Radio România Internațional

Tag: foreign ministers

  • Romania and NATO

    Romania and NATO

    The Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu took part in a Romanian-Poland-Turkish trilateral meeting in Warsaw, ahead of the NATO summit to be hosted by the Polish capital city in early July. The three officials discussed the security challenges in the region, and in this context they highlighted the importance of strengthening collective defence, as well as NATOs eastern flank. The Romanian Minister voiced his confidence that the NATO Summit would reconfirm the Allies unity and cohesion in a multi-dimensional approach to security challenges, irrespective of their source. He also said that ensuring NATO presence on eastern Member State territory remains of the essence, and stressed the complementary nature of the southern and northern sections of the eastern flank.



    Lazar Comanescu: “We are aware of the special importance and attention that must be paid to the northern segment of NATOs eastern flank. It is equally important to pay similar attention to the eastern and south-eastern segment, because, if we look at the sources of the security threats, which are in fact threats to both security and stability, we see that they primarily occur closer to our own region, particularly the Black Sea region, including Crimea and Ukraine.



    The Romanian official also emphasised the strategic importance of the Black Sea for the Euro-Atlantic security, and pleaded for consolidating and coordinating NATO and EU efforts and the relationship between NATO and its eastern partners.



    Lazar Comanescu: “We have all agreed on the importance of and need for the Warsaw summit bringing about decisions that truly contribute to consolidating the Alliance capabilities and its ability to cope with these challenges. We are talking about a stronger presence of the Alliance in the region, be it ground or air presence. And what is also very important, not only for us but also for the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic region, is to identify a framework for cooperation and for the presence of the Alliance in the Black Sea region.



    The trilateral talks between the Romanian, Polish and Turkish foreign ministers were initiated by Bucharest, four years ago, and are based on the convergence of national approaches to a substantial number of topics. Held in an informal format, the talks are intended to contribute to exchanging views and improving coordination within NATO.

  • Romania and NATO

    Romania and NATO

    The Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu took part in a Romanian-Poland-Turkish trilateral meeting in Warsaw, ahead of the NATO summit to be hosted by the Polish capital city in early July. The three officials discussed the security challenges in the region, and in this context they highlighted the importance of strengthening collective defence, as well as NATOs eastern flank. The Romanian Minister voiced his confidence that the NATO Summit would reconfirm the Allies unity and cohesion in a multi-dimensional approach to security challenges, irrespective of their source. He also said that ensuring NATO presence on eastern Member State territory remains of the essence, and stressed the complementary nature of the southern and northern sections of the eastern flank.



    Lazar Comanescu: “We are aware of the special importance and attention that must be paid to the northern segment of NATOs eastern flank. It is equally important to pay similar attention to the eastern and south-eastern segment, because, if we look at the sources of the security threats, which are in fact threats to both security and stability, we see that they primarily occur closer to our own region, particularly the Black Sea region, including Crimea and Ukraine.



    The Romanian official also emphasised the strategic importance of the Black Sea for the Euro-Atlantic security, and pleaded for consolidating and coordinating NATO and EU efforts and the relationship between NATO and its eastern partners.



    Lazar Comanescu: “We have all agreed on the importance of and need for the Warsaw summit bringing about decisions that truly contribute to consolidating the Alliance capabilities and its ability to cope with these challenges. We are talking about a stronger presence of the Alliance in the region, be it ground or air presence. And what is also very important, not only for us but also for the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic region, is to identify a framework for cooperation and for the presence of the Alliance in the Black Sea region.



    The trilateral talks between the Romanian, Polish and Turkish foreign ministers were initiated by Bucharest, four years ago, and are based on the convergence of national approaches to a substantial number of topics. Held in an informal format, the talks are intended to contribute to exchanging views and improving coordination within NATO.

  • September 4, 2015

    September 4, 2015

    The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, has today sent a letter to the heads of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, announcing that he intends to address Parliament on September 16. The head of state last gave an address in Parliament on June 22, when he presented Romanias National Defence Strategy for 2015 – 2019. Subsequently endorsed by the two chambers of Parliament, the Defence Strategy brings forth the new concept of broadened security.



    The Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is taking part on Friday and Saturday in Luxemburg in an informal meeting of the EU foreign ministers. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, talks will focus on topics like the EU eastern border, particularly the recent developments in Ukraine and the relations with the Russian Federation, the Middle East peace process, relations with Iran and the immigrant crisis. Special attention will be paid to the stage of the reform process in the countries on the east of the EU, particularly the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine, the security situation in east Ukraine and the measures required for the immediate implementation of the Minsk agreements.



    In the neighbouring Republic of Moldova the multi-national military exercise Fire Shield has begun, with 26 troops from Romania and 150 from the USA taking part. The exercise marks 24 years since the formation of the National Army of Moldova, shortly after Chisinau proclaimed its independence from Moscow, on August 27, 1991. Also these days, more than 100 Moldovan military are taking part in the Sea Breeze-2015 drills, taking place in Ukraine under the NATO aegis. According to the Constitution, the Republic of Moldova is a neutral state, but it has been cooperating with NATO since 1994. The capital city Chisinau hosts an Alliance intelligence centre, and Moldovan troops took part in the post-conflict reconstruction operation in Iraq between 2003 and 2008.



    Bucharest may sign a new assistance agreement with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union in 2016, to protect its economy against market shocks, the Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici told Bloomberg. According to him, Romania stands on its own and does not need IMF funding, but a flexible deal would be a good idea, as a safety net against market instability. Since the start of the economic crisis in 2009 to date, Romania has signed 3 consecutive loan agreements with the IMF and the EU, which served as an anchor for the governmental policies related to the budget, the privatisation of state-owned companies and the economy, Bloomberg notes. The current agreement with the IMF amounts to 2 billion euros, but so far Bucharest has not used these funds.



    Romanias national football team is playing tonight away from home against neighbouring Hungary, in the European Championship qualifiers. This will be followed on Monday by a game in Bucharest against Greece. With four wins and two draws in six games, Romania tops the qualifying Group F, with 14 points, followed by Northern Ireland with 13, and Hungary with 11. Romanias last matches in the group stage are in October, against Faroe Islands away from home and against Finland, on home turf. Romania last took part in a European final tournament in 2008, but failed to get past the group stage. Also today, Romanias U-21 team is playing in Targu Mures against Bulgaria, in the qualifiers of the 2017 European Youth Championship. On Tuesday, in Yerevan, the young Romanian footballers will take on Armenia, which they defeated 3-0 in March on home turf.



    Also in sports, Romanias national rugby team plays against Tonga in Bucharest on Saturday, in the last test before leaving for England for the World Cup due to begin on September 18. Romania is part of the competitions Group D, alongside France, Ireland, Canada and Italy. The Romanian rugby team has taken part in all the World Cup final tournaments so far, but they never got past the group stage.