Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No. 9/ 11th Year
15th - 31st May 2014
POLITIC
1. President Traian Basescu welcomes Czech counterpart at Cotroceni Palace 2. Victor Ponta: The meeting with the Ukrainian Prime Minister will take place in June in Romania 3. Victor Ponta and NATO Secretary-General assess security situation in Romania's neighbourhood 4. Romania and NATO need to guarantee and support territorial integrity of Republic of Moldova 5. US Vice President Joe Biden, starts today a visit to Romania 6. Reuters:Biden to reassure Romania, Cyprus of U.S. support in Ukraine crisis 7. Joe Biden: Romania has always been a reliable ally for US 8. Highlights of the visit of the US Vice President Joe Biden to Bucharest 9. Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean: Biden's visit, important political signal of support for Romania 10. Liviu Voinea: The present agreement of Romania with the IMF and the EC is the last one 11. Bogdan Aurescu: Deveselu shield will be operational as of 2015 12. Anders Fogh Rasmussen: We are prepared to defend every single piece of the NATO territory 13. Joint statement following the meeting between the European Commission and the Government of the Republic of Moldova 14. First option for Romania is European Commissioner for Agriculture post 15. PNL, PDL merger possible before 2016 parliamentary elections 16. Romanian Foreign minister Titus Corlatean met his Italian counterpart Federica Mogherini to discuss bilateral relations 17. Reunion of JHA ministers of SEECP countries in Bucharest 18. EP2014: Final election results
ECONOMIC
1. Victor Ponta: Romania, rated as having stable development capacity by the three big rating agencies 2. EBRD improves Romania 2014 economic growth estimate to 2.6 pct 3. Romania has largest annual economic growth in EU and in first quarter of this year 4. Euler Hermes upgrades Romania credit risk outlook to B2 5. Eugen Teodorovici: Romania attracts over 5 bln euro in EU funds in only 2 years 6. Analysis Erste: the objective of accession to the euro zone in 2019 is very ‘ambitious’ but more realistic it would be after 2021 7. The Romanian-Czech economic forum held in Bucharest 8. Romania wants to benefit from EU Danube Region strategy very much 9. Romania to hold Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization Chairmanship-in-Office in H2 2015 10. Romania to continue cooperation with African states 11. World Bank Group Supports Romania to Ensure Strong Economic Growth and Prosperity for all its Citizens 12. Mihai Bogza (FIC): Last year's progress could increase Romania's appeal for investors 13. Romania by year-end can be model of drawing EU funds (Minister Eugen Teodorovici) 14. EY: Romania ranks third in top of most attractive countries in CEE for foreign investments 15. Romania-China Business Forum
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Arundel House, 4 Palace Green London W8 4QD UK Phone: 0044 (0)20 7937 9666 Fax: 0044 (0)20 7937 8069 e-mail: [email protected] web site: www.london.mae.ro
Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ______
SOCIAL
1. The Independent: Romanian and Bulgarian migration: Number of workers down in UK since visa restrictions lifted at start of year 2. As many as 18,226,995 Romanians recorded on electoral roll copy as of May 16 3. Eurostat: Romania posts highest rise in construction works among EU members in March 4. Nearly 100,000 registered nurses have left the country (labor unions) 5. Prince Charles arrived in Romania on private visit 6. Switzerland prolongs the restrictions on the work market for Romanians and Bulgarians until 31 May 2016 7. INSCOP poll: Almost 45 percent of Romanians have good opinion of Royal House of Romania
CULTURE
1. Thirty-three museums and cultural organizations are open in Bucharest on Night of Museums 2. Romania to take part in Book World Prague 2014 3. As many as 22 Romanian films at TIFF 4. Bishop Anton Durcovici was beatified 5. Czechs Day at the Village Museum in Bucharest 6. Government increases Culture Ministry's budget for drama and film festivals 7. Nineteen Romanian companies at IMEX international tourism fair in Frankfurt 8. Festival of Indian Culture at the Village Museum of Bucharest 9. Romania to attend Book Expo America for first time 10. Bookfest: 300 events, 200 publishing houses, 1 million titles; guest country – Poland 11. Romania, focus-country at Germany's Contemporary Art Ruhr fair 12. Prince Charles met with villagers in Valea Zalanului 13. International Street Theatre Festival started on Thursday in Bucharest
POLITICS
1. President Traian Basescu welcomes Czech counterpart at Cotroceni Palace
President Traian Basescu welcomed his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman who is paying an official visit to Romania.
The greeting ceremony took place on the platform of the Cotroceni Palace, where, after the band played the anthems of the two countries, President Milos Zeman saluted the Guard and Protocol Regiment.
Milos Zeman apologized for having postponed his visit to Romania for several months, explaining the cause had been some health issues. The Czech President was initially expected in Bucharest last autumn, but a knee problem forced him to push back his visit, Czech News Agency reports.
President Traian Basescu's delegation included presidential advisors Bogdan Manoiu, Bogdan Dragoi, Anca Ilinoiu, the President's spokesman Bogdan Oprea, deputy of the national minorities Adrian Miroslav Merka.
After one-on-one talks and official discussions with the participation of the two official delegations, the two heads of state will deliver a joint press statement.
President Basescu will offer today, around 19:00 at the Cotroceni Palace, an official dinner in honor of the President of the Czech Republic.
Czech Republic President Milos Zeman on Tuesday said that his country supports Romania's inclusion in the Schengen area.
'I voiced our complete aid, of the Czech Republic, for Romania to be included in the Schengen area,' the Czech President said after the talks at the Cotroceni Palace with Romanian President Traian Basescu. 2
Arundel House, 4 Palace Green London W8 4QD UK Phone: 0044 (0)20 7937 9666 Fax: 0044 (0)20 7937 8069 e-mail: [email protected] web site: www.london.mae.ro
Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
He showed that over 600 Czech companies operate in Romania and that he brought with him a great number of Czech businessmen hoping to find economic investment contacts in our country.
Moreover, the Czech official pointed out it was his first visit to Romania in eight years, underscoring that presidents should visit friend countries more than once in ten years.
'I am trying to recoup this delay. I had to postpone the visit because of an accident I had. This visit should have taken place in November,' Milos Zeman showed.
President Traian Basescu thanked his Czech counterpart for the visit to Romania, showing that it represented 'a moment of strengthening the Romanian-Czech relations, which have never lacked in friendship.'
