March 30, 2017

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has several meetings scheduled today in Malta, the current holder of the EU rotating presidency/ Crown Prince Charles of Great Britain is on an official visit to Romania

Corina Cristea, 30.03.2017, 13:53

EPP SUMMIT – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, is today attending the Summit of the European Peoples Party, EPP, in La Valletta, Malta, a country which is holding the half yearly rotating presidency of the European Union since January 1st 2017. According to the Presidential Administration, attending the summit are some 1,500 officials, among whom EU heads of state and government as well as presidents of European institutions. The Romanian President will also attend the EPP Summit in enlarged format, with such issues as the Western Balkans and Brexit being high on the agenda of the talks. On the sidelines of the summit, President Iohannis will have a meeting with Maltese PM Joseph Muscat, the talks covering issues of topical interest on the agenda of the European Union, Brexit and Romanian-Maltese bilateral relations. In another move, the talks with the Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko, will mainly focus on Ukraines European path.

PRINCE CHARLES – On the second day of his official visit to Bucharest, the Crown Prince Charles of Great Britain is due to meet PM Sorin Grindeanu and members of the Royal Family of Romania. Yesterday, President Klaus Iohannis awarded Prince Charles the “Star of Romania National Order in Rank of Grand Cross, in token of appreciation for promoting Romanias image abroad. The British Crown Prince has said everything he has done in the past 20 years since he started visited Romania was to help the Romanians remember how special and unique their country is, their architectural heritage and above all, the potential they have in todays world. Klaus Iohannis and Prince Charles have discussed, among others, ways to boost and deepen the bilateral Strategic Partnership, also in the field of security, the evolution of bilateral relations following the launch of Brexit talks, laying emphasis on the situation of the Romanian community in Great Britain. This is the second official visit by British Crown Prince to Romania in the past 19 years.

HELICOPTER MANUFACTURING – The European company Airbus Helicopters and the Romanian firm IAR Ghimbav (in the centre) are today signing a contract for the manufacturing of the H 215 type of helicopters in Ghimbav. At present this model is assembled in France, but the European company intends to transfer the whole production line to Ghimbav. The investment in the Ghimbav factory exceeds 50 million Euros and will create 350 jobs. If working at maximum capacity, the factory will assemble some 15 helicopters per year. Also today, representatives of the European company, who want Romania to buy the first such helicopters, are today meeting PM Sorin Grindeanu and the economy minister. Attending the talks will also be Olivier Michalon, Senior Vice President and Head of Europe Region at Airbus Helicopters. Yesterday, the Romanian Prime Minister and the economy minister also held talks with representatives of the big American companies Bell Helicopters and Boeing, which also take interest in the Romanian aeronautical market and are willing to make new investments.

BREXIT – The British government is today offering details on the pieces of legislation meant to put an end to the supremacy of community laws over the British ones, also by taking the UK out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Yesterday, Theresa May officially launched the start of Brexit talks, that is of the process of leaving the European Union, at the end of a 44 year membership during which it enjoyed a privileged status within the community. In order to avoid a “legislative vacuum, the new norms should come into force on the day when the UK actually leaves the Union. According to pundits, this is a very difficult measure, because of a high volume of laws and the short time span during which Brexit negotiations will be unfolding, that is by October 2018. In turn, the President of the Europeran Council, Donald Tusk, has announced that tomorrow he will make a proposal containing the main lines of the negotiation process. He has said the negotiation team will do everything possible to reduce the costs produced by Brexit for European citizens and firms as well as for the member states.

TENNIS– Romanias number one woman tennis player, Simona Halep (no. 5 WTA) got eliminated in the quarterfinals of the WTA tennis tournament in Miami, Florida, with 6.9 million dollars in prize money up for grabs. She was defeated on Wednesday by the British player Johanna Konta, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2. The two tennis players had earlier met only once, in 2015, in the eights finals of the Wuhan Tournament in China, when the victory was secured by Konta, too. Simona Halep was the last Romanian woman tennis player performing in this edition of the Miami Tournament. (Translated by D. Vijeu)