October 12, 2018

Talks continue in Bucharest between Romanian officials and EC representatives , held in the context in which Romania will hold the presidency of the EU Council, as of January 1, 2019/ Romanias President Klaus Iohannis travels to Italy

Bogdan Matei, 12.10.2018, 13:31

EU TALKS – The Secretary General of the European Commission, Martin Selmayr, and Clara Martinez Alberola, Head of Cabinet of the EC President, Jean-Claude Juncker, are today being received in Bucharest by president Klaus Iohannis and the Speakers of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, Liviu Dragnea and Calin Popescu Tariceanu, respectively. On Thursday, the European officials met with PM Viorica Dancila. Talks focussed on the larger context in which Romania takes over the rotating presidency of the EU Council, on January 1, 2019. The PM expressed Romanias readiness to ensure an efficient and pragmatic presidency of the EU Council. During the six month term, elections for the European Parliament will be held, Great Britain will leave the community bloc and negotiations will be held on the future multiannual budget of the EU.

ROMANIAN-ITALIAN RELATIONS – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, will travel to Italy, between October 14th and 17th, on the first visit by a Romanian president to that country over the past 45 years. According to a communiqué issued by the Presidential Administration, Klaus Iohannis is due to meet his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella, PM Giuseppe Conte, and the Speakers of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati and Roberto Fico, respectively. The agenda of the visit also includes meetings with representatives of the Orthodox, Greek-Catholic and Roman-Catholic religious denominations as well as with representatives of the Romanian community, the largest outside the borders of the country. The visit is paid against the backdrop of celebrations marking the Great Union Centennial and 10 years since Romanian-Italian relations were raised at the level of Consolidated Strategic Partnership, the communiqué also reads.

FRANCOPHONIE – Romania further assumes the role of flagship country of the Francophone Movement, Romanian deputy prime minister Ana Birchall, said during the Conference of heads of state and government of the Francophone countries, held in Yerevan, Armenia, between October 10 and 12. Ana Birchall gave a speech in her capacity as head of the Romanian delegation, underlining Bucharests commitment to Francophonie and its values. The agenda of talks also covered issues related to the adoption of documents and resolutions concerning the Francophone area, electing the Secretary General of the Francophonie for the 2018-2022 period, debates on crisis situations in the Francophone area and accepting new members of the International Organisation of the Francophonie. Talks also covered such issues as the importance of culture, education and research for the development of countries in the whole Francophone area. On this occasion, the Romanian deputy PM signed an agreement regarding the headquarters of the Regional Bureau of the International Organisation of the Francophonie for Central and Eastern Europe, concluded by the Romanian Government and the International Organisation of the Francophonie.

POLL – Almost two thirds of the Europeans say they are not convinced that their lives would be worse without the European Union, a poll carried out by a polling institute in Brussels, Europes Friends shows. The poll was conducted in September, among 11,000 interviewees, from all member states. According to the poll, 64% of the Europeans are not convinced that their lives would be worse without the EU, and almost half of the respondents said the Union is irrelevant. The poll underlines that over 30% of the North Europeans, the French and the Germans want to promote values and democracy in the EU, whereas over 40% of the citizens in Southern Europe and the Vishegrad Group, namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, believe the main objective of the European bloc should be economic growth.

FOOTBALL – Romanias national team Under 21 is meeting this evening on home soil, in Cluj, north-western Romania, the team of Wales, on the last but one game in the preliminaries for the European Championship due next year. On Tuesday, on home soil, in Ploiesti, southern Romania, the Romanian team will play the last qualifying match, with Liechtenstein. Ranking first in the group is Bosnia, with 18 points, followed by Romania with 18 points but a match still to be played. Romania failed to qualify for Under 21 final tournaments in the past 20 years. On Thursday evening, the seniors defeated Lithuania, away from home, 2-1, in a Group 4 C Series match of the newly created Nations League. In the same group, Montenegro-Serbia ended their match,0-2. Leading the group is Serbia with 7 points, followed by Romania with 5 points and Montenegro with 4. Lithuania has failed to win any point. Romania will face Serbia and Lithuania- Montenegro on Sunday.