Radio România Internațional

Tag: negotiator

  • March 25, 2022 UPDATE

    March 25, 2022 UPDATE

    LOAN The Romanian government on Friday
    approved a non-reimbursable 100 million euro loan for the neighboring Republic
    of Moldova. Romania thus wants to support the authorities in Chisinau in their
    efforts to accomplish a series of development projects and reforms. In the same
    session, the Executive decided to include 50% from the net profits of two
    national companies, Romgaz and Transelectrica, into the state budget.








    MEETING Romania’s
    President Klaus Iohannis had a bilateral meeting with the German Chancellor
    Olaf Scholz on Friday on the sidelines of the European Council meeting. The two
    talked about further strengthening bilateral relations, with a focus on
    economic and energy cooperation, as well as on Romania’s accession to the
    Schengen area. ‘We continue coordination in relation to the security situation
    and the ways to help the refugees from Ukraine, Klaus Iohannis wrote on
    Twitter. Romania’s President attended the European Council meeting on Thursday
    and Friday. On the first day of the meeting, he met with the Prime Minister of
    Bulgaria, Kiril Petkov. Talks with the Bulgarian official focused on
    coordinating the security situation in the region, helping Ukrainian refugees,
    deepening economic and energy cooperation and accelerating interconnectivity
    between the two countries. On Thursday, Klaus Iohannis also attended the
    Extraordinary NATO Summit.








    REFUGEES Roughly 3.7 million people have left
    Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24th,
    says a UN report published on Friday, which also confirms that the exodus has
    slowed down of late. Over 10 million people, more than a quarter of Ukraine’s
    population have left their homes. UN estimates that around 6.5 million people have
    been relocated inside the country. Close to 90% of those who fled the country
    because of the conflict are women and children. According to the Romanian
    border police, nearly 10 thousand Ukrainian citizens entered Romania on
    Thursday. Over 537 thousand Ukrainian refugees have entered Romania since the
    beginning of the crisis.








    COVID-19 On Friday Romania reported 3,725 new Covid cases in 24
    hours as well as 41 related fatalities. 415 people are presently being treated
    in ICUs across Romania, the lowest number in the past 3 months. No anti-Covid
    restrictions have been applied in Romania in the past two weeks though the
    country’s Health Minister Alexandru Rafila has recommended the observance of
    individual protection measures.








    GROUP The United States and the European Union announced on Friday the setting up
    of a working group that will aim to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia’s
    fossil energy resources due to Moscow’s war against Ukraine, AFP reports. The US
    is expected to supply the European Union with an additional 15 billion cubic
    meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) this year as part of an initiative
    announced by US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula
    von der Leyen. Both the NATO and G7 summits were held in the Belgian capital on
    Thursday, with the participation of US President Joe Biden. NATO has decided to
    provide additional assistance to Ukraine and continue to strengthen the eastern
    flank by sending four new multinational combat groups to Romania, Bulgaria,
    Hungary and Slovakia.






    UKRAINE The Ukrainian army’s counterattacks and the difficulties of the Russian
    forces in relation to their supply lines have allowed Ukraine to reoccupy
    cities and defensive positions up to 35 kilometers east of the capital Kyiv,
    the UK Ministry of Defense was quoted by EFE as saying on Friday. The Ukrainian
    forces are likely to continue trying to push the Russian army along the
    northwest axis between Kyiv and the Hostomel airfield, about 70 kilometers from
    the capital, according to British intelligence services which have data from
    the ground. In southern Ukraine, the Russian forces are still trying to bypass
    the city of Mikolaiv (Nikolaiev) in an effort to advance westward in the
    direction of Odessa, according to the British Ministry of Defense. However,
    their progress is slowed by logistical problems and Ukrainian resistance. The
    humanitarian situation in the besieged city of Mariupol continues to
    deteriorate, while Russia is blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid, the city
    mayor said. Most of the city is now in ruins. About 100,000 people remain
    stranded in Mariupol, and the large-scale evacuation efforts have failed. In
    another development, the peace talks between the two sides are making little
    progress in the key issues, Moscow’s Chief Negotiator Vladimir Medinski said on
    Friday. However he admitted that some headway was made in secondary issues,
    France Press Reports. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said on Friday
    that the negotiation process is very difficult and no consensus with Moscow is
    envisaged in the present stage of the negotiations.






    (bill)








  • The Week in Review, October 1-6, 2018

    The Week in Review, October 1-6, 2018

    Debate in the European Parliament on the rule of law in Romania


    The rule of law in Romania has been discussed in the European Parliament this week, with focus on the recent changes brought to the justice laws by the ruling coalition formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila too was invited to Strasbourg for talks. The European Commission has been following with concern the latest developments in Romania, said the First Vice-President of the Commission Frans Timmermans at the start of the debate. He said that the country had taken steps backwards as regards the reform of the judiciary and the fight against corruption, speaking of the controversial changes brought by the left wing ruling coalition in Romania to the justice laws and the sacking of the head of the Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi, although the directorates activity had brought about a positive evaluation in the latest CVM report. In reply, Viorica Dancila said that a viable justice system must be built first for the citizens, and not for magistrates, politicians and institutions. She also said she did not come to Strasbourg to account, but out of respect and appreciation for the European forum, and called for a similar attitude towards Romania, just like the other member states.



