Radio România Internațional

Tag: EU foreign ministers

  • Funds for Ukraine

    Funds for Ukraine

    Romania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminiţa Odobescu, represented Romania in Monday’s meeting of EU Foreign Ministers, held in Luxembourg. The number one point on the agenda for talks was Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Minister Odobescu highlighted the importance of accelerating the provision of military assistance to neighboring Ukraine, recalling, in this context, the recent decision of Romania’s Supreme Defense Council regarding the transfer to Ukraine of a Patriot surface-to-air missile system. At the same time, Minister Odobescu referred to the importance of the EU-Ukraine security commitments and emphasized the importance of the Union’s involvement in helping Ukraine restore its civil infrastructure, seriously affected by Russian attacks. The Romanian Foreign Minister also hailed the adoption of the 14th package of sanctions against Russia. The new sanctions target 116 entities, companies and individuals, Russian liquefied gas, introducing bans for vessels that transport LNG to European ports, but also for the export of some components necessary for the Russian energy industry. On the other hand, Hungary continues to block some important decisions regarding Ukraine, worth 2.4 bln EUR.

     

     

    According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, in addition to European institutions, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said he came up with a solution to make the first funds available this month. From a legal point of view, Josep Borrell argued, if a Member State was not previously involved in the decision regarding the use of profits, it cannot be part of the decision regarding the allocation of said profits. The subject will be discussed this week at the summit of European leaders. Meanwhile, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova are officially negotiating their accession to the European Union as of Tuesday, a long-term process during which the two states must align their national legislation with the provisions of the community bloc. Since obtaining EU candidate status, Kyiv and Chișinău have made general adjustments in key areas, proving their determination to get closer to Union legislation. But now, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova will have to operate comprehensive changes in nearly all sectors, so that they may join the European Union in a few years’ time. Minister Odobescu also reiterated Romania’s support for the European integration efforts of the two candidates. (VP)

  • April 11, 2022

    April 11, 2022

    PLAN – Ruling coalition
    leaders are today expected to announce the final form of the support package addressing
    the population and the economy, in the context of soaring prices across the
    board. The list of measures includes an increase in the meal allowance for
    inpatients, an increase of meal vouchers and further vouchers addressing
    vulnerable categories. The minimum salary is also expected to go up, although
    employers will decide if they want to implement the measure or not.
    Additionally, the authorities will also allow people to postpone the payment of
    bank installments, a measure previously introduced during the pandemic as well.
    Further support will be given to transporters, whose fuel purchases will be
    partly subsidized, whereas grants will be awarded to SMEs. Liberal prime
    minister Nicolae Ciucă said the package will help keep the economy going and
    protect vulnerable citizens. In turn, PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu pointed out
    this is the first time the Government comes up with such an initiative. The
    plan is worth some €3.5 billion, of which €1.4 billion will be covered by the
    EU.




    DEBATE – The Chamber of Deputies
    is today debating a simple motion filed by USR against Environment Minister,
    Tanczos Barna. The vote is scheduled for Wednesday. The opposition party claims
    the UDMR minister in the ruling coalition government is to be blamed for
    illegal logging, for the destruction of the environment, the state’s inability
    to tap into green economy opportunities and the contempt shown to civil society
    whenever the latter signals environment issues.




    MEETING – EU Foreign
    Ministers are today examining the sixth package of sanctions against Moscow
    during their meeting in Luxembourg. The EU’s 27 Foreign Ministers have their
    differences over a possible ban on Russian energy. Germany, Italy, Austria and
    Hungary are largely reliant on Russian gas imports. Ukraine’s president,
    Volodymyr Zelensky, has constantly asked European leaders to adopt harsher
    sanctions, including to stop purchasing oil and fuel from Russia and to
    provide Ukrainian forces with heavy weapons in order to resist the Russian
    attacks in Donbas. According to several European diplomats, EU Ministers are
    expected to disburse another €500 million to fund a new delivery of weapons to
    Kyiv.




    VISIT – Projects on future
    mobility in the EU have three key words – sustainability, performance and
    resilience, EU Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, said on the sidelines of Monday’s conference about the future of
    Europe hosted by Bucharest. The EU official expressed hope Romania’s infrastructure
    should improve in terms of quality in the shortest time possible. On Tuesday,
    Commissioner Vălean will attend a videoconference with the ministers of
    transport of Romania, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. Adina Vălean said she wants to discuss with Bucharest officials about a better
    absorption of European funds devoted to infrastructure and to find solutions
    for the rail, road, river and maritime transport of goods from Ukraine and the
    Republic of Moldova.




