Radio România Internațional

Tag: post-Brexit

  • April 21, 2024

    April 21, 2024

     

    PRESIDENT The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis will be on an official visit to South Korea on April 22 through 24th, at the invitation of his counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol. South Korea is the first Asia-Pacific country with which Romania upgraded its diplomatic relations to a Strategic Partnership level, in 2008. During the Romanian president’s visit to Seoul, this Partnership will be consolidated under a document setting the cooperation directions for the next 10 years. Agreements will be signed in fields such as defence, nuclear energy, investments and foreign trade, emergency cooperation and disaster management, culture, mass-media, youth and sports.

     

    AID After months of postponements, the US House of Representatives Saturday night endorsed a USD 61 bln aid package for Ukraine. This is part of a bigger, USD 95 bln amount that also comprises security aid for Israel and Taiwan. The bill needs to be passed by the Senate as well, but the Democratic majority in the Senate is in favour of the aid. President Joe Biden has already called on the Senate to rush the vote. The aid comes at an extremely difficult time for Kyiv, which desperately needs weapons and ammunitions to withstand Russia’s growing offensive. The vote was welcomed by Western countries and Ukrainian leaders, but Moscow said the aid would only result in more Ukrainians getting killed because of the regime in Kyiv.

     

    EMPLOYMENT In Romania, the employment rate in the 15 to 64 age bracket was 63% last year, the National Statistics Institute announced. According to recently released data, the employment rate was higher among men (some 72%) than women (54%). The highest employment rate was reported last year among higher education graduates (nearly 90%), as opposed to 37% among people with little formal education. According to statistics, employees still account for 86% of the employed population, whereas self-employed and unpaid family workers only made up 13% of the total employed population. Also, around 83% of job holders were employed in the private sector.

     

    BREXIT The British PM Rishi Sunak rejected a European Commission proposal concerning a post-Brexit agreement enabling British youth to live, study and work in the EU and European youth in UK for up to 4 years, France Presse reports. The scheme was intended for young people aged 18 to 30, who would have benefited from visa exemptions and fair tuition fees. London said however it was unwilling to reopen talks concerning the freedom of movement and the strict regulation of the terms of stay in UK.

     

    CHINA The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is to travel to Beijing and Shanghai next week, in a move to appease tensions and to stabilize the relationship between the US and China. The talks scheduled to take place Wednesday through Friday would focus on “strengthening lines of communication to reduce the risk of miscalculation and conflict,” a senior State Department official said. Blinken “will raise clearly and candidly our concerns on issues ranging from human rights, unfair economic and trade practices, to the global economic consequences of PRC industrial over-capacity.  The Secretary will also reiterate our deep concerns regarding the PRC’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base,” the official said. According to the US State Department, there are indications that the relations between the US and China have improved. Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in California in November, resuming communication after a one-year break. The meeting was followed by high-level government talks. The Secretary of the Treasury, Jenet Yellen, also traveled to China this month, for talks with Chinese government officials and US company executives. (AMP)

  • April 28, 2021

    April 28, 2021


    Covid-19RO. Over 2,200 new cases of COVID-19 infection
    were reported in Romania on Wednesday. The number of hospitalized patients is around
    10,000. Of these, more than 1,300 are in intensive care. The total toll, since
    the beginning of the pandemic in February last year, has exceeded 1,050,000 cases
    of infection and 27,800 deaths. The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, has once
    again called on the population to get vaccinated, stating that this is the only
    way to end the pandemic. In the coming days, new vaccination centers will be
    opened in Romania. On Thursday, the first drive-through center will be opened
    in Bucharest, where people will be able to get the jab without prior
    appointment. Moreover, between May 7-9, a marathon of anti-Covid vaccination
    will be organized in the Capital. Currently, about a thousand vaccination
    centers are active, with a capacity of over 120,000 immunized people / day. So
    far, about 3.1 million Romanians have been vaccinated.




    Holiday. Before the May 1st mini-holiday, which this
    year coincides with the Orthodox Easter holiday, Prime Minister Florin Cîţu
    calls on the population to keep observing anti-coronavirus sanitary rules, even
    if Romania is now on a descending slope of the third wave of the pandemic. He has
    urged the prefects and the police to take all measures to ensure compliance
    with the health rules in place. In the Romanian resorts on the Black Sea, over
    30 thousand tourists are expected during the mini-holiday of May 1 and Easter.
    About 100 hotels will be opened, many of them already occupied at 70% capacity,
    the maximum allowed by the authorities. Tourists are not allowed to party on
    the beach, and wearing a mask is mandatory.