He pointed out that he talked with the Czech Republic President about the regional situation, mainly the situation in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, Romania's access to the Schengen area, the Danube Strategy, the EU enlargement in the South-Western Balkans, Europe's energy independence issue, finding that the viewpoints are very similar.
2. Victor Ponta: The meeting with the Ukrainian premier will take place in June in Romania
Premier Victor Ponta stated that the meeting with the Ukrainian counterpart will take place in June in Romania, after the presidential elections in Ukraine, at present establishing the details of the meeting, the Mediafax correspondent sends. Ponta stated, in a press conference, that he will meet his Ukrainian counterpart next month, after presidential elections in Ukraine. He said that the meeting will take place in Romania.
‘We discussed informally, but we expect the elections of 25 May in Ukraine. Next month, surely I want to meet my Ukrainian counterpart’ Ponta said.The premier showed that the agreement regarding the border traffic will be one of the main topics of discussion. ‘We have made all procedures and we need to have a break of bureaucracy on the other side. Now it is difficult to insist when they have the huge problems they have’ the premier said.
There will be presidential elections on 25 May in Ukraine, and the chosen president will name the premier. The present premier of Ukraine is Arseni Iatniuk, at interim.
3. Victor Ponta and NATO Secretary-General assess security situation in Romania's neighbourhood
Premier Victor Ponta and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday discussed the situation in the near vicinity of Romania and the main subjects on the NATO agenda, including the prospect of the summit due in Great Britain in September this year, informs a release the Government.
'Prime Minister Victor Ponta pointed out Romania's concern for the recent security developments in south-eastern Ukraine and added that they had a deeply destabilizing effect on the Euro-Atlantic security and on the security of the partner states in the region, especially the Republic of Moldova. The Romanian Head of Government appreciated the NATO efforts meant to assure again the eastern allies, Romania included, and emphasized Romania's firm support for the summit due in September to contribute to the consolidation both of the trans-Atlantic relation and the dimension of the collective defence, with special emphasis on assuring the security of the NATO eastern neighbourhood, in the Black Sea area, including long-term measures taken by the allies,' reads the above-mentioned source.
According to the Government, the Premier pointed during the talks to 'Romania's concrete contribution to the allied steps in the context of the security situation in Ukraine, emphasizing our country's determination to increase the financial resources allocated for the defence budget in 2014 so that, in 2017, it should amount to 2 percent of the GDP, in keeping with the NATO standards.'
The Romanian Head of Government also pleaded for the growth of the Alliance assistance, including the support for consolidating the defence capabilities of the partners in the eastern neighbourhood and
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Arundel House, 4 Palace Green London W8 4QD UK Phone: 0044 (0)20 7937 9666 Fax: 0044 (0)20 7937 8069 e-mail: [email protected] web site: www.london.mae.ro
Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ______reiterated the fact that the European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the eastern partners, freely expressed, must go on being encouraged.
Referring to the NATO's open door policy, Victor Ponta mentioned the necessity that the Alliance should offer in the time to come all the necessary support to the aspirant countries so that concrete progress could be made at the NATO summit in Great Britain, also informs the above-mentioned source.
The Premier also pointed out the fact that work on deploying the anti-missile system at the base at Deveselu, Olt County (southern Romania), is done according to the schedule that was agreed upon and mentioned Romania's support for adopting a NATO consolidated policy of combating cyber threats.
'Referring to Afghanistan, Prime Minister Victor Ponta emphasized the fact that Romania would go on fulfilling its pledges and was willing to contribute to the Resolute Support included as the legal basis for the future presence of the NATO in Afghanistan is ensured,' also reads the Government's release.
4. Romania and NATO need to guarantee and support territorial integrity of Republic of Moldova
Premier Victor Ponta said on Friday, after meeting NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, that Romania and NATO must guarantee and support the territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova and the pro-European Government in Chisinau.
Commenting on a statement made by Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov referring to Moscow guaranteeing Moldova's territorial integrity in exchange for neutrality and granting a special status to Transnistria, Ponta said: 'Moldova has neutrality in its own Constitution, it is out of the question to change it now, but both Romania and the NATO need to guarantee and support the territorial integrity and the pro-European route of the Republic of Moldova. This is not what Mr Lavrov said, this is what we are saying. The pro-European Government in Chisinau must be supported, especially as in June it will sign the association agreement and this is quite essential for Moldova.'
The Premier added that to Romania it was important that Moldova and Ukraine should have the right to choose their own pro-European future by themselves, without consulting Russia.
'To Romania the most important thing is to have first of all a democratic Ukraine and Moldova, with the guaranteed territorial integrity and with Ukraine's and Moldova's guaranteed right to make decisions, without consulting Moscow and without having conditions imposed by Moscow. They are independent countries and have the right to decide on their future by themselves and the pro-European future, from our point of view, is in the interest of the two countries and it is obvious that this is what Romania will support,' said Ponta after the meeting with the NATO Secretary-General.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday was received with military honours at the Ministry of National Defence, Premier Victor Ponta, Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea and Minister of Defence Mircea Dusa attending. The NATO Secretary-General will be received on Friday by President Traian Basescu too.
5. US Vice President Joe Biden, starts today a visit to Romania
US Vice President Joe Biden will be paying a visit to Bucharest on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he will meet President Traian Basescu and Prime Minister Victor Ponta.
The discussions will aim, according to the White House, at the reaction of the international community to Russia's actions in Ukraine.
Moreover, Joe Biden will have talks with the officials of Bucharest about the need to consolidate the economic relations with Romania, especially through the EU-US Free Trade Agreement, currently undergoing negotiations.
President Traian Basescu last week announced that he addressed US Vice President Joe Biden the invitation to pay a visit to Romania. He said that the chief of Pentagon would also come to Bucharest.
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Arundel House, 4 Palace Green London W8 4QD UK Phone: 0044 (0)20 7937 9666 Fax: 0044 (0)20 7937 8069 e-mail: [email protected] web site: www.london.mae.ro
Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
'[The US] want to fulfill its commitments as Romania's strategic partner both through the signification of the future visits and through direct contributions to increasing Romania's and the region's security level,' the head of state was pointing out on May 12.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Monday asked Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea to take the necessary measures so the US Vice President's visit could be carried out in maximum security conditions.
On occasion of the US official's visit, the Romanian authorities will take a series of measures.
