20 September 2018

President Klaus Iohannis attends informal European Council meeting to discuss migration, EU internal security and Brexit.

Newsroom, 20.09.2018, 12:53

EU meeting. President Klaus Iohannis again
represents Romania today at an informal meeting of the European Council held in
the Austrian city of Salzburg. Talks focus on migration, the internal security
of the European Union and Brexit. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent,
president Iohannis said Bucharest is willing to contribute constructively to
the debates on two news concepts, regional disembarkation platforms and the
controlled centres for migrants. With respect to energy security and the
protection of external borders, Romania supports efforts to strengthen
cooperation among member states and European institutions. Bucharest also wants
the European Union to maintain a unitary and coherent voice in the negotiations
with the UK in order to arrive at a Brexit agreement that is fair to all sides.
Romania’s priority is protecting the rights and interests of its citizens who
live in the UK and a close as possible a relationship between the EU and the UK
after Brexit, the Romanian president also said.

Military. Romanian-Ukrainian military
exercises are today held in the Black Sea. The Counter Admiral Horia Macellariu
navy corvette is taking part in a series of exercises at sea together with two
Ukrainian speed patrol boats close to the mouths of the river Danube and the
Serpent Island. These exercises, which form part of the plan of international
activities of the Romanian defence ministry, aim to achieve tactical
operability and develop bilateral relations between the naval forces. Following
the deterioration of the security situation in the Black Sea area with the
annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia in 2014 and the destabilisation
of eastern Ukraine, joint training exercises by NATO and Ukraine have
diversified in order to ensure constant military presence and thus peace,
security and stability on the NATO eastern flank, the Romanian Naval Forces
have said.

Repatriation. Campulung Muscel in southern
Romania today hosted a special ceremony to welcome back the Carpathian Eagles
Battalion. The mission of the Romanian military was to secure an important area
around the military air base in Kandahar, in Afghanistan. They also provided
training to the Afghan army. The battalion is mostly made up of military from
the Dragoslavele
30th Mountain Troops Battalion who have also taken part in missions
in theatres of operation in Kosovo, in 2005, and Afghanistan, in 2008. In
April, the Mountain Troops military from Campulung were the target of a car
bomb attack. Eight military were initially believed to be injured, but in the
end only one needed more thorough medical investigations at a hospital in
Germany.

Romania-US. The Romanian foreign minister
Teodor Melescanu has received a delegation of the American-Romanian Business
Council known as AMRO, who are in Bucharest for the 6th annual
mission of economic promotion. According to a foreign ministry press release, minister
Melescanu reiterated the commitment of the authorities in Bucharest to
consolidate the economic dimension of the Romania-US Strategic Partnership. He
again stated the wish of the Romanian authorities to see an increase in
American investments in Romania and projects to promote Romanian companies in
the US. Earlier, the AMRO delegation attended the Three Seas Summit in
Bucharest, which brought together 12 EU member states from the area between the
Baltic Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea, as well as the Economic Forum
held on the margins of the summit.

Fountains. The fountains in Bucharest’s Union
Square will reopen today during a special symphonic and multimedia show. After
extensive restoration, the central fountain now has four water screens facing
the four cardinal points and meant to create an immense multimedia platform for
video and laser projections, the 3D effect thus created being unique in Europe.
Beginning on the 28th of September, visitors will be able to watch multimedia
shows over the weekend. Built at the end of the 1980s, during Nicolae
Crausescu’s communist regime, the fountain structure is, at 1.4 km, one of the
longest in the world. The reopening of the fountains previews the Bucharest
Days celebrations this weekend, marking 559 years since the capital city was
first mentioned in historical documents and 100 years since the Great Union of
1st December 1918, when Romania became a unitary state.

Football. Romania went up one position from last
month in the ranking of the International Football Federation, now occupying
the 27th place. Romania began the year in the 40th place,
but went up four places in February, another four in April, two in June and
another two in August. This is Romania’s highest ranking since 2016. This
month, Romania drew twice in the newly created UEFA Nations League, nil-all at
home against Montenegro and 2-all away against Serbia. Romania’s Nations League
adversaries occupy lower rankings: Serbia went up one place to reach no. 35,
Montenegro remain on 41, while Lithuania are on 126, one place higher than last
month. Turkey, who are managed by the Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu, remain on
38. At the top of the ranking, world champions France have been caught up by
Belgium, the winners of the third place at the World Cup in Russia, followed by
Brazil in the third place.