June 23, 2017

Political consultations in Bucharest/ Summer meeting of the European Council in Brussels/ President Iohannis attends Brussels summit

Newsroom, 23.06.2017, 13:37

Political Consultations — The future prime minister of Romania has to be an incorruptible person, without legal problems, who has the capacity to run a government and is supported by a parliamentary majority, says President Klaus Iohannis. On Monday he will hold consultations with all parliamentary parties with a view to designating a new prime minister, after the leftist government headed by Sorin Grindeanu was brought down following a no-confidence motion filed by the coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, that had previously appointed the PM.

Brussels summit — In Brussels continues, Friday, the summer meeting of the European Council with talks focusing on economy and trade. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, the leaders of the EU member states are to reconfirm their commitment to promoting free trade and investments on condition benefits are mutual. High on the agenda of talks are also illegal migration and an analysis of the measures that need to be taken to fight it. On Thursday the participants in the summit agreed to extend by another 6 months the economic sanctions against Russia and to intensify the fight against terrorism. The participants in the European Council decided to have a tighter cooperation with the on-line industry and called on the companies owning social networks to take measures to prevent the spread of instances of incitement to terrorism through the Internet. On behalf of Romania, President Klaus Iohannis pleaded for a tighter cooperation among all EU members on security issues. He also said he was against what he called ‘parallelism with NATO’ and expressed support for the setting up of community structures that should be complementary to NATO structures.

Iohannis in Brussels — The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, on Friday met in Brussels, on the sidelines of the European Council summit, with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who is participating in the summit for the first time. President Iohannis said the agenda of talks also featured Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, the stage and prospects of the French-Romanian relations as well as the political situation in Bucharest. Previous to his travel to Brussels, President Iohannis visited Germany where he met his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the federal chancellor Angela Merkel. In early June, the Romanian president’s foreign policy agenda included a 5-day working visit to the US, which was dominated by his meeting with the White House leader, Donald Trump.

UK-Romania relations — The British ambassador to Bucharest, Paul Brummell, has said that, despite Brexit, Great Britain remains a friend and partner of Romania. He has added that 2017 has been the most intense year of late, in terms of the military partnership between London and Bucharest. “Romanians who are living, working and studying in Great Britian are welcome” said ambassador Brummell who showed his appreciation for the quality of Romanian doctors who work in Great Britain. In turn, the Romanian foreign minister, Teodor Meleşcanu, underlined that the volume of trade exchanges between Romania and Great Britain stood at 4 billion euros in 2016. Minister Meleşcanu also mentioned the passion for Romania of Prince Charles, heir to the British Crown, where he owns several properties.

EU – Moldova — The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, believes that the situation in the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population) should be closely followed by European institutions. She made this statement at a meeting of the European People’s Party hosted by Brussels, where she had talks with the former candidate to Moldova’s presidency, the pro-European reformer Maia Sandu, who last year lost the presidency to pro-Russian Socialist Igor Dodon. Also in Brussels, the Romanian Social Democrat MEP Andi Cristea said that Dodon’s declarations had nothing to do with reality and showed political irresponsibility. Co-president of the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Association Committee, Cristea categorically denied Dodon’s statements according to which almost half of the European money destined to Moldova had allegedly been stolen in Chişinău. Dodon is promoting the cancellation of the association and free trade agreements between the EU and Moldova and is pleading for the country’s re-orientation towards the Eurasian Economic Union, dominated by Russia. (translation by L. Simion)