Thus, the institutions with capacities in the national security area decided to create some sustainable security devices to ensure the good conduct of the official visit. Moreover, the organisation of joint assessments of the security situation and the harmonisation of measures among the institutions involved in the organisation and good conduct of the high dignitary's visit to Bucharest and simulations of the devices concerning the security measures established on the days of the US Vice President's visit are also planned.
On the other hand, SPP informed that during Joe Biden's visit to Bucharest there would not be any major traffic restrictions, the road traffic going to be carried out under normal conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the Road Police ensuring traffic flow measures.
US Vice President Joe Biden will be going on a small tour to Romania and Cyprus. Joe Biden also paid a visit to Bucharest in October 2009 . 6. Reuters: Biden to reassure Romania, Cyprus of U.S. support in Ukraine crisis
Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Romania and Cyprus aims to reassure European allies of the U.S. commitment to the region in the face of Russia's role in the crisis in Ukraine, a senior administration official said on Monday, quoted by Reuters.
Biden's journey is part of an outreach effort that has included trips to Ukraine, the Baltic states and Poland.
"He is making these trips, these calls, taking these meetings all as a way of showing the United States' continuing solidarity and growing partnership with all of our European partners at a complicated and challenging time in Europe," the official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Russia's annexation of Crimea and its support for separatist movements in the east and south of Ukraine have drawn economic sanctions from the United States and the European Union. The crisis will be a central theme in Biden's discussions with leaders in Bucharest and Nicosia, the official said.
"The vice president's main message will be one of reassurance," the official said.
The United States has so far seen no evidence that Russia has lived up to Russian President Vladimir Putin's pledge to move troops away from the border with Ukraine, he said.
"They made similar claims in March and didn't follow through, so we'll be tracking this closely," he said.
In a visit to Bucharest, Biden will also discuss how Romania can play a role in Europe's energy supply and reduce Russia's ability to use the threat of cutting off natural gas supplies as a political weapon, the official said.
Russia supplies 30 percent of Europe's gas needs and has threatened to halt supplies to Ukraine because of debts, reviving fears of a repeat of supply crises across Europe in 2007 and 2009. Romania is a potential alternative source of gas for Ukraine.
In Cyprus, Biden will seek to strengthen Cypriot commitment to EU sanctions against Russia even though those measures could weigh heavily on Cyprus.
"We are aware of and understanding of the exposure of Cyprus to Russian economic activity," the official said.
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ______
However, the United States believes that a sanctions regime could be enforced and even strengthened if necessary, which would impose costs on Russia without unduly hurting Cyprus.
Thousands of Russians seeking an island lifestyle, tax benefits and an EU entry point live in Cyprus. It is among EU countries that have expressed reluctance to impose further sanctions on Moscow.
Biden plans to see the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, but details have yet to be worked out.
The island has been divided since a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by a Turkish invasion of the north in 1974. Turkey keeps some 30,000 troops in the north and is the only nation to recognize the self- declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. (Source: chicagotribune.com)
7. Joe Biden: Romania has always been a reliable ally for US
Romania has always been a reliable partner and ally for the US, said US Vice-President Joe Biden on Monday in Bucharest.
It is clear for us that the Romanians are devoted allies and I have never doubted it as far back as efforts were being made for Romania to join the NATO. You have always been reliable partners, said the American official, giving as an example the servicemen that fight in the theatres of operations.
Biden said that he saw Romania taking the road from tyranny to liberty and appreciated the way in which it fulfilled the pledges to the NATO.
'In the past 25 years I have come to appreciate this beautiful country, I have been here several times, I have met all your leaders, I think, and I have seen how you took the road from tyranny to liberty. Even so I have not fully understood the moral and physical courage of the Romanian people before learning about you from the American troops on the front line. They told me that the Romanian soldiers were combatants, were capable and courageous. ... I am thanking the 26 Romanians who laid down their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq and the 143 wounded ones. ... In Romania the American forces found reliable partners, said Biden.
The American official mentioned the fact that Romania decided to increase the budget for defence to 2 percent of the GDP and added that this should be done by the other NATO states too.
I have seen you in Bosnia and Kosovo, Baghdad and Basra, Fallujah and Ramadi, Kabul and Kandahar ... You are incredible warriors. You and your families belong to an uninterrupted chain of patriots that have stood on watch since the Second World War to protect the borders here, in Europe. I could not be prouder of you, said Joe Biden.
He said that the United States was devoted to the North Atlantic Alliance and made it clear that the pledge taken by the US for putting into practice Article 5 of the NATO was a sacred obligation for all times.
God bless both Romania and America! Biden concluded.
8. Highlights of the visit of the US Vice President Joe Biden to Bucharest
The Vice President of the United States has arrived in Bucharest on Tuesday, May 20, for a two-day visit. The American official has arrived in Romania together with his wife Jill Biden. He was welcomed at the airport by Minister of Foreign Affairs Titus Corlatean. Joe Biden then went to Otopeni 90 Air Base, where he was received by Romanian Defence Minister Mircea Dusa. In the speech delivered to the Romanian and US military, he highlighted that Romania has always been a trustworthy partner and ally for the US.
* 'It is an honour to watch our troops carrying out this exercise together. The last time I saw them working together was in Afghanistan,' the US Vice President Joe Biden stated on the occasion of a joint Romanian- American exercises organised at the 90th military base. 'It is to our both countries great benefit to fight together,' he said. Romania has always been a reliable partner and ally for the US, pointed out the US 6
Arundel House, 4 Palace Green London W8 4QD UK Phone: 0044 (0)20 7937 9666 Fax: 0044 (0)20 7937 8069 e-mail: [email protected] web site: www.london.mae.ro
Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Vice President. 'It is clear for us that the Romanians are devoted allies and I have never doubted it as far back as efforts were being made for Romania to join the NATO. You have always been reliable partners,' said the American official, giving as an example the servicemen that fight in the theatres of operations.
* 'Currently Romania helps us with the air base which supports our effort for transport to Afghanistan. Romania works for increasing the budget to 2 percent of the GDP and this should come true. I think you are the best generation of combatants your country has produced. You can rely on us. As President Obama put it, the NATO nations are never alone,' emphasized the US Vice-President, who also thanked the US troops for their service.
