Radio România Internațional

Tag: Romania-Germany relations

  • May 24, 2023 UPDATE

    May 24, 2023 UPDATE

    VISIT – The president of Romania, Klaus
    Iohannis, on Wednesday met his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier who
    is paying a three-day state visit to Romania. The two presidents discussed
    political, security and economic cooperation and conveyed a joint message of
    solidarity with and support for Ukraine and of support for the Republic of
    Moldova. Klaus Iohannis expressed Romania’s appreciation for Germany’s firm
    support for Romania’s Schengen accession. In turn, president Steinmeier said
    Germany has long believed Romania belongs in Schengen. The German official also
    met with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă. The two highlighted the privileged
    status of Romanian-German relations, grounded on a consistent political
    dialogue and a robust economic collaboration. Prime Minister Ciucă hailed the
    activity of the over 25 thousand companies with German capital in Romania,
    which makes Germany the top investor in a number of major sectors of the
    Romanian economy.


    DEFENSE – Defense spending is an investment,
    a lesson Romania understands, Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr has told Radio
    Romania. The current security context has highlighted a need to increase
    defense spending, the Romanian official said, arguing this allows Romania to
    access state-of-the-art technologies and capabilities and help ensure a climate
    of peace, predictability and stability. The Romanian official on Tuesday
    attended the EU Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels, discussing military aid
    to Ukraine. According to the EU’s chief of diplomacy, Josep Borrell, Member
    States have managed to deliver a quarter of shells promised for an entire year
    within just a few days. However, the next installment of military aid disbursed
    to Ukraine remains blocked due to opposition from Hungary. Attending the event,
    NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also referred to heavy tanks delivered
    to Kyiv by a number of allied states, as well as the training of Ukrainian
    pilots to fly F-16 jets.


    HEALTHCARE – A
    strike action in the healthcare system depends on how negotiations with
    government representatives will unfold, Leonard Bărăscu, the leader of the
    SANITAS Federation has said on Wednesday upon meeting with Chamber of Deputies
    Speaker Marcel Ciolacu, who is expected to be appointed Prime Minister in the
    upcoming period. Leonard Bărăscu said the salary law must be observed to the
    letter, while revenues for nurses, for instance, should be increased two-three
    times. Healthcare trade unions have announced a strike action on June 15.


    BOOKFEST – The Bookfest International Book Fair got under
    way in Bucharest in the presence of the Romanian minister for culture Lucian
    Romaşcanu and Italy’s ambassador to Romania Alfredo Maria Durante Mangoni.
    Italy is the fair’s guest country this year. On this occasion, Ambassador
    Mangoni said relations between Italy and Romania are very strong at all levels.
    Over 200 exhibitors from around the country and the neighboring Republic of
    Moldova, alongside foreign cultural institutes will be present every day until
    Sunday, according to the Book Publishers’ Association in Romania, the organizer
    of the event. Twelve Italian writers are taking part in book presentations and
    debates, almost half of them having already had their works translated into
    Romanian. A project co-funded by the ministry of culture, Bookfest also travels
    to Timişoara, Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Mureş, Braşov and Chişinău.


    TENNIS – Romania will play Serbia in the Billie
    Jean King Cup playoffs following Wednesday’s draw in London. The matches will
    be played in November, and the winner is set to play the preliminaries for the
    final tournament. The loser will play in Group I. In April, Romania lost to
    Slovenia 3-2 after leading 2-0, thus failing to qualify to the final
    tournament. (CM & VP)

  • February 20, 2020 UPDATE

    February 20, 2020 UPDATE


    COUNCIL
    MEETING – Romania wants consistent financing for cohesion and agriculture
    policies, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday in Brussels on the
    sidelines of a special session of the European Council, which has high on its
    agenda the EU Multiannual Financial Framework for the period between 2021 and
    2027. Other topics the President mentioned were digitization, artificial
    intelligence, research and student mobility. Klaus Iohannis also wants the EU
    budget to be bigger than the previous one. Statements by several European
    leaders on Wednesday suggest that negotiations over the EU’s multiannual
    budget, the first after Brexit, are going to be tough and complicated. The
    purpose of the meeting is to reach consensus on the proposals elaborated on
    February 14 by European Council president, Charles Michel.