    Pandemic. Italy, which is home to the largest
    community of Romanians in the Diaspora, has started a gradual relaxation of restrictions,
    with 50% presence in schools, high schools and colleges, and with terraces,
    cinemas, theaters and museums allowed to open. As of May 15th, citizens
    will have access to swimming pools, from June to gyms, and from July to
    congresses and trade fairs. The Netherlands too is today taking a big step
    towards returning to normal, after four months of strict lockdown, with
    restrictions set to be lifted in several districts in the country. Citizens
    will be able to move during the night, shops and restaurant terraces will be
    reopened only under certain conditions, and the Dutch will be able to receive
    at most two visitors at home, compared to one so far. In Portugal, the state of
    emergency declared in November to curb the spread of Covid-19 will end on
    Friday. Around the world, according to worldometers, since the beginning of the
    pandemic, more than a year ago, some 149 million people have been infected with
    the new coronavirus. 3.1 million have died and more than 127 million have been
    declared cured.


    Government. Two projects for
    the repair and modernization of the Romanian railways are on the agenda of the
    executive in Bucharest, today. Also, a loan is to be approved that will help reform the
    health-care system. An emergency ordinance to protect Romanian workers abroad
    and to combat more effectively illegal employment is another topic on the
    Government’s agenda. This normative act also aims to prevent and reduce the
    possible effects caused by the existence of situations of force majeure or
    health crisis.






    Visit. The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs,
    Bogdan Aurescu, is paying a working visit today to the Hungarian city of Gyula,
    where an important Romanian community lives. According to the MFA, Minister
    Aurescu has a meeting with representatives of the Romanian minority in Hungary,
    for discussions related to the protection and promotion of their ethnic,
    linguistic, cultural and religious identity rights. Bogdan Aurescu will also
    hold consultations with his counterpart Péter Szijjártó and important documents
    will be signed for the development of bilateral relations. The two officials will
    discuss, among other things, rendering the Romanian-Hungarian Chamber of
    Commerce in Budapest operational and the establishment of two new border
    crossing points. The meeting between Bogdan Aurescu and Péter Szijjártó takes
    place against the background of the completion of some important joint projects
    already agreed on the occasion of the visit to Bucharest, in February, of the
    Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs.








    Recovery Plan. France submits its economic recovery plan
    after the pandemic in Brussels today – a decisive step in order to receive 40
    billion euros in European aid. The European Commission has two months to
    evaluate member countries’ plans, and the first money could be accessed this
    summer, after approval by the Council and the European Parliament and national
    parliaments. In order to be validated by the European Commission, as in the
    case of other member countries, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan must
    meet several conditions, namely, to include commitments for long-term reforms, earmark
    37% of the funds for ecological transition, and 20% for digitization. Romania
    will submit its NRRP on May 31. In recent days, there has been an internal
    political dispute, the opposition Social Democratic Party claiming that the
    European Executive has rejected Romania’s draft plan. According to the Liberal
    Prime Minister, Florin Cîţu, at this moment, the plan is being negotiated, and
    the final form has not been established yet.










    Post-Brexit. The European Parliament is expected to
    ratify the post-Brexit trade agreement between the EU and the UK, after MEPs
    debated and voted it on Tuesday. They explained that the document, although not
    perfect, is the best option to mitigate, if not all, at least the worst effects
    of the British withdrawal from the Union and to ensure the integrity of the
    single market. The document sets out preferential regimes, inter alia, for
    trade in goods and services, digital trade, intellectual property, public
    procurement, aviation and road transport, energy and fishing. (MI)



  • Dinamica relaţiilor post-Brexit

    Dinamica relaţiilor post-Brexit

    Prevăzută
    iniţial pentru martie 2019, ieşirea Marii Britanii din Uniunea Europeană a fost
    amânată în câteva rânduri. A intrat în cele din urmă în linie dreaptă după ce
    noul parlament de la Londra, rezultat în urma victoriei conservatorilor la
    anticipatele din Marea Britanie, a aprobat legea acordului de retragere, care
    stabileşte 31 ianuarie 2020 ca dată a ieşirii. A fost pentru prima dată de la
    referendumul din 2016 când lucrurile au început să fie cu adevărat clare.
    Într-un con de umbră rămâne, însă, dinamica relaţiilor post-Brexit. Cum vor
    arăta relaţiile dintre Regatul Unit şi Uniunea Europeană – două entităţi legate
    prin cultură, istorie, chestiuni economice sau de securitate, Marea Britanie
    fiind, de altfel, principalul contributor militar al UE?