* 'The aggression in Crimea less than 250 km away from the Romanian territory, from the NATO border, reminds us why we need the NATO and why Romania belonged to the NATO. By what Russia did, it violated not only Ukraine's sovereignty, but also the fundamental principle for which we fought in the 20th century and which we thought we had clearly established: the borders of Europe must never be changed with the force of arms any more. This is why we go on condemning the illegal occupation of Crimea by Russia, said Biden. He added that if Russia's action meant to destabilize Ukraine continued, high costs would be imposed on Russia. But our strategy is more than imposing costs. It is to invest and revitalize the NATO,' added the American official.
* The Vice President of the United States said he will miss Romanian President Traian Basescu after the end of the latter's term. Speaking at a joint press statement with Basescu at the Presidential Palace of Cotroceni on Wednesday, May 21, Biden declared he wanted to tell the president personally that he will miss him, as he knows that Basescu's term ends before his own.
* Visiting US Vice President Joe Biden said he appreciates Romanian President Traian Basescu's efforts to protect the rule of law state in Romania and added the fight against corruption is not only a matter of good governance, it is 'mere' patriotism. In a joint press statement with Basescu at the presidential Cotroceni Palace, Biden said corruption sucks from the power of the nation. 'It is, in fact, another form of tyranny and the fight against corruption is not only a matter of good governance, it is mere patriotism. Mr President, we appreciate your personal efforts to consolidate and protect the rule of law state here, in Romania. It is important for your economy, for your democracy and particularly for your freedom. Above all it is important for the lives of the citizens, who have the right to know that their voices can be heard by the government, that their firms can compete without bribery, that disputes can be judged in court transparently and that no Romanian, and no American, as a matter of fact, is above the law.'
* The US Vice President Joe Biden stated that one of the main reasons for his visit to Romania is so that he can affirm from Romanian soil that the USA will honor article five of the NATO treaty, adding that it is a sacred obligation. 'One of the main reasons for which I came here was so that I could stand on Romanian soil and from Romanian soil say what cannot be repeated enough. We will honor article 5 of the NATO Treaty, it is a sacred obligation, have no doubt regarding that. No NATO ally stands alone, we protect each other plain and simple. Period,' said Biden during the joint statement with President Traian Basescu that was given in the garden of Cotroceni Palace.
* If Russia undermines the elections in Ukraine, it must be applied stronger sanction, visiting US Vice President Joe Biden told a joint press conference with President Traian Basescu. Biden said the European states, and not only, should create a positive climate in order for Ukraine's citizens to be able to freely vote at the May 25 elections. 'All European countries, all countries must use their influence to create a positive climate in order for Ukraine's citizens to be able to vote freely. If Russia undermines the elections in Ukraine, we must be determined to apply stronger sanctions on Russia and re-invest even strongly in NATO.'
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Arundel House, 4 Palace Green London W8 4QD UK Phone: 0044 (0)20 7937 9666 Fax: 0044 (0)20 7937 8069 e-mail: [email protected] web site: www.london.mae.ro
Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ______
* Romania can become the key connection point for energy markets from the Black Sea to Central and Eastern Europe, provided that it modernizes its specific infrastructure, US Vice President Joe Biden said at the Victoria Palace of Government. 'National security and energy security are inseparable in this part of the world and the European energy market must be safe, diverse and interconnected,' Biden said in a joint press statement delivered with Prime Minister Victor Ponta. He stressed that the United States are ready to help Romania develop its oil transport pipelines.
* 'We are ready to provide you with the necessary assistance and ensure the oil pipelines in Romania. Romania can ensure the energy solutions for itself. By modernizing its internal infrastructure, Romania can become a key point connecting energy markets from the Black Sea to Central and Eastern Europe. By developing its natural gas production, it can also become a solution for (the Republic) of Moldova, which currently heavily relies on energy from Russia. Romania's sovereignty is based on the country's economic development,' Biden concluded.
* US Vice President Joe Biden congratulated Romania for the fight against corruption and urged that the judicial institutions be free from political influence. Biden held a speech at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace in front of approximately 200 people, among whom the main actors on the Romanian political scene and personalities from the justice and economic financial fields and representatives of the civil society. He showed there still were things to be done in regards with corruption, about which he said was a tough and complex problem, but which could be solved. 'I firmly urge you to step forward and resist the instinct of stepping backwards. Keep on asking your judicial institutions to be free from political influence, keep on insisting that no one is above the law.'
* United States of America Vice President Joe Biden said that in the fight against corruption and for the creation of a favourable economic climate there was need for politicians understanding that the Government exists to serve people and not their own interests. 'Investors want to do business where they are treated fairly and where there is transparency. They know to differentiate the true measure from the false one. (...) There is need for leaders in the business community understanding that the fight against corruption is useful for everyone because it improves the business climate and generates economic growth. There is need for politicians understanding the Government exists to serve people, not their own interests, there is need for an independent press, protected from pressures from the outside.'.
* The US Vice President Joe Biden stated that, despite having different political options, all Romanians are in favor of democracy and the rule of law state. 'We realize that Romanians have different political options, but one thing that they all have in common is that they are all in favour of democracy and the rule of law state,' said Biden, in his speech delivered at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace. He said that it is very important that the NATO and EU member states share common values.
* The US Vice President Joe Biden stated that he cannot image a completely free and safe Europe, without a strong Romania. 'Your government is making huge progress, the Romanian people is making huge progress. I told both the President and the Prime Minister that I cannot imagine a completely free and safe Europe, without a strong, united and independent Romania, and it is not only to your country's best interest to take care of these problems and to obtain the best results for your nation. As stronger, independent and capable you become, as stronger we all become. It is not only about what America can do for Romania, but about what we can do together, for each other.'.
* Jill Biden, wife of US Vice President Joe Biden, on Wednesday in Bucharest presented Director of the Open Door Foundation Monica Boseff with an award from the US Department of State (DoS) acknowledging Boseff's contribution to the combat against human trafficking, one of its ten such annual rewards. At a meeting with Romanian NGOs operating in the area of the combat against human
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
trafficking, Jill Biden said their efforts do not go unnoticed and the activity of the assistance providers to victims manages to change lives.
She said she is honoured to be with Romanians getting involved in the fight against human trafficking in Romania, adding that she just met a group of human trafficking survivors. Their stories, she said, provide more importance to your activity. 'You offer them assistance, consultations and raise the awareness level of the phenomenon,' said Jill Biden, adding that on behalf of the US she is thanking the Romanian NGOs for their daily work for the survivors. 'Your work is not easy and your efforts do not go unnoticed; your work changes lives,' said Jill Biden.