    MEETING
    – Foreign Minister designate Bogdan Aurescu on Thursday met in Berlin with his
    German counterpart, Heiko Mass, in the context of celebrating 140 years of
    bilateral diplomatic relations. Aurescu recalled Romania’s legitimate goal of
    joining the Schengen Area, highlighting our country’s fulfillment of all
    technical criteria and the important contribution to EU security. The Romanian
    official said the functioning of the Schengen Area will not be complete without
    Romania’s accession. The two officials expressed convergent views regarding the
    strategic importance of the EU’s enlargement policy, the Romanian Minister
    reiterating Romania’s support for opening EU accession negotiations with
    Albania and North Macedonia. The two also discussed the Three Seas Initiative,
    with the Romanian official expressing Romania’s support for Germany becoming a
    full member. Heiko Mass expressed his gratitude for Romania’s full observance
    of the rights of ethnic Germans living in Romania. Bogdan Aurescu also met with
    the head of the Presidential Administration in Berlin, Stephan Steinlein.




    ATTACKS
    – Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has firmly condemned the violent attacks
    against innocent people in the German city of Hanau. Iohannis has expressed
    condolences to those who lost relatives and friends adding that Romania stands
    in solidarity with Germany, Iohannis wrote on Twitter on Thursday. Nine people
    were killed in a shooting in Hanau, close to Frankfurt, on Wednesday. The
    culprit who was found dead in his house, allegedly expressed far-right views in
    a letter of confession.




    FLU VIRUS
    – The number of people who’ve died to the flu virus this flu season in Romania
    has reached 44. The last 4 victims are women aged 41-79, none of whom had taken
    the anti-flu shot. Some 7,600 new cases have been reported in Romania, a number
    above experts’ estimates. Medical professionals say the number of acute
    respiratory disease and flu virus infections will continue to rise over the
    coming period. Dozens of schools and kindergartens are partially or fully
    closed down due to the flu.




    CORONAVIRUS
    – China on Thursday reported the most significant drop in the number of
    infections with the new coronavirus in the Hubei province, the centre of the
    epidemic. This is the lowest rate in the past month although at national level,
    China has reported 114 new deaths, which bring the death toll up to 2,118 and
    the total number of infections to 74,500. In another development, two elderly
    people from the cruise liner Diamond Princess, where 600 people have been
    infected with the new virus, have also died, authorities in Japan have
    announced. The ship was quarantined in the port of Yokohama in early February.
    Those infected, including two Romanian nationals, are being treated in
    hospitals in Japan. The other 15 Romanians on board, who are healthy, will be
    repatriated under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. So far 6 of them, two
    passengers and 4 crew members, have expressed their willingness to return to
    Romania, the Foreign Ministry reports. The ship was quarantined until
    Wednesday, when disembarking procedures commenced.




    TRAVEL FAIR
    – The spring edition of Romania’s Travel Fair is underway in Bucharest from Thursday
    until Sunday. The event has brought together over 300 travel agencies offering
    holiday packages in Romania and abroad including for the upcoming Easter
    holidays. Operators are pledging significant price cuts, even down to 50%. The
    most sought-after destinations are Turkey, Greece, Spain, Tunisia and Egypt but
    there are also exotic destinations like Bali or Thailand.




    WEIGHTLIFTING
    – Romania will host the Under-20 World Weightlifting Championships in Bucharest
    over March 14-21. The competition is rated Gold in the run-up to the Olympic
    Games in Tokyo. Some 350 athletes from up to 70 countries have enrolled, the
    president of the Romanian Weightlifting Federation, Nicu Vlad, has said. Representing
    Romania will be 15 athletes.


    (translated by V. Palcu)