    Analistul
    de politică externă Andrei Ţărnea Ieşirea
    Marii Britanii din Uniune nu schimbă natura intereselor care leagă Regatul Unit
    de restul continentului, nu schimbă natura ameninţărilor care sunt comune
    pentru Marea Britanie şi Uniunea Europeană, dar schimbă modul, inclusiv din
    punct de vedere legal, în care aceste cooperări pot să continue. Totodată,
    există chestiunea cetăţenilor Uniunii Europene care lucrează sau trăiesc în Marea
    Britanie şi invers, a cetăţenilor britanici care studiază, lucrează sau sunt
    rezidenţi ai unor state membre ale UE, iar România este unul dintre statele
    care au cetăţeni într-un număr semnificativ prezenţi în Marea Britanie, atât ca
    studenţi, cât şi pe piaţa forţei de muncă.

    Brexitul schimbă raporturile de
    forţe din interiorul Uniunii Europene. E, fără discuţie, o schimbare de centru
    de greutate, consideră analistul Andrei Ţărnea. În ultimii 2-3 ani, vocea
    Regatului Unit, deşi membru al Uniunii, nu a mai avut aceeaşi greutate. Ne
    întoarcem pe formula anterioară: cuplul franco-german, diferit astăzi decât a
    funcţionat el în primii 20 de ani de existenţă a Uniunii Europene, capătă din
    nou greutate într-un context geopolitic schimbat fundamental, într-un context
    regional, într-un context economic diferit, spune Andrei Ţărnea Ne întoarcem la o formulă istorică, Marea
    Britanie nefiind un membru fondator al Uniunii Europene, ea a intrat după ce
    preşedintele De Gaulle nu mai era preşedintele Franţei – acesta a fost unul
    dintre oamenii politici din ţările mari care s-a împotrivit apartenenţei
    Regatului Unit la Uniunea Europeană, la ceea ce va fi devenit apoi Uniunea
    Europeană, comunitatea economică. Ceea ce este important este că Marea Britanie
    a fost întotdeauna un partizan al lărgirii Uniunii Europene, un partizan al
    unei Uniuni Europene extinse, care să funcţioneze ca un instrument de
    coordonare politică, de aliniere în ceea ce priveşte principii şi standarde
    democratice, şi de zonă economică, de funcţionare coerentă la nivelul
    continentului european.

    Se va schimba dinamica relaţiilor internaţionale
    odată cu aşezarea Marii Britanii pe o traiectorie separată de Uniunea
    Europeană? Preşedintele Centrului de Prevenire a Conflictelor, Iulian Chifu,
    insistă pe faptul că se va schimba în primul rând dinamica la nivelul Uniunii
    Europene Ieşirea unuia dintre
    membrii permanenţi ai Consiliului de Securitate, deţinător al armei nucleare,
    din Uniunea Europeană lasă, de fapt, în interior un singur stat – Franţa – un
    singur stat nuclear şi membru permanent al Consiliului de Securitate. Evident
    că acest lucru creează o singularitate, vrem – nu vrem, cu atât mai mult cu cât
    în ecuaţia de putere la nivel european, Franţa doreşte să îşi aroge, o face,
    practic, zi de zi, această responsabilitate pe dimensiunea apărării europene.
    E adevărat că e foarte greu de susţinut
    o Europă care are o apărare condusă de Franţa, din care lipsesc, ca să luăm
    strict raportul dintre NATO şi Uniunea Europeană, SUA, Canada, iată, şi Marea
    Britanie, Norvegia, Turcia, şi aduce în plus state neutre, precum Austria,
    Suedia şi Finlanda, respectiv Danemarca şi Irlanda. Această situaţie este
    cuantificată inclusiv financiar. La nivel european, însă, retragerea Marii
    Britanii e mult mai importantă, pentru că acolo Marea Britanie a jucat şi un
    rol geopolitic de echilibru, ştiţi, perfidul Albion, care nu are aliaţi
    permanenţi, ci are interese. Ei bine, în acest context, dispariţia Marii
    Britanii, care era aliatul Germaniei în privinţa politicilor economice şi
    aliatul Franţei pe dimensiunea de apărare şi securitate, vine să schimbe
    balanţa şi să schimbe şi balanţa de putere în voturile cu dublă majoritate. Iată,
    pe viitor, Franţa şi Germania împreună vor putea să impună agende care nu pot
    fi contrabalansate decât de următoarele 13 state ca potenţă, greutate
    strategică, greutate de vot la rând, adică practic niciodată.     Deci, vorbim
    de roluri mult mai importante decât cele aparente ale Marii Britanii în UE, mai
    spune profesorul universitar Iulian Chifu.

  • Securitatea europeană în perspectiva post-Brexit

    Securitatea europeană în perspectiva post-Brexit

    Un subiect de interes pentru mediul academic și nu numai îl constituie fenomenul Brexit și efectele sale în plan european. Într-un articol găzduit în ediția de vară a Romanian Journal of European Affairs, Valentin Naumescu, conferențiar universitar doctor la Facultatea de Studii Europene, Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai din Cluj-Napoca, și Agnes Nicolescu, doctorand în Studii Europene la Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai din Cluj-Napoca, și-au concentrat analiza pe impactul Brexit asupra politicii de securitate și a discursului politic aferent din Europa Centrală și de Est.