    REFUGEES – Over 85,000 people, of whom 7,915 Ukrainian
    citizens entered Romania on Sunday. According to a Border Police release, a
    little over 677 thousand Ukrainians have reached Romania since the start of the
    war in Ukraine, most of whom were headed to Western Europe.


    GROWTH FORECAST – The World Bank has
    downgraded its economic growth forecast for Romania this year, from 4.3% in
    January to 1.9%. According to the World bank, economic uncertainty has gone up,
    particularly as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The World Bank has
    upgraded its economic growth forecast for Romania in 2023 to 4.1%, while its
    forecast for 2024 stands at 4.3%.




    ELECTION IN FRANCE – Emmanuel
    Macron will face the leader of the far right, Marine Le Pen in the presidential
    runoff scheduled for April 24, following the result of Sunday’s first round of
    the French presidential election. Both will be trying to secure the votes of
    the other candidates, although experts believe young voters of the radical left
    will decide the vote. The traditional right and left wing parties that ruled
    France for over 60 years have been again eliminated from the first round after
    obtaining embarrassingly low scores. Conversely, the radical left and right
    wings continue to gain ground. (VP)









  • The meeting of EU Foreign Ministers

    The meeting of EU Foreign Ministers

    EU Foreign Ministers convened in
    videoconference format to discuss, among other things, the latest tensions in
    Russia and the Czech Republic, as well as the situation of Russian opposition
    leader Alexei Navalnyi, who is imprisoned in Russia. The European Commission is
    fully solidary with the Czech Republic on the expulsion of Russian diplomats, a
    Commission spokesman said during a briefing. Prague has accused Moscow of involvement
    in a 2014 explosion at a weapons depot on its territory, and on Saturday
    expelled 18 employees of the Russian Embassy, accused of espionage in this case.
    Additionally, the Czech authorities said the official inquiry has established a
    link between the Russian intelligence and the explosion that killed two Czech
    nationals.

    The Russian Foreign Ministry has labeled the Czech authorities’
    decision as unprecedented, considering Prague’s allegations as ungrounded and peculiar,
    and in response has declared 20 employees of the Czech Embassy in Moscow personae
    non grata. EU Foreign Ministers also discussed the case of Alexei Navalnyi,
    who for the last three weeks has been on hunger strike in prison, and whose
    health has deteriorated significantly in the absence of medical care. Attending
    the meeting, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu supported the involvement of the Red
    Cross in this case. Navalny has in the meantime been transferred to a hospital
    for inmates. In the context of Russia’s increasingly destabilizing actions in
    the Eastern Vicinity as well as against Member States, Minister Aurescu also highlighted
    the need for a strategic approach to EU-Russia relations.

    Bogdan Aurescu has
    joined the chorus of EU Foreign Ministers who’ve expressed concern over Russia’s
    repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement and the increased number of
    troops in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, as well as with Russia’s plans to
    restrict navigation on certain sections of the Black Sea. The Romanian official expressed Romania’s support
    for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and for the country’s European
    integration efforts and efforts to expand the association and economic
    integration processes, highlighting the EU’s constant and firm support for Kiev’s
    commitment to reforms, a key prerequisite for the consolidation of the rule of
    law, democracy and resilience in this country. Finally, Minister Aurescu
    underscored the need for a strategic vision on the Eastern Partnership and an ambitious
    post-2020 agenda, which should include the consolidation of security
    cooperation with partner states, also recalling that Romania has called for a
    more active EU role in extended conflicts in the Black Sea region. (V.P.)

  • January 16, 2017 UPDATE

    January 16, 2017 UPDATE

    PARLIAMENT — In a plenary session on Monday, the two chambers of the Romanian Parliament voted for setting up a commission to investigate the budget rectifications made by the former technocratic government in August and November 2016. The setting up of this commission has been requested by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, whose party returned to power, alongside the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, after winning the parliamentary elections of December 11. The opposition parties stood against the initiative. Also on Monday, the legislature decided in the plenary session to postpone talks on the setting up of a special commission to control the activity of the Foreign Intelligence Service, SIE. In exchange, a relevant commission has been set up for the Romanian Intelligence Service, SRI. Last week, the director of the Romanian Intelligence Service, Eduard Hellvig, suspended from office the first deputy director, lieutenant general, Florian Coldea, accused of having committed illegalities by former MP Sebastian Ghita, who, in his turn, is investigated in several corruption files and is reported missing.



    FOREIGN AFFAIRS– The new Romanian foreign minister, Teodor Melescanu, on Monday attended in Brussels, alongside the other EU foreign ministers the monthly meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the Romanian official has hailed the new ceasefire agreement in Syria and underlined that it is important for all sides to abide by it. Melescanu has also expressed Romania’s readiness to support humanitarian efforts as well as Syria’s post-conflict reconstruction. The Romanian foreign minister has discussed, together with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, issues related to the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, a former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian speaking population, and the eastern neighbourhood. Also on the sidelines of the meeting, the Romanian official participated, alongside his Bulgarian, Greek and Croatian counterparts in an informal meeting devoted to the situation in the region.



