Radio România Internațional

Tag: european integration

  • October 23, 2024 UPDATE

    October 23, 2024 UPDATE

    PODGORICA During his formal visit to Montenegro on Wednesday, at the invitation of his counterpart Jakov Milatovic, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis reiterated Romania’s staunch support for the EU enlargement process with the partners in the Western Balkans and the candidates from the eastern vicinity. The head of the Romanian state said that Montenegro had taken major steps in the negotiation process, its attachment to European values being also visible in its complete alignment with the EU’s common security and foreign policy. At the bilateral level, the two officials have reconfirmed the common readiness to contribute to boosting economic and sectorial cooperation, which may better reflect the potential of the political relations. The two sides have agreed to support a stronger presence of the Romanian companies in Montenegro, an increased number of contracts at the level of the business environment, particularly at the level of the small and medium size enterprises, supported by an effective and periodical dialogue between the authorities. The two officials have also underlined the interest in developing cooperation in various fields with a view to bringing tangible benefits for citizens, such as defence, internal affairs, tourism, energy and agriculture. President Milatovic thanked Romania for supporting Montenegro in its EU integration process and appreciated the visit, the first formal one, by a Romanian president since the country got its independence, which is a strong sign of friendship and partnership between the two countries.

     

    BUDGET MEPs are proposing a budget of roughly 201 billion euros for 2025. According to the project voted on Wednesday by the European Parliament, the budget will be focusing on research, healthcare, education and climate. The formula proposed by Parliament, a higher budget, which benefits the countries with lower contributions to the European budget, like Romania, which benefits from the fund distribution through the programmes of the EU policies. According to MEP Victor Negrescu, one of the two negotiators of the Legislature, who will join the final negotiation between Parliament and the Council, it is the support offered by the European Parliament to the programme devoted to border protection as well as the coordination of the social security system, which would allow the European Diaspora, including the Romanian one to easily transfer their rights and social benefits, including pensions, from one state to another.

     

    ELECTION On Wednesday, the US expressed its concern about Russia’s interference in the second round of the November 3 presidential election in the Republic of Moldova, a competition which is going to be very tight. The US is concerned that Russia will try, once again, to prevent the Moldovans from exercising their sovereign right to choose their own leaders, said the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in a statement quoted by AFP. Washington has already denounced that Russia did everything in its power to disrupt the first round of the presidential election and last Sunday’s referendum, with the aim of undermining democracy in the small ex-Soviet Republic with a majority Romanian-speaking population, especially through illegal financing, vote buying, disinformation and malicious cyber activities. We remind you that the Moldovans approved by a tiny margin, with a little over 50% of the votes, amending the Constitution with a view to their country’s EU accession. At the same time, the current president, the pro-European Maia Sandu, ranked first, with 42.45% of the votes, in the first round of the presidential election, but she is preparing for a difficult second round, in which she will fight with the representative of the Socialist Party, Alexandr Stoianoglo, who obtained 25.98%.

     

    SALARY Romania’s Chamber of Deputies adopted, as a decision-making body, the draft law on the minimum wage. It transposes a European directive that aims to improve the working and living conditions of employees. The document stipulates that the minimum basic gross salary guaranteed to be paid should be established annually, through periodic updating, after consultations with the nationally-representative unions and employers’ associations and should take into account the cost of living and economic and social indicators.

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  • Uncertainties in Chisinau

    Uncertainties in Chisinau

    The
    International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have suspended the funding of
    several projects in the Republic of Moldova, and have announced their relation
    with the country will stay frozen until the authorities take decisive measures
    to solve the problems in the banking system, where as much as one billion
    dollars mysteriously went missing. As the World Bank country manager for
    Moldova put it, it would be illogical and irresponsible for the World Bank to
    transfer its shareholders’ money into the Moldovan budget through the front
    door, while there is a risk for ever higher amounts of public money being lost
    out of the back door, through fraud and corruption in the banking sector. He
    also added that the ex-Soviet state will no longer receive the 45 million US
    dollars for budgetary support in 2015.


