Radio România Internațional

Tag: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

  • European Political Community Summit

    European Political Community Summit


    The Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, predominantly Romanian-speaking) hosted on June 1, at the Mimi Castle in the village of Bulboaca, the second summit of the European Political Community – a new platform for political coordination, which aims to promote dialogue and cooperation in order to address issues of common interest and to strengthen the security, stability and prosperity of the European continent. The nearly 50 leaders present at the summit discussed security and peace, the development of the economic and social infrastructure in the European space and resilience in the face of the threats produced by the war in Ukraine. At the same time, European officials reiterated their support for the Republic of Moldova in order to achieve the commitments assumed as a candidate state for joining the European Union.



    The summit reflects the strong determination of the European leaders to bring peace back to Europe, the host of the meeting, President Maia Sandu, stressed. According to her, the meeting ended with several concrete results for her country, among them the decision regarding the reduction of tariffs for roaming services, the launch of the EU Partnership Mission in the Republic of Moldova, a new aid package worth approximately 1.6 billions euro and 50 million euro worth of non-reimbursable funding from Norway. Maia Sandu also emphasized the fact that organizing the summit only 20 km from Ukraine “is a clear expression of solidarity with that country and the Ukrainian people, who are fighting for freedom, European values ​​and the future of the continent”.



    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated at the summit that he received a strong signal of support from the allies in the matter of providing fighter planes. Zelenskiy also said that Ukraine needed future security guarantees, if joining NATO was not possible for the moment.



    Also present at the summit, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, praised the reforms undertaken by the Republic of Moldova with a view to joining the EU and promised to “significantly” increase the size of the EU delegation to Chisinau, in order to “help the implementation of reforms”, while the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said that the Transnistrian dispute would not be an impediment for the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the Union.



    In his speech, the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, stressed that the Republic of Moldova is not alone, and the support of the democratic states will continue for both Chisinau and Kyiv. “The military aggression against Ukraine has been the most disruptive period after the Cold War. It is our responsibility, as the Community of European democratic states, to respond to this historic moment and to support the most vulnerable among us”, the Romanian head of state also said. (MI)




  • European Council conclusions

    European Council conclusions

    The hijacking of a civilian plane by Belarus to arrest journalist Roman Protasevich, known as a critic of the Minsk dictatorial regime, was close to diverting the European Council from the initial agenda. The leaders of the 27 member states had gathered in the Belgian capital to mainly discuss the coordination of actions to combat the pandemic and the digital certificate. Belarus action, which many analysts have described as air piracy or state terrorism, was strongly condemned by the EU leaders.They announced that new sanctions would be prepared against Belarus, including economic ones, and decided to close the Unions airspace to planes from this former Soviet country. The leaders of the 27 also demanded the immediate release of journalist Roman Protasevich and his partner, Sofia Sapega, who has Russian citizenship, arrested on Sunday during the operation. The EU also called on the International Civil Aviation Organization to investigate this unprecedented and unacceptable incident.



    After that, the summit focused on the pandemic. The Heads of State and Government of the Member States welcomed the agreement reached at Union level on the Covid digital certificate, which will facilitate the return to unrestricted movement. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the infrastructure for the digital certificate would be ready by June 1, and member states would be able to connect to the system in mid-month. Ursula von der Leyen stated that: “Now Member States have the key and the urgent task to make sure that their national health systems are fed with the information of citizens health status, so that the Certificate can be issued. That sounds like a lot of work and indeed, it is still a lot of work. But I am optimistic that we are getting there. I think the Certificate is a unique opportunity to showcase how the European Union contributes concretely to peoples daily lives. So we must all contribute to make it happen.”



    President Klaus Iohannis underlined Romanias support for the rapid and uniform implementation of the certificate at European level. In his view, its use must not affect the exercise of the fundamental right of citizens to free movement. At the same time, the Romanian head of state supported the continuation at an accelerated pace of the vaccination campaign, along with increasing efforts to produce and ensure sufficient reserves of vaccines. The President of Romania spoke in favor of rendering operational as soon as possible a European mechanism for donating anti-COVID vaccines, especially to partners in the Eastern Neighborhood and the Western Balkans and pleaded in favor of international solidarity. He recalled that Romania had donated over 300,000 doses to the Republic of Moldova and that it would also donate 100,000 doses of vaccine to Ukraine. (MI)

  • European Council conclusions

    European Council conclusions

    The hijacking of a civilian plane by Belarus to arrest journalist Roman Protasevich, known as a critic of the Minsk dictatorial regime, was close to diverting the European Council from the initial agenda. The leaders of the 27 member states had gathered in the Belgian capital to mainly discuss the coordination of actions to combat the pandemic and the digital certificate. Belarus action, which many analysts have described as air piracy or state terrorism, was strongly condemned by the EU leaders.They announced that new sanctions would be prepared against Belarus, including economic ones, and decided to close the Unions airspace to planes from this former Soviet country. The leaders of the 27 also demanded the immediate release of journalist Roman Protasevich and his partner, Sofia Sapega, who has Russian citizenship, arrested on Sunday during the operation. The EU also called on the International Civil Aviation Organization to investigate this unprecedented and unacceptable incident.



    After that, the summit focused on the pandemic. The Heads of State and Government of the Member States welcomed the agreement reached at Union level on the Covid digital certificate, which will facilitate the return to unrestricted movement. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the infrastructure for the digital certificate would be ready by June 1, and member states would be able to connect to the system in mid-month. Ursula von der Leyen stated that: “Now Member States have the key and the urgent task to make sure that their national health systems are fed with the information of citizens health status, so that the Certificate can be issued. That sounds like a lot of work and indeed, it is still a lot of work. But I am optimistic that we are getting there. I think the Certificate is a unique opportunity to showcase how the European Union contributes concretely to peoples daily lives. So we must all contribute to make it happen.”



    President Klaus Iohannis underlined Romanias support for the rapid and uniform implementation of the certificate at European level. In his view, its use must not affect the exercise of the fundamental right of citizens to free movement. At the same time, the Romanian head of state supported the continuation at an accelerated pace of the vaccination campaign, along with increasing efforts to produce and ensure sufficient reserves of vaccines. The President of Romania spoke in favor of rendering operational as soon as possible a European mechanism for donating anti-COVID vaccines, especially to partners in the Eastern Neighborhood and the Western Balkans and pleaded in favor of international solidarity. He recalled that Romania had donated over 300,000 doses to the Republic of Moldova and that it would also donate 100,000 doses of vaccine to Ukraine. (MI)