17 February, 2018

Romanian PM Viorica Dancila to travel to Brussels for first foreign visit./ Romania has strong presence in 68th Berlin Film Festival.

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România Internațional, 17.02.2018, 13:52

Brussels trip. Romania’s prime minister Viorica
Dancila next week travels to Brussels for her first foreign visit. She will
have talks with European leaders, including the head of the European Commission
Jean Claude Juncker, the president of the European Council Donald Tusk, the
speaker of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani and the European Commissioner
for Regional Policy Corina Cretu. Dancila said recently she was planning to
intensify foreign policy actions and the economic relations with the partner
states.

Munich Security Conference. Romania’s
defence minister Mihai Fifor is attending the Munich Security Conference, a
major forum for the discussion of security policy. On Friday, Fifor had a
series of bilateral talks where he presented Romania’s priorities in the area
of defence. According to a defence ministry press release, Fifor met the US
senator and Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ron
Johnson for talks on the relations between Romania and the US, with emphasis on
cooperation within the North Atlantic Alliance. Minister Fifor used the
opportunity to highlight the good discussions he had with the US Defence
Secretary James Mattis at a recent NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels. He
also assured the American partners that Romania is committed to its pledges as
a NATO member and to the Strategic Partnership between the two countries. At a
meeting with the representatives of the Atlantic Council, retired general James
Jones and Alexander Vershbow, minister Fifor underlined the importance
of security in the Black Sea region for the agenda of the forthcoming NATO
summit in July in Brussels. Talks also focused on the importance of the
top-level meeting of the Three Seas Initiative to be hosted by Bucharest this
year.

Republic
of Moldova. On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the prime minister of the Republic of Moldova Pavel Filip
today met the EU Commissioner for European
Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn. The two
officials discussed Moldova’s progress in carrying out the required reforms,
including the requirements for receiving macro-financial assistance from the
EU. Progress was noted in respect of the reform of the judicial system, the
implementation of a new money laundering law and the passing of legislation to
regulate the activity of NGOs. Prime minister Filip said these examples confirm
the determination of the Moldovan authorities to continue on the path of
European integration. He also reiterated his country’s commitment to fulfil the
goals established at the Eastern Partnership summit in November last year.
Commissioner Hahn welcomed the progress made and the commitment of the Moldovan
government to the implementation of reforms at a fast pace and maintained the
EU’s support for its Association Agreement with the Republic of Moldova.

Meeting. The Romanian foreign minister
Teodor Melescanu attended an informal meeting of
EU foreign affairs ministers in the Gymnich format held in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
Melescanu welcomed the idea of a new conference on Syria in Brussels and said
the European Union must play a proactive role in the political process taking
place under the NATO aegis and later in the post-conflict reconstruction
process. He also said Romania was in favour of a continuation of the EU
enlargement process and that this was one of its priorities during its first
presidency of the EU Council in the first half of next year.

Berlin Festival. Romania has a
strong presence this year in the 68th edition of the Berlin Film
Festival which got under way on the 15th of February and comes to an
end on the 25th. Touch Me Not, Adina Pintilie’s feature film debut,
runs in the Competition section. A winner of the Golden Bear in 2013 with
Child’s Pose, the Romanian helmer Calin Peter Netzer will this year be part of
the jury. Touch Me Not, which will be shown for the first time in Berlin, is a
personal exploration that questions our preconceived ideas about intimacy as a
fundamental aspect of human existence. Ioana Uricariu’s Lemonade has been
selected in the Panorama section, which rewards artistic vision and the courage
to be different. Corneliu Porumboiu’s documentary Infinite Football will be
screened in the non-competitive sidebar Forum. Two more Romanian productions
are being shown in the Generation
Kplus competition for children and young people. Last year, Dana Bunescu won
the Silver Bear for the editing in Calin Peter Netzer’s Ana, mon amour.

Tennis. The Romanian tennis player
and world no. 2 Simona Halep pulled out of the WTA tournament in Doha after she
defeated the American player Catherine Bellis in straight sets on Friday night. Halep
said she had to pull out because of a leg injury and that she would neither
play in the Dubai tournament next week. Because of Halep’s withdrawal, Spain’s
Garbine Muguruza, no. 4 in the world, has automatically qualified for Sunday’s
final.