Jill Biden also visited the 'Dimitrie Gusti' Village Museum in Bucharest, alongside Maria Basescu, wife of Romania's President Traian Basescu. The two ladies were greeted by Village Museum Director Paulina Popoiu. Jill Biden and Maria Basescu were welcomed at the entrance to the museum complex by two persons dressed in Romanian traditional costumes, from Bucovina (north-eastern Romania) and Sibiu (central Romania), offering them bread and salt, according to an old Romanian custom. The official visit includes a short show of folk songs and dances, stopovers at some traditional households and a meeting with the craftsmen of the Village Museum.
* The US Vice President concluded on Wednesday afternoon his visit to Bucharest. The previous visit of the Vice President Joe Biden to Bucharest took place on October 21 and 22, 2009. Biden also paid a visit to Romania in early September 1999; at that time, Biden was a Senator and the Democrat leader within the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
9. Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean: Joe Biden's visit, important political signal of support for Romania
The visit of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to Romania is a very important political signal of support for our country, for a faithful ally, a strategic partner of the United States, amid difficult times at NATO's eastern borders, Romania's Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean told TVR public station on Tuesday evening.
''We are talking about a strategic partnership that also entails political support and reassurance within the Alliance, given Russia's aggressive action against Ukraine, reassurance towards Romania and the other allies on NATO eastern border, under these circumstances. Obviously, such visit and the high-level political contacts include the substance of the strategic partnership, which is the key to Romania's foreign policy,' Corlatean said.
He pointed out that the Alliance is undergoing a process of redefining its military capabilities in the region.
'We are undergoing an important process of redefining the military capabilities of the North Atlantic Alliance in this region of Europe, given the dramatic developments concerning Ukraine and possible temptations targeting other regions, if I were to speak only of the Republic of Moldova and Transnistria. First of all, it's a duty under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, to increase the confidence of the nations and allied states located on the eastern border, as regards the support of the United States and the Alliance on the whole, at these times. It's equally a set of measures meaning a more significant presence of the military capabilities, as well as exercises, a better coordination and development of some reaction plans that are perfectly normal, if the situation requires it. So, we are talking about things that are actually at the core of the political and military analysis, and at strategic level as well. These items will definitely be included on the agenda of the Summit of the North Atlantic Alliance due this September in Great Britain,' the head of Romania diplomacy said.
10. Liviu Voinea: the present agreement of Romania with the IMF and the EC is the last one
The present agreement of Romania with the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission is surely one, stated on Monday the minister for budget Liviu Voinea in an interview with Radio Romania Actualitati (RRA).
The present agreement with the international financial institutions ends at next mid-year.
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ______
‘After 2015 we will not have another agreement. This is surely the last one with IMF and EC. It was an agreement of 20 billion in 2009. The money was taken. Another agreement of five billion in 2011, the money was not taken and it was stand-by. Another agreement in 2013, four billion – IMF and EC – again the money will not be taken, but it is a stand-by agreement, it ensures an anchor’ Voinea said. The board of IMF approved on 27 September 2013, the letter of intent sent by the Romanian authorities for the signing of a new agreement stand-by type, worth approximately 2 billion euro, for a period of two years, plus another two billion euro from the EC.
This is the tenth agreement signed by Romania with IMF over the last 23 years. The first agreement after December 1989 was signed on 11 April 1991, according to the internet page of the international financial institution.
11. Bogdan Aurescu: Deveselu shield will be operational as of 2015
Bogdan Aurescu, the secretary of state in the Foreign Ministry declared in Bratislava on Thursday that there are no delays in placing the missile shield at Deveselu, to become operational in 2015. Necessary financing sources have been provided, a Foreign Ministry press release shows.The statement was made at the International Security Conference Globsec 2014 held in Bratislava over May 14-16, 2014.
The secretary of state referred to security evolution in Romania’s vicinity pointing out the importance to be granted to the main NATO mission to ensure collective defense.Aurescu evoked measures taken to make the defense system against ballistic missiles operational, as well as Romania’s significant contribution in that respect through the Deveselu base. He pointed out that the project is one of the most important within the political-military and security dimension of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the US, which is at the center of Romania’s foreign policy, next to the participation in EU and NATO.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the Romanian official presented the stage of applying the Romanian- American Accord of 2011 on anti-missile defense, pointing out that the deadline for making the Deveselu system operational remains 2015, without any delays, with the necessary financing sources. He added that the allies’ determination to build the NATO antimissile system was an expression of ally solidarity to defend the Euro-Atlantic area.
Referring to NATO defense capacities, through the perspective of antimissile defense, Aurescu showed that the alarming evolution of events in Ukraine confirmed the need of increased US and NATO presence on the territory of Eastern ally countries, Romania included.
“From this point of view, the permanent US presence in Romania, through the Deveselu antimissile facility also has the political significance of a firm engagement for Romania’s security”, Aurescu declared.
12. Anders Fogh Rasmussen: We are prepared to defend every single piece of the NATO territory
Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, on Thursday told the TVR television broadcaster that the 'illegal' military actions of Russian have created a completely new situation in Europe, for which reason the Alliance decided to reinforce the collective defence measures, given that the NATO's core task is to protect and defend all its Allies.
'It is true that we are concerned. The illegal military actions of Russia have created a completely new situation in Europe and we have to adapt to this new situation. This is the reason why we decided to reinforce our collective defence measures, since it is NATO's core task to protect and defend all its Allies. We are talking about measure to be taken at sea, in the air, on land [...] All these measures are purely defensive but, of course, we have to make sure that our military forces are prepared for all eventualities and also that we are sending a clear signal to all the potential aggressors to not even think to take aggressive actions against any of the NATO Allies. I assure you that we are prepared to defend every single piece of the NATO territory,' Rasmussen, who is currently paying a visit to Bucharest, said in the interview that he gave in exclusivity to the TVR news programme.
He also explained that the Alliance has aircraft, police forces and surveillance aircraft flying above
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Romania and Poland. According to the Secretary General, from a maritime viewpoint, NATO has strengthen its presence in the Black Sea and in the Baltic Sea, while it has also been carrying out many exercises on land.
'We consider an attack on one of our Allies an attack on all the Allies. This is our solidarity clause and it means collective defence. The states that are not member of NATO can be partners of NATO. For instance, Ukraine is a partner state and we decided to improve our cooperation with Ukraine, including through measures to assist Ukraine in its defence reform, modernization of the army forces and also through ensuring access for Ukraine to the NATO exercises,' explained Rasmussen.
