Radio România Internațional

Tag: Douglas Lute

  • NATO and Romania

    NATO and Romania

    Consolidating NATO’s collective defense and reinforcing its eastern border also by ensuring a robust and credible presence of the Alliance in the region are two of the objectives of the Romanian diplomacy at the forthcoming summit in Warsaw, due on July 8 and 9. Bucharest believes in the strategic importance of the Black Sea for the Euro-Atlantic security and in boosting cooperation and coordination between NATO and the EU on the one hand, and NATO and its eastern partners on the other.



    In the run up to the Warsaw summit, a meeting of the NATO defense ministers has been scheduled in Brussels these days, to also be attended by Romania’s Defense Minister Mihnea Motoc. The debates will focus, among other things, on increasing the amounts earmarked for defense in each NATO member country. In 2014, NATO members decided not to cut those budgets, but to increase them so as to account for 2% of the GDP in the next ten years, given that defensive military capabilities are more expensive than the offensive ones. The news is good in this respect, as NATO estimates indicate an average of 1.5% of the GDP so far.



    Another important issue to be tackled in Brussels is getting NATO involved, through the AWACS aircraft, that is an airborne warning and control aircraft, in the fight against ISIS. Moreover, NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, told a press conference that, in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the alliance would deploy four multinational battalions, on a rotational basis in the Baltic States and Poland, to boost those countries’ defence against Russia. According to Stoltenberg, NATO’s defence and deterrence force is not exclusively based on those four battalions. Seeing things in a broader perspective, those battalions are part of a more comprehensive change in NATO’s stand, in response to the challenges facing it.



    The message is clear — NATO is prepared to protect all its members, if necessary. Bucharest has received assurances in this respect from the United States too, through the voice of Ambassador Douglas Lute, the US Permanent Representative to NATO. The North Atlantic Alliance will stand by Romania in case of a concrete threat, Lute said in a teleconference referring to Russian President Putin’s recent statements. Moscow has not become more aggressive, but, in fact, it continues the irresponsible behaviour it started two years ago with the illegal annexation of Crimea, Douglas Lute also said. Bothered by the deployment of some elements of the anti-missile shield in Deveselu, southern Romania, Russia has an interesting rhetoric, but NATO will focus on facts, the American official went on to say.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)


  • June 14, 2016

    June 14, 2016

    TALKS Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has today held talks with his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella in Bucharest. High on the agenda were ways of stepping up the bilateral strategic partnership between the two countries, the challenges currently facing the European Union and the upcoming NATO summit in Warsaw. President Iohannis has referred to the over 1,200,000 Romanians living in Italy and underlined the need for stepping up joint efforts to increase their involvement in Italy’s political and social life. In turn president Mattarella said the Romanian community in Italy is large, appreciated and has become increasingly integrated adding that the level of cooperation between Italy and Romania is truly exemplary.



    VISIT Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos will be in Canada until Thursday, which is the first visit paid by a high-ranking Romanian official in the past 15 years. The Romanian Prime Minister will be holding talks with the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other authorities, about a visa waiver for the Romanian citizens. Romania and Bulgaria are the only EU countries, whose citizens still need visas to enter Canada. Last week the two EU members signed a joint letter calling on Canada to lift visas for their citizens. On the other hand, Canada has staunchly supported Romania’s integration into NATO, being the first country to have ratified the accession protocols of the candidate countries that were accepted at the NATO summit in Prague on March 28th 2003.



    FOOTBALL Romania’s national football side is bracing up for the game against Switzerland due on Wednesday as part of the European Championships underway in France. Last week, in the tournament’s opening match Romania lost to France two-one, while Switzerland clinched a one-nil win against Albania also in Group A. Today will see the first matches in Group F: Austria is playing Hungary while Portugal will be taking on Iceland. On Monday in Group E, Italy outperformed Belgium two-nil, while Sweden held Ireland to a one-all draw. Also on Monday in Group D, Spain obtained a one-nil win against the Czech Republic.



    MEETING On Tuesday and Wednesday Romania’s Defence Minister Mihnea Motoc will be joining his NATO counterparts for a meeting in Brussels. High on the agenda are the upcoming NATO summit in Warsaw, the allied presence in the Eastern flank and the situation in Afghanistan. On the event’s sidelines, Minister Motoc will be meeting his counterparts from Italy, Britain, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and Bulgaria. Before the meeting, the US permanent representative to NATO, Douglas Lute, has said that the North-Atlantic Alliance is with Romania and appreciates the fact that Romania is hosting the anti-missile shield in Deveselu. The US official has also said that if there are actions from any state that threaten not only Deveselu or any other part of Romanian sovereignty then the Alliance will take defending measures.



    COMMEMORATION Bucharest is commemorating 26 years since the 1990 miners’ raid on Bucharest, which stifled a large-scale protest rally against the leftist government that came to power after the fall of the communist dictatorship in 1989. Against the background of a series of violent events the army had already managed to contain, the then president of Romania, Ion Iliescu invoked a coup attempt by the far right political groups and called on the population to defend democratic institutions. The miners who arrived in Bucharest killed 6 people, wounded hundreds and caused over 1,000 abusive arrests. In 2014, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Romania asking it to continue investigation in the file of the miners’ raid in June 1990.


