October 19, 2017 UPDATE
President Klaus Iohannis is attending the European Council meeting in Brussels
Newsroom, 19.10.2017, 19:51
EIB – Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose discussed on Thursday in Bucharest with the Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Andrew McDowell. The Romanian PM said that his country appreciates the fruitful collaboration with the European Investment Bank, especially as regards the financing of public investment. The meeting marked 25 years since the institution’s first operation in Romania. The EIB has recently approved 13 billion euros worth of financing and advisory services for Romania.
Bucharest — Romania has a lot to offer in areas such as agriculture, information technology and industrial production, prime minister Mihai Tudose said on Thursday in Bucharest at the Trade Winds 2017 US trade mission. He mentioned Romania’s sustained economic growth, its partnership with the European Union and NATO and its 20-year long strategic partnership with the United States. The US ambassador to Bucharest Hans Klemm said Romania is Washington’s best ally and friend in the region and pointed out this country needs to ensure a predictable and transparent business environment to attract investors. Trade Winds 2017 is the biggest trade promotion event organised by the US government aimed at bringing together American and foreign businesses. Its tenth edition, which is under way until the 24th of October in South-Eastern Europe, has at its centre the Romanian capital, which is also hosting a business forum.
EU – The Romanian president Klaus Iohannis is attending the European Council meeting held on Thursday and Friday in Brussels. Talks focus on migration, security and defence, the relations between the European Union and Turkey and the North-Korean situation. A meeting of the EU 27 will also be held to discuss the UKs leaving the Union and evaluate the progress made so far in the negotiation process. According to the presidents office, Klaus Iohannis will emphasise, among others, the need to monitor the flow of migrants on the Eastern Mediterranean route. As to the latest developments related to the North Korean dossier, Klaus Iohannis is expected to say that Romania will support the efforts of the international community to achieve a peaceful solution to the crisis, with the major goal being the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
Healthcare – Romania has made some progress in the field of healthcare, said the European commissioner for health and food safety Vytenis Andriukaitis in Bucharest, noting however that the area is facing some big funding problems. He said European funds are a key instrument that can make the system work better. Also on Thursday, a rally was held in central Bucharest to protest against the legislative changes to come into force in January 2018. Trade unions say these changes will lead to a decrease in salary incomes for healthcare and social assistance employees in Romania. The protest actions began in mid September.
Ukraine – Members of the ethnic Romanian community in Cernauti, western Ukraine, are to meet the Ukrainian education and science minister Lilia Grinevich this weekend to discuss Ukraines new education law that drastically restricts the access of ethnic minorities to education in their languages. The meeting comes after the ethnic Romanians in Cernauti held protests against this law. On Wednesday, in a telephone talk with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis strongly conveyed his discontent with the new education law in the neighbouring country. Ukraine is home to almost half a million ethnic Romanians.
Tennis — Romanian tennis player Irina Begu (WTA’s 57th seed) qualified on Thursday to the semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, worth almost 800 thousand dollars. Begu will be up against Russian Daria Kasatkina, no. 28 WTA for a place in the final.
(Translated by Elena Enache)