As regards the measures to be considered by NATO in counter-attacking the Russian cyber-attacks and propaganda, the NATO official announced that at the forthcoming NATO Summit to be held in Wales, in September, the Alliance is going to adopt an enhanced cyber defence policy.
'There is no doubt that cyber security will be one of the major challenges in the coming years. We have seen cyber-attacks during this crisis and NATO will have to enhance its defence policy in this field, and we will do it. As regards the Russian information, or misinformation campaign, of course we will also have to adapt to that too and provide accurate information instead,' he added.
13. Joint statement following the meeting between the European Commission and the Government of the Republic of Moldova Members of European Commission and of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, headed respectively by President Barroso and Prime Minister Leanca, met Thursday in Brussels. They discussed the state of play with EU-Moldovan relations, the Republic of Moldova's domestic and security situation, energy relations and the wider regional situation. Thursday´s unprecedented meeting stands out as a symbol for the excellent and comprehensive quality of EU-Moldovan relations, which have grown constantly closer in the last years. The EU and the Republic of Moldova reaffirmed their determined commitment to opening up a new chapter of their bilateral relations by swiftly signing the Association Agreement including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. The Republic of Moldova underlined that the Association Agreement was not the final goal in their mutual cooperation. Both sides welcomed the recent lifting of the visa requirement for Moldovan citizens in the Schengen area which marked an important and tangible step of bringing the EU and Moldova and in particular their citizens closer to each other. The European Commission acknowledged that the Republic of Moldova as a European country shared a common history and common values with the EU. It stated that the Republic of Moldova's efforts to implement these values make it an important partner for the EU to improve stability and economic prosperity in the region. The European Commission reaffirmed the EU´s strong support for the Republic of Moldova´s democratic choice to move closer to the European Union and acknowledged the European aspirations of the Republic of Moldova. At the meeting, the European Commission took note of the remarkable progress in the reform agenda the Republic of Moldova has been making over the past few years. The Republic of Moldova and the EU agreed to continue the implementation of further essential reforms, in particular to prevent and fight corruption, including high-level one, reform the justice sector and improve the business and investment climate. The European Commission reiterated its support for the Republic of Moldova´s sovereignty and territorial integrity inside its internationally recognized borders. The EU and the Republic of Moldova stressed the importance to advance negotiations in the 5+2-format towards a solution of the Transnistrian conflict that respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova with a special status for Transnistria. Both sides noted the importance of close cooperation on energy security in the framework of both the Eastern Partnership and the Energy Community. They welcomed the good cooperation between the Republic of Moldova and Romania concerning the implementation of common energy projects and underlined that these were important to make energy supplies more secure and to extend the advantages of the internal market. The Republic of Moldova thanked the EU for the considerable technical and financial support of its energy sector. The EU and the Republic of Moldova took note that the citizens of the Republic of Moldova have benefitted from the enhanced transport connections between the EU and their country under the Aviation Agreement signed in 2012. Further to being a trade and tourism facilitator, the Agreement had also 11
Arundel House, 4 Palace Green London W8 4QD UK Phone: 0044 (0)20 7937 9666 Fax: 0044 (0)20 7937 8069 e-mail: [email protected] web site: www.london.mae.ro
Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ______brought additional safety to the Moldovan aviation and increased the number of passengers travelling to the EU by air. Moldova continues to benefit from the technical assistance provided by the EU to implement the EU aviation legislation. At the meeting, the Republic of Moldova and the European Commission signed a EUR 25 million financing agreement to support the modernisation of the Republic of Moldova's vocational and education training system. The EU and the Republic of Moldova welcomed that only recently an additional package of assistance worth EUR 30 million had been adopted under the more-for-more principle to assist in preparing for the future Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, thereby complementing the considerable EU technical assistance to the Republic of Moldova (over 100 million EUR in 2014). The sides agreed to maintain close interaction and effective coordination with a view of further deepening the Republic of Moldova's political association and economic integration with the EU.
14. First option for Romania is European Commissioner for Agriculture post
Romania's main option concerning the composition of the future European Commission is keeping the Agriculture portfolio, but the Justice portfolio option 'would not be bad,' Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Monday, following the discussions on this topic carried out within the ruling coalition, with the participation of Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.
'Today, we had talks in the ruling coalition - made up of the Social Democratic Union, the Hungarian Democratic Union - Mr Tariceanu was also present, and Romania's main option is that of keeping the Agriculture portfolio. In case this is not possible, we must talk about another important portfolio,' Ponta said.
According to him, Romania will have a weak negotiating power for a representative to the European Commission, as President Traian Basescu will go to the talks in Brussels.
'The one who should negotiate is not there, and that is me. The one who is present there has no negotiating power. Everyone knows that he obtained 6 per cent and that in November he leaves power, anyway. Therefore, from this point of view, unfortunately, same as at the moment of negotiating the budget for 2014-2020, when Mr Basescu was there and we obtained the weakest allotment of all EU states, I am afraid that Mr Basescu, obviously disinterested in what happens in Romania, could lose the Agriculture portfolio next year or could fail to obtain something for Romania,' the Prime Minister also said.
Victor Ponta explained that the first discussion to be carried out in Brussels will be related to the portfolios, after which each country observes a procedure for nominating the candidates.The Prime Minister added that it would not be bad for a second option on Romania's behalf to be the Justice Commissioner position, but that he would have preferred keeping the Agriculture portfolio. 'Let us talk about the first [the Agriculture option]. This [The Justice option] would not be bad, but it would be best to keep Agriculture,' Victor Ponta said.
15. PNL, PDL merger possible before 2016 parliamentary elections
The Democratic Liberal Party (PDL, in opposition) chairman Vasile Blaga said on Wednesday a merger of his party with the National Liberals (PNL, in opposition) could be possible before the parliamentary elections scheduled for 2016, provided the analyses to be made show the two parties can garner more votes than if running separately.
'It is possible to have such a merger, if the analyses show that together we get more than separately', Blaga told a news conference after the party's National Standing Bureau meeting.
He added there is no time for discussions over a merger at this moment.
'My argument is the manner that the parties or alliances have performed after 1990. Alliances, even though having problems afterwards, have always got much better results than the parties having resulted from mergers. If we began talks about a merger today, we would deal with the merger only, and there is no time for that. Let us see at least the [November] presidential elections over, and then we can begin 12
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
talks on this matter too', Blaga stressed.