    Astfel, evoluțiile legate de procesul Brexit sunt examinate dintr-o dublă perspectivă: impactul său direct, asupra Uniunii Europene, și impactul său indirect, asupra contribuției Regatului Unit la NATO. În acest context, lucrarea are ca scop să reflecte perspectivele asociate procesului Brexit în țările Europei Centrale și de Est, astfel cum sunt prezentate în documentele și pozițiile oficiale și/sau independente. Articolul analizează, de asemenea, condițiile apariției unei noi relații speciale post-Brexit între Marea Britanie și UE, în domeniul afacerilor externe și al securității.



    Materialul este disponibil integral pe pagina revistei RJEA. (autor: Oana Mocanu, Biroul Studii și Analize, IER)

  • March 20, 2018

    March 20, 2018

    PARLIAMENT – The laws on the judiciary have been endorsed by the Chamber of Deputies today, and are to be submitted to the Senate for a final vote. Previously, a special parliamentary committee passed the bill on the magistrate profession and the one regulating the organisation of the Higher Council of Magistracy. On Monday, the same committee passed the 3rd law in this package, the one concerning the organisation of courts. The bills were brought in line with the decisions of the Constitutional Court, after the Opposition and the High Court of Cassation and Justice challenged the changes adopted by Parliament. These changes include by-passing the President of Romania in the procedure for appointing the chiefs of the Supreme Court, and transferring this role to the Higher Council of Magistracy. The National Liberal Party and Save Romania Union, in Opposition, announced that the new amendments give them reasons to bring the new justice laws before the Constitutional Court again. In fact, Save Romania MPs have today resorted to an unusual protest in the Chamber of Deputies, where they lined up wearing T-shirts that read “#NoCriminals. Some of the changes originally operated on the justice laws have generated large-scale protests among civil society and magistrates.




    DEFENCE – The Supreme Defence Council is convening in Bucharest today, in a meeting chaired by President Klaus Iohannis. The agenda of the meeting includes a review of the work of public institutions in the national security sector in 2017, as well as the main objectives for this year. The Council members are to analyse the work of the Cyber-Security Operations Council and the National Cyber-Security Response Centre. The latter focuses on developing the technical capabilities needed in order to improve the cyber security climate in Romania. Last years activity of the Supreme Defence Council will also be analysed, along with other topics relevant to the national security.




    PROTESTS – In Bucharest, the SANITAS trade union federation has today picketed the headquarters of the Ministry for Public Finances. Unionists demand, among other things, the implementation of pay raises for all healthcare and social assistance personnel as of March 1, the scrapping of the ceiling on bonuses and the offsetting of the income decrease caused by the implementation of a new pay scheme on January 1. Also today, representatives of the National Federation of Trade Unions in Industry have picketed the Economy Ministry, against the backdrop of discontent with the law regulating the national defence industry. The union president, Ioan Neagu, said that at the beginning of the year the Government was supposed to issue a resolution to regulate the number of employees that this industrial sector may absorb per year.




    FRANCOPHONIE – Like other countries in the world, Romania is celebrating International Francophonie Day, marked every year on March 20. Last night the Romanian Embassy in Paris and the Romanian Cultural Institute organised a show at the Louis Jouvet Theatre in Paris, to mark 25 years since Romania joined the Francophonie Organisation. In this context, Ambassador Luca Niculescu mentioned that in December 2018 – July 2019, Bucharest and Paris will organise the Romania-France season, a large-scale joint project focusing on contemporary culture and creativity, as well as areas like education, economy, sports and tourism.




    FRANCE – Frances ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy was detained on Tuesday in a case involving the allegedly illegal funding of his campaign for the 2007 presidential election, which he won at that time, Le Figaro and Le Monde report, quoting judicial sources. Sarkozy may be held in custody for 48 hours at most, and it is for the judges to order his arrest pending trial. Ever since April 2013 Sarkozy has been targeted by an investigation following allegations of Libyas former strongman Muammar Kadhafi financing his presidential election campaign. So far, Sarkozy has denied all accusations.





    BREXIT – The European affairs ministers of the EU member states, including the Romanian Minister Victor Negrescu, are discussing in Brussels today the post-Brexit relations between the Union and the UK. On this occasion, the European Commissions chief negotiator Michel Barnier will present general principles for the transition period, i.e. March 2019 to December 2020. On Monday, Barnier and Londons negotiator, David Davis, announced having reached an agreement on these guidelines, which concern, among other things, the rights of the around 4.5 million European citizens living in the UK and the 1.2 million Britons in the EU. At the end of this week the text will be discussed by the EU leaders during a meeting of the European Council.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)