February 18, 2017

Foreign Minister Melescanu takes part in Munich Security Conference

Newsroom, 18.02.2017, 13:53

DIPLOMACY – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Teodor Meleşcanu, is taking part until Sunday in the 53rd Munich Security Conference. He will present Romanias stand on the European and global security situation and will emphasise the importance of the trans-Atlantic relations and of the role of NATO and the EU in the current international context. On Friday, on the side-lines of the Conference, the Romanian official had talks with his French counterpart, Jean-Marc Ayrault, who invited him to Paris in the forthcoming period, an invitation accepted by Melescanu. The Romanian FM also had a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkim, with whom he discussed regional developments. The Munich Security Conference is a prestigious security forum, which traditionally brings together leaders and decision-makers in the field of security and defence from around the world.

MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE – The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, has today called on the world powers, including the US, not to abandon international cooperation against the new challenges to global security. Addressing the Munich Security Conference, Merkel emphasised that multi-national organisations like the EU, NATO and the UN provided a vital framework for addressing the refugee crisis and Islamist terrorism. The German Chancellor also said the European Unions relations with Russia remained challenging, but that cooperation with Moscow was still important in the fight against Islamist terrorism. Attending the Conference, the US Vice-President, Mike Pence, pointed out, in the first major foreign policy statement of the new American Administration, that Washington would support NATO and stand by Europe, even as it looked for new ways to cooperate with Russia.

BUSINESS – The government is the main promotion element for Romania, because American investors look at taxes, stability, predictability and efficiency, and the competition between the countries in the region is tough, said Eric Stewart, head of the American-Romanian Business Council (AMRO). In an interview to the Romanian news agency Agerpres, Stewart said there are investment opportunities in Romania for the American companies in fields like defence, energy, agriculture and healthcare, considering that we will see a shift in focus of the Trump administration towards Europe. He announced that the American-Romanian Business Council would organise an economic mission in Romania in late March, in which 10-12 major American companies will take part, some of them already present in the Romanian market.

AIRPORTS – Romania tops the rankings of the European airports with the quickest increase in passenger flows in 2016, according to a report of the Airports Council International (ACI Europe). The first places are held by the airports in Oradea (with an increase of nearly 500% in passenger numbers compared to 2015) and Iasi (with more than 130%). Third comes the “Aurel Vlaicu International Airport, the second-largest airport in Bucharest, with 122% more passengers than in 2015. Airports Council International Europe is an association representing more than 500 airports in 45 countries.

ROMANIA-US RELATIONS – The USA appreciates the strategic partnership with Romania and pays increasing attention to the security developments at the Black Sea, says the chair of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee in the US House of Representatives, the Republican Rob Wittman. In a meeting in Washington with the Romanian Ambassador George Maior, the US Congressman appreciated Bucharests commitment to trans-Atlantic security, including its hosting of the ballistic missile defence facility at the Deveselu Base. Rob Wittman added that Washington firmly supported the continuation of the European Reassurance Initiative and a relevant rotating presence of American troops on NATOs eastern flank.

BERLINALE – The award ceremony of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival takes place tonight. Selected in the official competition for the Golden Bear trophy is, among other works, the film “Ana, mon amour, by the Romanian director Călin Peter Netzer, which was screened on Friday night. Netzer won the Golden Bear in Berlin in 2013, with his film, Childs Pose. The Romanian actor Tudor Istodor was also nominated in this years “shooting stars category, while the director Ilinca Călugăreanu, actor Alexandru Potocean, director Ioana Mischie, producer Andra Popescu, camera operator Carmen Tofeni, film distributor Matei Truţă and script writer Monica Stan are also representing Romania in the ‘Berlinale Talents’ Programme. “The Dear, a project by Bogdan George Apetri, also took part in the Coproduction Market section.

TENNIS – The Romanian Horia Tecău and the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer will play on Saturday the doubles semi-finals of the Rotterdam tournament in the Netherlands, which has over 1.7 million euros in total prize money. They will be facing the Dutch Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop. In the quarter-finals, Tecău and Rojer outplayed Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez of Spain, seeded 2nd in the tournament, 6-4 / 6-4. The Romanian-Dutch pair won the Rotterdam tournament in 2015.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)