    In turn, the EU has warned that it might cut down the funding for the
    judicial reform, as Moldovan authorities have failed to fulfil their
    commitments. They have blocked legislation on the National Integrity
    Commission, designed to ensure its independence from political control. I am
    very disappointed, said the head of the EU Delegation in Chisinau, Pirkka
    Tapiola. Under these circumstances, analysts warn, the Republic of Moldova may
    default on payments in less than two months. To make matters even worse, there
    is no one to manage this crisis, because the small republic still lacks a
    government. Accused of forging his high-school graduation diploma, the prime
    minister, Chiril Gaburici, resigned a week ago, and the entire cabinet
    followed. With drastically limited powers, the ministers now only handle
    current matters, until a new cabinet is sworn in.


    The most disappointed with the downpour of bad news is Romania, which has
    been a steady and active supporter of Moldova’s European aspirations. While in
    Moldova to plead for the rapid formation of a new government, the Romanian
    Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said a new governmental coalition would
    guarantee the country’s firm pro-European commitment and determination to carry
    on democratic reforms, as expected by its citizens, and to ensure Moldova’s
    stability. On Wednesday, Aurescu was received by the Moldovan President Nicolae
    Timofti, on which occasion he emphasised the importance of political stability,
    as a prerequisite for the country’s progress towards reforms and European
    integration.

    With their image severely affected by the disastrous performance
    of the Gaburici government, the leaders of the minority governmental coalition,
    made up of Democrats and Liberal Democrats, are considering the inclusion in
    the Executive of the third pro-European party in Parliament, the Liberals.
    Analysts see this as a solution, because the Moldovan Liberals are the most
    determined supporters of the European values, of closer ties with Bucharest and
    of the fight against corruption, for the success of which they went as far as
    to ask that a prosecutor general be brought from Romania.

  • The Republic of Moldova, a priority for Romania’s foreign policy

    The Republic of Moldova, a priority for Romania’s foreign policy

    A human chain formed on Sunday ran all the way from the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Bucharest to the front gate of the Moldovan Embassy. This action of solidarity was aimed at convincing the authorities to lift passport restrictions for crossing the Romanian-Moldovan border on Prut river. The organisers of the event, the Actiunea 2012 Platform, whose underlying objective is the re-unification of Romania and Moldova, says it filed a number of requests with the Romanian Foreign Ministry and the Moldovan Embassy to Bucharest with a view to granting EU citizens free access to Moldova based on either a passport or an ID card. The Moldovan Youth Organisation also filed a similar request with the Moldovan and Romanian Foreign Ministries.



    Actiunea 2012 members say Romanian citizens can travel freely to 58 destinations using their ID cards only, which makes holding a passport almost useless. Many Romanians actually have their passports issued particularly to cross into Moldova. Additionally, organisation members say Romania is Moldova’s main trade partner at present, followed by other European Union states. Without support from the European Union and Romania, Moldova could never have coped with the Russian ban on wine and fruit. Lifting passport restrictions on border crossings would render the access of EU citizens to the Republic of Moldova much easier.



    Last week, Moldovan Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman met Romania’s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu in Bucharest. The two reviewed the main topics on the bilateral agenda, with a special focus on Romania’s support for Moldova’s pro-European actions. Bogdan Aurescu, speaking to Radio Romania:



    “On the sidelines of our meeting, we also met the Mixed Committee for European Integration which both myself and Minister Gherman chair. Taking part in this meeting were eight institutions from Romania and Moldova each. We tackled joint cooperation projects with utmost pragmatism. I have been conveyed a message of firm commitment by my Moldovan counterpart as well as the other participant institutions to maintain Moldova on its European track”.



    The integration of Romania’s neighbour, amidst security threats from the post-Soviet geo-political space, is also high on the agenda of the Informal Group for Moldova’s European Action, which will meet this year at the initiative of Romania and France.

