Romanians and Brexit

Great Britains divorce from the European Union has a direct impact on hundreds of thousands of Romanians who work in the UK, but the Romanian authorities have given assurances that everything will be all right.

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Leyla Cheamil, 17.01.2019, 13:48

After on Tuesday the British PM Theresa May was defeated in the House of Commons, which rejected the Brexit deal negotiated with the EU, the UK’s Conservative government survived Wednesday evening’s no-confidence vote initiated by the opposition Labor Party. PM May announced she would start immediate consultations with all parliamentary parties to find solutions that should lead to the approval of the Brexit accord. Scheduled for March 29, Great Britain’s effective departure from the EU is to take place during Romania’s presidency of the Council of the EU. The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis considers regrettable the British Parliament’s decision on the Brexit deal negotiated by Theresa May, adding that the British government is now expected to clarify its stand and let the EU know what will happen next with the UK.

Klaus Iohannis believes that there are still procedures that can be used to eventually bring about the approval of the Brexit accord. More than 400 thousand Romanians are currently in the UK, representing the second largest foreign community in the country. The question now is how these people will be affected by Brexit. President Iohannis has given assurances that their rights will be respected: “Many Romanians have relatives and friends who work and live in the UK and they wonder what will happen to them after Brexit. If the Brexit accord is eventually approved, the Romanians in the UK will have all their rights ensured for their stay there. But we are also prepared for negotiations that are deemed to be successful, in case of a different scenario. For the moment, nobody should worry about the Romanians in the UK. We are here for them, we are prepared and we will have solutions.”

In turn, the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu estimated that Great Britain’s leaving the EU without a deal might have a direct impact on the Romanian citizens, actually on all the European citizens who live, study and work in Great Britain. In an interview to Radio Romania, Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu pointed out that Romania and Britain have a solid strategic partnership.

Teodor Melescanu: “Romania has a different instrument to use in its relationship with the UK, namely the strategic partnership concluded by the two countries, a partnership that will have to be revised once the UK leaves the European Union.”

According to Melescanu, this partnership should cover not only political issues related to security, economy and finances, but also social issues, including the situation of the Romanians in the UK and their status.