Asked whether the right-wing unification might be possible without the People's Movement Party (PMP), Blaga answered, 'Yes. Such talks are currently take place between the PDL and the PNL. As to what those in the PMP will do, we'll see'.
The Democratic Liberal head spoke of the proposals his party will put forward in the discussions with the Liberals.
'I think we'll very fast agree on the economic offer, which is important even in the presidential debate. I think we'll have no problems for both our parties to back the European and Euro-Atlantic track of Romania. I think we'll have no problem in supporting the rule of law state, a minimal yet powerful state, and backing the setupof the conditions for the creation of jobs - namely cutting the tax pressure on the employers. We have separate projects, but ones that have been tabled to Parliament by both our parties. (...) We will ultimately build the team to put such things into practice', the PDL chairman underscored.
The National Liberal Party (PNL, in opposition) and the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL, in opposition) have decided to back a single candidate for President, PDL leader Vasile Blaga announced on Wednesday after holding discussions with PNL officials.
'We have decided to back a single candidate for President, whom we shall nominate following vetting. We also decided that as of tomorrow, our parliamentary groups will co-work and our local branches will start cooperating to set up majorities of the two parties,' Blaga declared after the meeting.
16. Romanian Foreign Minster met his Italian counterpart, Federica Mogherini to discuss bilateral relations
Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean met visiting Italian counterpart Federica Mogherini on Wednesday, with the talks focusing on the bilateral relations, the results of the European elections and the Ukraine situation.
Corlatean said the relations between Romania and Italy are 'exceptional' and also called them 'privileged'.
'We speak of a consolidated strategic partnership that exists between our two countries, we speak of an entire common history and a Latin base that is extremely important for Romania, we speak of extremely solid bilateral economic relations. Italy retained its position of the second-largest economic and commercial partner of Romania in 2013 as well, with economic exchanges worth nearly 12 billion euros, with 37,500 Italian-owned companies operating in the Romanian market, that invested and keep investing in Romania and with a Romanian community, the most important by size, that exists in Italy, most of them well-integrated, contributing to the life of the Italian society and the economic life of Italy', he stressed.
The Romanian minister added Romania and Italy will celebrate the 135th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year.
Corlatean said his talks with Mogherini had approached the priorities of the European Union Italian presidency.
'Romania will grant extremely substantial political support to the priorities of the Italian presidency, the more so since there are topics that interest us directly, such as the economic growth and the creation of jobs in the EU space, particularly for the youths. There are other topics of particular sensitiveness for Italy, such as illegal migration. We understand and we are open to cooperating in order to adopt the best decisions and policies in the EU on this matter', he said.
The Romanian top diplomat thanked the Italian foreign minister for 'the constant support' rendered by Italy to Romania's and Bulgaria's Schengen Area entry bid and for the correct assessment of the progress Romania has 'constantly' made over these years under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.
Mogherini underscored the bilateral relations between Romania and Italy are 'excellent', not only at state but also government level.
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Arundel House, 4 Palace Green London W8 4QD UK Phone: 0044 (0)20 7937 9666 Fax: 0044 (0)20 7937 8069 e-mail: [email protected] web site: www.london.mae.ro
Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ______
'We've found that we share the same vision, both on a European and international level, I think of the Euro-Atlantic Alliance (...) Now more than in the past, Italy and Romania can work with very much energy, much determination together both on the European agenda and on the international agenda', she said.
The two ministers announced that a Romanian diplomat will be seconded from the foreign ministry to work in the EU Italian presidency team. Corlatean stressed the move will be 'beneficial to both sides'.
17. Reunion of JHA ministers of SEECP countries in Bucharest
Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) ministers of the countries participating in the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) reunite on Wednesday and Thursday in Bucharest at the Parliament Palace to tackle the regional cooperation on illegal migration and human trafficking, police collaboration, fight against corruption, and enhancement of judicial cooperation.
According to a release of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) sent on Wednesday, the event is included in the calendar of activities related to the current Presidency of SEECP held by Romania in 2013-2014.
The Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs Gabriel Oprea will deliver a speech on Thursday in the opening of the reunion.
Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs of the 12 SEECP member states -Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey - are invited to the reunion.
Special guests are also participating on behalf of the European Commission, the Council of Europe, Europol, Eurojust, the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), FRONTEX, the South-East European Law Enforcement Centre (SELEC) and UNODC - UN Office for Drugs and Criminality.
The SEECP is a non-institutionalized regional cooperation structure. Romania has already held its Presidency for two terms, in 1999-2000 and 2004-2005. The SEECP works under the Charter on good neighborly relations, stability, security and cooperation in Southeastern Europe, signed in Bucharest on February 12, 2000.
18. EP2014: Final election results
The PSD-UNPR-PC alliance of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the National Union for Romania's Progress (UNPR) and the Conservative Party (PC) won 16 seats in the European Parliament in the May 25 European elections in Romania, spokesman for the Central Electoral Bureau Marian Muhulet announced on Thursday.
The National Liberal Party (PNL) won 6 seats, the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) five seats, the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) 2 seats, the People's Movement Party (PM) 2 seats and independent Mircea Diaconu one seat.
The Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) has handed out, on Thursday, the mandates proving their election as MEPs following the vote on May 25.
Elected as European Parliament members from the PSD-UNPR-PC Alliance are the following: Corina Cretu, Ecaterina Andronescu, Catalin Ivan, Dan Nica, Maria Grapini, Damian Draghici, Daciana Sarbu, Ioan Mircea Pascu, Viorica Dancila, Ionel Sorin Moisa, Victor Bostinaru, Claudiu Ciprian Tanasescu, Doru Claudian Frunzulica, Constantin Laurentiu Rebega, Claudia Tapardel, Andi Lucian Cristea.
The PSD Chairman, Prime Minister Victor Ponta has announced on Thursday that Ecaterina Andronescu will not assume her mandate as an MEP, as the party cannot without her given the short span of time remaining until the presidential elections. 'We have agreed that she will remain an MP in the Romanian Senate', said Victor Ponta.
Next on the PSD list for the European Parliament elections is Victor Negrescu.
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Elected as European Parliament members from PNL are the following: Norica Nicolai, Adina Valean, Ramona Manescu, Cristian Busoi, Renate Weber, Eduard Hellvig.