  • Moldova and the European Union

    Moldova and the European Union

    Most analysts have termed the new government of the Republic of Moldova say about it that it is politically fragile and geopolitically confused. The minority cabinet led by young businessman Chiril Gaburici depends on support from the pro-Russian communists, which fuels uncertainties regarding Moldova’s European future. The government was sworn in as late as the second half of February, almost three months after the legislative elections of November, in which the electorate expressed a Western-oriented option.



    After the vote, the scenario of continuity seemed already written. The three components of the openly pro-Western three-party government coalition, the Liberal Democrat, Democrat and Liberal Parties, grabbed 55 of the 101 seats in Parliament. The former governance, dominated by the pro-Russian communists, had ruled for 8 years, since 2009, and had proven corrupt and abusive against democracy. The Alliance for European Integration seemed doomed to continue in the same vein. In addition, the former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca, a Liberal Democrat who signed last year the Association and Free Trade agreements with Brussels, and promised to bring Moldova into the European fold in 2020, seemed the best suitable option for the position of head of government. However, the Liberals were unable to agree with the coalition partners, and in spite of their staunch support for European integration, they remained in opposition. The new Leanca cabinet created by the Liberal Democrats and the Democrats was rejected by parliament, and the Gaburici line-up needed the vote of communist deputies. In neighboring Romania, traditionally the most consistent and vocal supporter of Moldova’s European aspirations, the new president, Liberal Klaus Iohannis, did no hide his deception with the situation, and openly expressed his hope that Moldova should continue on its European track:



    “I hope this government, with a young prime minister, an entrepreneur, will continue to take Moldova further towards the West. I believe that any responsible government realizes that, if a majority voted in favor of Europe and this possibility exists, that has to be the preferred direction in the future.”



    The first reactions of the government and the foreign ministry in Bucharest were slightly contradictory. Prime Minister Victor Ponta hailed the appointment of the new government. The diplomats in Bucharest led by Bogdan Aurescu limited themselves to saying that they have taken note of the investiture. Analyst Robert Schwartz, head of the Romanian section at Deutsche Welle, did not hide his displeasure:



    “What is happening now in Chisinau is a charade, typical of the political stage in Moldova — I can afford to say that clearly because the voters who went to the polls on November 30 in the parliamentary elections imagined something completely different. They voted for pro-European parties, and now Parliament swore in a new government with communist votes. It is a government challenged by civil society, and the European Union’s reaction seems to me symptomatic too, it is very reserved. The United States was not in a hurry either to salute what happened in Chisinau. What is interesting is also the fact that the Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta hailed saluted the new government and the new Prime Minister Gaburici. The foreign minister was much more reserved. Minister Aurescu knows much better what is going on, maybe even better than Prime Minister Ponta, when he simply took note, and did not jump quickly on the opportunity to salute developments there, because we can expect now a much more visible turn towards Moscow. In other words, Chisinau remains in a gray area, with a frozen conflict in Transdniestr, and a solution for the Europeanization of Moldova, I believe, is now more remote, after the new government takes office.”



    Subsequently, Ponta himself said that he was not, in fact, happy with the situation in the Republic of Moldova, where there is a minority government dependent on the communists, recalling that in 2014 he worked great together with the Leanca cabinet, supported by all the three pro-European parties. Far from sharing his predecessor’s optimism, Prime Minister Gaburici warned that the Republic of Moldova, poor and poorly managed, undermined by corruption and political squabbles, is very far from living up to European standards:



    “It is nonsensical to talk about European integration in a country rocked by many years of scandal, non-transparent privatizations, without the normalcy of the rule of law. All this talk about European perspectives is counterproductive rhetoric.”



    What is certain is that the first foreign visit made by Gaburici was to Brussels. After meeting him, the EU High Representative for European Foreign Policy and Security, Federica Mogherini said that the new government in Chisinau was a sign that the country resumed its commitment to European principles. She said she was confident that the executive in Chisinau would step up its efforts to see through key reforms, especially in justice and finance, as well as in fighting corruption, to the best interest of all the citizens of the Republic of Moldova.