October 2-6, 2023

A roundup of the week's top stories

Daniela Budu, 07.10.2023, 14:00

Romanias president holds top-level talks in Spain

Additional anti-drone defense systems will be transferred to Romania, in the context of the Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports on the Danube, president Klaus Iohannis said on the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit and the informal meeting of the Council of the EU, both hosted by Granada, Spain. President Iohannis described the attacks on the Ukrainian ports as war crimes, as they target civilian infrastructure. The central focus of the summit was Ukraine, while the EU Council meeting focused on EU enlargement. Klaus Iohannis said that it is very important for Ukraine and Moldova to make quick progress towards European integration, arguing in favor of accelerating the European accession track of other states in the Western Balkans. The target for the next phase of EU enlargement, slated for 2030, is unrealistic, the president said. On the other hand, president Iohannis co-chaired, jointly with the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, a panel focusing on topics such as energy, the environment and combating the effects of climate change. The Romanian president recalled that the EU decided to open European energy markets to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and grant candidate countries access to the European Platform for joint purchases of natural gas.

Romanias Foreign Minister in Kyiv

The Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminiţa Odobescu, on Monday attended the informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Kyiv, for the first time held outside community space. Minister Odobescu insisted on continuing multidimensional support for Ukraine for as long as it is necessary. According to the Romanian Defense Ministry, the Romanian official referred to Russias continuous attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, close to Romanias borders, which generate security risks, highlighting the need for a long-term regional strategy that should also include the Republic of Moldova.

„The security situation in Ukraine and around Ukraine is dire. Romania has the longest border with Ukraine. Russias attacks on the civilian infrastructure, including on the ports of Danube, very close to the Romanian border, are war crimes. For us, it is important to continue the support for Ukraine. But what Russia is doing close to our borders is undermining the Ukrainian economy, the food security, including at the global level, and also the civil navigation in the Black Sea. Romania will continue its effort in supporting Ukraine with the transit of the cereals. Until now, more than 25 million tons of Ukrainian cereals have transited Romania via the solidarity lanes. We are working closely with the Ukrainian government, with the European Commission, with our partners, to increase the transit capacity from 2 million tons to 4 million tons by the end of this year”.

As regards Ukraines European aspirations, Luminița Odobescu expressed support for starting EU negotiation talks with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova by the end of the year, and hailed Ukraines progress in implementing the European Commissions recommendations in this respect.

German Unity Day, marked in Bucharest

Germany firmly supports Romanias „well-deserved accession” to the travel-free Schengen area, which would benefit Romania, Germany and the EU as a whole, said Germanys Ambassador in Bucharest, Peer Gebauer, on the sidelines of a cocktail party celebrating German Unity Day and the Reunification of Germany of October 1990. The German ambassador recalled Romania has fulfilled all technical accession criteria to join Schengen. „Let me assure you that the overwhelming majority of EU states support the Schengen accession bid of Romania and Bulgaria and they will all make efforts to come up with a solution to make that happen as soon as possible”, the German ambassador also said. Attending the event in Bucharest, President Klaus Iohannis expressed appreciation for Berlins constant support for Romanias Schengen accession. EU and NATO states should act together to protect their shared values, the president argued. In turn, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said opposition to Schengen accession is the last „bastion of division in Europe”.

Conclusions of the IMF delegation in Romania

The Romanian Government should have as priorities the elimination of remaining exemptions, privileges and loopholes, further VAT streamlining and better tax collection, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation that assessed, until Wednesday, the state of the Romanian economy said in a press release. The recently adopted fiscal package is a step in the right direction but further adjustment is need, the release reads. Also needed are, according to the international experts, new investment in and budget allocations to education and healthcare, to bring them to EU level. The new fiscal package will improve public finances in 2024 and beyond, by about 1 percent of the GDP, resulting in a deficit of just above 5 percent of GDP, in 2024. However, fiscal deficits will need to fall below 3 percent of GDP, as agreed with the European Commission, IMF experts concluded. The National Bank of Romania (BNR) announced, after its own assessment of the Romanian economy, that the package of fiscal measures the Government plans to introduce to balance the budget will also influence the inflation rate. According to BNR, this indicator will continue to decrease until the end of the year. At the same time, BNR announced that it decided to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at 7% per year, a figure that has remained unchanged since January. (VP/EE)