    REP. MOLDOVA– The President of the Republic of Moldova (a former Soviet state, with a predominantly Romanian speaking population), the pro-Russian Socialist Igor Dodon on Monday started a three day visit to Moscow, for talks with the Kremlin leader, Vladimir Putin. According to sources close to his entourage, Dodon’s priorities are to resume Moldovan exports on the Russian market, as they are currently embargoed and to legalise the situation of Moldovan workers in Russia, whose legal stay there has expired. According to the same source, Dodon and Putin will allegedly approach the issue of the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transdniester, which got out from under Chishinau’s control, back in 1992. Elected in November, Dodon is the first high-ranking official in the Republic of Moldova in the past 15 years to start his mandate with an official visit to Moscow. In another move, also on Monday, Dodon called on the Moldovan government to start legal procedures to suspend the Moldovan ambassador to Romania, Mihai Gribincea. The latter has recently said that Dodon’s decree on withdrawing the Moldovan citizenship to the former Romanian President, Traian Basescu, might be unconstitutional. Dodon’s request has been rejected by Moldovan Prime Minister, Pavel Filip.



    NATO– On January 17 and 18, the Military Committee, NATO’s Highest Military Authority, meets in Chiefs of Defence Session in Brussels. Romania is represented in this 176th session by the chief of staff of the Romanian Army, general Nicolae Ciuca. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Defence Ministry, the agenda of the meeting covers such issues as the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan and the current threats to NATO. Sessions devoted to NATO’s partnerships with Ukraine and Georgia will also be organised, among others things, the communiqué issued by the Romanian Defence Ministry also shows.



    TENNIS — Two Romanian tennis players, Monica Niculescu (no.32 WTA) and Ana Bogdan (no.125 WTA), on Tuesday will play against the Russians Ana Blinkova (no.189 WTA) and Elena Vesnina (no.18 WTA), respectively, in the singles, in the first round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. On Monday, also in the first round, Sorana Carstea (no.78 WTA) defeated Russian Irina Hromaceva (no.92 WTA), 6-2, 6-1, and Irina Begu (no.29 WTA) outperformed Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova (no.39 WTA), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Two other Romanians got eliminated. Simona Halep (no.4 WTA) surprisingly got eliminated by American Shelby Rogers (no.57 WTA) 6-3, 6-1 and Patricia Tig got eliminated by Puerto Rican Monica Puig, 6-0, 6-1.(Translated by Diana Vijeu)

  • European Diplomacy and the Syrian Crisis

    European Diplomacy and the Syrian Crisis

    The EU Foreign Ministers on Monday
    called on Russia to immediately stop bombing the moderate Syrian opposition,
    saying it’s not possible to achieve sustainable peace as long as Syrian
    president Bashar al-Assad is still in office. Moscow does not share this view,
    and for the last few days Russian fighters have been bombing positions
    allegedly held by Islamic State terrorists. The military escalation in the
    region has put the Syrian conflict in the limelight of global politics.

    In
    Luxembourg, the EU foreign ministers
    stressed the urgency of
    preventing the creation of a power void in Syria, similar to the one in Libya.
    EU officials say the political transition in Syria must observe the principle
    of sovereignty and territorial integrity, with all religious minorities,
    whether Sunni, Shiite or Christian, co-existing peacefully. The Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean
    Asselborn, whose country is currently holding
    the rotating presidency of the EU, warned that unless the United States
    and Russia reached an agreement on Syria, no solution was foreseeable. Jean
    Asselborn said the EU must try and bring Russia into the international
    organization combating the Islamic State, based on the resolution of the UN
    Security Council. The Luxembourg official said communication with Russia must
    not be cut off. Russia is helping Assad play the final political transition card
    in Syria, the official also said.


    The Assad regime bears
    the greatest responsibility for the death of the 250,000 people who lost their
    lives in the conflict so far, as well as for the millions of people who have
    fled the country, reads the document adopted by Foreign Ministers in
    Luxembourg. Attending the meeting, Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu
    said Russia’s actions in Syria had contributed to the radicalization of
    terrorism in the region and should not divert the EU’s attention from Ukraine.
    Romania is ready to take an active role in facilitating dialogue between the EU
    and Syria, through its embassy in Damascus, Bogdan Aurescu also said. The
    Romanian official also pointed out that Romania supported the activity and the
    action plan of the UN Special Envoy for
    Syria Staffan de Mistura, aimed at solving the Syrian conflict.