthrate.


    (Translated by: Lacramioara Simion; Edited by: Diana Vijeu)