    Viorica Dancila: “This mechanism has failed to meet the aim it was created for and I officially request for us to be told who drew up the CVM reports, who provided the data and failed to mention, out of negligence or in bad faith, these realities which are unconceivable in the European Union.



    Viorica Dancila also defended the Romanian Gendarmerie, accused of acting disproportionately at the anti-Government protest on August 10th in Bucharest. In her opinion, the gendarmes intervened just as other similar structures from other European countries have done. We recall that following the gendarmes brutal intervention, 770 criminal complaints have been filed by people who suffered during the protest, and several gendarmerie chiefs are being prosecuted. The debates in Strasbourg have triggered different reactions from the Romanian EMPs, who have criticized Frans Timmermans for his opinion or blamed one another or the current government. In Bucharest too, the stands taken by representatives of the various parliamentary parties have been different. The leaders of the ruling coalition hailed the prime-ministers speech, while the opposition National Liberal Party and Save Romania Union believe that Viorica Dancila presented a parallel reality.



    The EU chief negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier, on a visit to Romania


    The European Unions chief negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier, had a meeting in Bucharest with key Romanian political leaders. They looked at the current stage of the Unions negotiations with London, and at the next steps to be taken in Britains withdrawal from the European bloc. President Klaus Iohannis has underlined that preserving the unity of the 27 member states in the Brexit talks is extremely important. In turn, Michel Barnier emphasized that Romania, as the holder of the rotating presidency of the EU Council, will play a key role in the negotiations on the future relations between the EU and the UK. In turn, the Romanian PM Viorica Dancila underlined that Romania pays special heed to the Brexit file, given that a large Romanian community is living in the UK. Dancila also said that Romania will closely monitor the implementation of the exit agreement, so that all the Romanian citizens residing in the UK may continue to live, work and study in the same terms as they have done so far. Romanians make up the second largest foreign minority in the UK, after the Polish one.



    A former tourism minister and a former head of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism in Romania (DIICOT) have been detained in Costa Rica


    The Romanian police have confirmed that the former tourism minister Elena Udrea and the former head of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), Alina Bica, have been detained in Costa Rica. They have been placed under pre-trial arrest for two months. The two women have applied for asylum in Costa Rica. Udrea and Bica were under investigation, surveillance and monitoring by the Costa Rican authorities, as they were wanted internationally by Interpol, following the sentences they had received in Romania. For a long time seen as the most influential character in the former president Traian Basescus entourage, Udrea received from the High Court of Cassation and Justice a final 6-year prison sentence for bribe taking and abuse of office. The same court sentenced Bica to 4 years in prison, in a case in which she was accused of aiding and abetting a criminal.



    Referendum to revise the Constitution


    Some 19 million Romanian voters are called to the polls on Saturday and Sunday to vote in a referendum on redefining family in the Romanian Constitution, to say whether they agree to see the definition in the Constitution, which currently reads “the consented marriage between spouses, changed into “the consented marriage between a man and a woman. The draft has been voted in Parliament. Over 18,600 polling stations are set up at national level. 378 other polling stations have been opened for the Romanians living abroad. More than half of them have been set up at the diplomatic missions, consular offices and cultural institutes abroad, and the rest of them in other locations. Most polling stations have been opened in Italy, Spain, the Republic of Moldova, the US, Great Britain, France and Germany. For the referendum to be valid, at least 30% of the voters registered on permanent electoral lists must take part, and at least 25% of the votes must be valid.


    (translated by: Mihaela Ignatescu, Diana Vijeu)

  • EU chief negotiator for Brexit, in Bucharest

    EU chief negotiator for Brexit, in Bucharest

    The European Unions chief negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier, had a meeting in Bucharest with key Romanian political leaders. They looked at the current stage of the Unions negotiations with London, and at the next steps to be taken in Britains withdrawal from the European bloc.



    Michel Barniers presence in the Romanian capital is not accidental. On January 1, Romania is to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union Council, and the agenda of the following 6 months will be dominated by this delicate issue, which is expected to be settled in the first half of next year. In fact, Michel Barnier himself emphasised that, as the holder of the rotating Council presidency, Romania will play a key role in ensuring the institutional framework required for an orderly withdrawal of the UK from the Union and in the negotiations on the future relations between the two parties.



    Preserving the unity of the 27 member states in the Brexit talks is extremely important, and it is an essential prerequisite for the proper management of the entire process, President Klaus Iohannis said during his meeting with Michel Barnier. In his view, the integrity of the single market and the indivisibility of the 4 freedoms are core pillars of the European project, and they are non-negotiable. Equally important, according to the President of Romania, is the Brexit financial settlement.



    And not least, given that the Romanians make up the second largest foreign minority in the UK, after the Polish one, Bucharest firmly supports the importance of an ambitious mobility regulatory framework, which will fully comply with the non-discrimination and reciprocity principles. As PM Viorica Dancila and Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu said, Bucharest will closely monitor the implementation of the exit agreement, so that all the Romanian citizens residing in the UK may continue to live, work and study in the same terms as they have done so far.



    According to the National Statistics Institute and other relevant institutions, 328,000 Romanians live in the UK at present, with the largest communities reported in urban areas like London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds and Belfast. More than 2,000 Romanian physicians work in Britain, alongside financial and banking experts, artists, architects, teachers, IT experts and researchers. Around 10,000 Romanian youths are currently enrolled in British universities.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)