  • Romania, a Negotiator in the Middle East

    Romania, a Negotiator in the Middle East

    The refugee crisis and the developments in Syria rank high on the agenda of the European Council autumn session, taking place on Thursday and Friday in Brussels. The leaders of the 28 EU Member States, including Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, are looking for new solutions to handle the wave of migrants coming in from the Middle East and Northern Africa.



    Before heading off to Brussels, the president referred to the migration phenomenon, which generated many tensions within the EU. Klaus Iohannis said Romania was solidary with the other EU states and wanted to remain part of the solution. The important thing however, the president argues, is to identify the source of these refugees, and it is pretty obvious the main source is Syria, as the ongoing conflict there has prompted many people to flee.



    Klaus Iohannis: “The conflict in Syria is the cause of a huge number of refugees, both in other countries in the Middle East and in the European Union. The solution is obvious: ensuring peace in Syria. For that, all stakeholders must join forces. The fact that, in recent months, Russia has made military interventions in Syria does not help find a way out, and instead, we believe, it only makes matters worse. The only viable solution right now is to negotiate. All parties involved must sit at the negotiations table, and only then will a solution be at hand.



    The fact that Romanias embassy in Damascus is still operational might turn Romania in a mediator for peace in the region, the President believes. His view seems to be shared by the US Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute, who says Bucharest might contribute to finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis. In turn, Petru Filip, the chairman of the Senates Foreign Policy Committee, also referred to Romanias role in the Middle East, during his official visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.



    Petru Filip: “We are trying to preserve this role of political mediator, so to say, that Romania has had in the area for years. I believe this is a benefit for Romania and for Romanias policy in the Middle East. I dont only mean Israels relations with the Palestinian Authority, but also to the other states in the region. We are trying to be politically active in the area, and at least let the others know that our diplomatic missions are willing to mediate peace and stability in the area.



    Petru Filip also reiterated Romanias intention to support the peacekeeping efforts in the Middle East together with its international partners.

  • Angela Merkel und François Hollande treten gemeinsam in Straßburg auf

    Angela Merkel und François Hollande treten gemeinsam in Straßburg auf

    Es wurden keine genauen Projekte bekanntgegeben. Es wurden keine besonderen Beschlüsse getroffen. Doch der gemeinsame Auftritt der deutschen Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel und des französischen Präsidenten François Hollande ist von historischer Bedeutung. 26 Jahre ist es her, seit die Staatschefs des Motors Europas gemeinsam vor dem Europäischen Parlament gemeinsam auftraten. Nach dem Mauerfall 1989 sind Helmut Kohl und François Mitterrand gemeinsam in Stra‎ßburg aufgetreten, um die Ängste der EU-Staaten hinsichtlich der Wiedervereinigung des alten Kontinents zu beseitigen. Derartige Ängste seien auch heute noch anwesend, sagte Angela Merkel. Die Flüchtlingskrise sei die schwerste Krise, die Europa nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg erlebe. Europa habe eine Finanzkrise bewältigt, werde nun aber von einer sozialen Krise destabilisiert. Hinzu komme der Migranten-Zufluss aus dem Nahen Osten und Nordafrika. Die Vorteile des Schengenraums, die Reisefreiheit werden heute in Frage gestellt. Eine Auflösung des Schengenraums und der Euro-Zone würde das Ende Europas bedeuten. Die EU-Staaten zögen vor, als Einzelgänger vorzugehen. Der Versuch, sich alleine zu retten, auszuweichen, sei eine Illusion, sagte auch der französische Präsident François Hollande. Radikale Diskurse und Extremismus gewönnen immer mehr Anhänger. Vor diesem Hintergrund komme der Nationalismus einem Krieg gleich. Aufgrund dieser Gefahren müssten die europäischen Länder für die Lösung der Flüchtlingskrise gemeinsam handeln, schlussfolgerte der französische Staatschef.



    Die Migranten müssen wie Menschen und nicht wie eine anonyme Masse behandelt werden. Die meisten Flüchtlinge kommen nach Europa, um sich in die europäischen Gesellschaften zu integrieren. Diese müssen ihre Regeln aufrecht erhalten bewahren und die Flüchtlinge müssen sie akzeptieren und verinnerlichen, erklärte die deutsche Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel. Zusammen mit dem französischen Staatschef plädierte sie für die gleichmä‎ßige Verteilung von Flüchtlingen auf alle EU-Staaten.



    Rumänien hat sich bereit erklärt, über 4.000 Flüchtlinge aufzunehmen. Der Botschafter der Vereinigten Staaten bei der NATO, Douglas Lute, meinte, dies könnte zu einer politischen Lösung der syrischen Krise beitragen, solange die rumänische Botschaft in Damaskus noch aktiv ist. Europa hat bis jetzt nicht verstanden, dass die Tragödien im Nahen Osten und in Nordafrika ebenfalls Auswirkungen auf den alten Kontinent haben werden, so Frankreichs Präsident François Hollande. Wenn es keine Ma‎ßnahmen trifft, wird Europa unter den Konsequenzen leiden.