The Democrat Liberals (PD-L) will be represented in the EP by Theodor Stolojan, Monica Macovei, Traian Ungureanu, Marian Jean Marinescu, and Daniel Buda.
PMP and UDMR will send two representatives each to Brussels - Cristian Preda and Siegfried Muresan for PMP and Iuliu Winkler and Csaba Sogor for UDMR.
Independent Mircea Diaconu has also won a mandate for the European Parliament.
ECONOMICS
1. Victor Ponta: Romania, rated as having stable development capacity by the three big rating agencies
Romania is again rated by all three big rating agencies as being a country with stable development possibility and capacity and recommendable to investors, Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced on Friday.
'Standard & Poor's, for the first time in six years, upgraded Romania's country rating. As such, Romania is considered as being in the category recommended to investments with stable outlook. Starting with today, Romania is again rated by all three big rating agencies - Standard & Poor's, Fitch and Moody's - as a country with stable development possibility and capacity and recommendable for investments,' Ponta said during a press conference at the Government House.
The Prime Minister added that the data presented by Eurostat on Thursday, May 15, are in the same trend, according to which 'Romania is the country with the highest economic growth in the first trimester of all 28 European Union countries'.
'Furthermore, from the INS (National Institute for Statistics), the fact that in the first quarter foreign direct investments have gone up by 30 percent, a third higher than last year. This means that for all the international investors and for the international financial markets Romania's macro-economic and structural progress is confirmed. (...) This way, for all the people investing and that want to invest in the future in Romania predictability and stability is insured, necessary for drawing up investment plans. Directly for Romania, this good news insures that we will have more investments, that we will have more jobs, implicitly having more budget revenues and in this way Romania can continue its positive path from an economic point of view by applying other measures aiding economic growth and providing support for investments', added Ponta.
The Prime Minister reminded that from July 1 reinvested profits are to become tax exempt and furthermore, work taxation will be reduced as well as social security contributions.
'It is important that, after a 2010-2011 period which was disastrous economically, fiscally, socially and for the budget, we have managed in 2013 and 2014, on the basis of the USL (Social Liberal Union) governing program, an economic relaunch, the consolidation of Romania, a radical improvement of our image in front of foreign investors and international financial markets. And in this way, surely, we can move towards transforming economic growth into medium and long term economic development. A sustainable process of creating jobs, of stability for these jobs, to raise wages, both in the private and in the public sector and ensuring that the disaster in 2010 materialized through the cutting of pensions, wages, raising the VAT (...) can no longer be possible in Romania', said Victor Ponta.
The Prime Minister showed that he asked the Ministers of Finance, European Funds, and Budget to prepare on Friday 'an analysis regarding the practical and concrete effects in the Romanian economy of all this good news (...), so that we may use it as a base for future decisions that lead to fiscal relaxation, improvement and growth of investments and creating jobs and improving the standard of living'.
2. EBRD improves Romania 2014 economic growth estimate to 2.6 pct
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Arundel House, 4 Palace Green London W8 4QD UK Phone: 0044 (0)20 7937 9666 Fax: 0044 (0)20 7937 8069 e-mail: [email protected] web site: www.london.mae.ro
Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ______
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) improved its 2014 economic growth estimate for Romania to 2.6 percent from the 2.4 percent announced in January this year, with exports and a pick-up in domestic demand seen as the drivers of GDP growth.
For next year, EBRD expects Romania's GDP to advance 2.8 percent.
'Economic activity in Romania has improved in 2013 above market expectations. GDP rose by 3.5 percent mainly on account of a strong export performance and an exceptional harvest. Inflation returned to the central bank's target range of 2-4 percent and has recently dropped below the lower band. Fiscal performance has also been good and the country exited the European Union's excessive deficit procedure in 2013. However, the high level of non-performing loans (over 20 percent of total loans), continuing cross-border deleveraging and increased uncertainties in neighboring Ukraine, may weigh on growth prospects in the near term,' reads the EBRD report.
Since the beginning of its operations, the EBRD has invested about 6.2 billion euros in over 330 projects in Romania, mobilizing for this purpose more than 12 billion euros from other sources of financing.
3. Romania has largest annual economic growth in EU and in first quarter of this year
Romania's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.8 percent in the first quarter of 2014 from the similar span of time of last year. This is the largest annual advance registered by a European Union (EU) member state, according to some preliminary estimates published on Thursday by the European office of statistics (Eurostat).
It is the second quarter in a row when Romania has had the largest annual economic growth in the EU after in the last quarter of last year Romania had a 5.1 percent increase in the GDP.
According to Eurostat, in the first quarter of 2014, the European Union registered a 1.4 percent annual economic growth and the Eurozone, a 0.9 percent advance.
In exchange, in the first quarter of this year, when compared to the last quarter of 2013, Romania had the lowest economic growth in the EU (0.1 percent), a significant slowdown from the 1.4 percent quarterly growth registered in the past three months of last year. Even so, the Romanian economy registered performances that were superior to the Czech Republic and France, whose economies stagnated in the first three months of this year, whereas the Dutch economy saw a 1.4 percent quarterly contraction.
According to the 'signal' estimates published on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics, Romania's GDP registered a 3.8 percent increase both as a gross series and as a seasonally adjusted series in the first quarter of this year from the similar time span of 2013. According to the above-mentioned source, the GDP in the first quarter 2014 was in real terms higher by 0.1 percent that it was in the fourth quarter of 2013 (seasonally adjusted data).
4. Euler Hermes upgrades Romania credit risk outlook to B2
Euler Hermes, a global leader in trade credit insurance has upgraded Romania's medium-term risk outlook from C3 to B2, on a scale of one to six, where AA represents the lowest risk and D the highest, a press release has said on Thursday.
Romania is one of five states for which Euler Hermes has improved the credit ratings alongside the Netherlands, Malta, Algeria and Kenya.
'The macroeconomic foundations (-of Romania-) have continued improving (current account and low fiscal deficits, the moderate public debt), although the foreign debt is still high (68 percent of GDP in 2013, on a downward trend)', Euler Hermes explained.
Under such circumstances, Euler Hermes predicts the Romanian economy will grow some 3 percent in 2014 and 2015, accompanied by diminished insolvencies of the companies.
5. Eugen Teodorovici: Romania attracts over 5 bln euro in EU funds in only 2 years 16
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Romania has attracted in the past two years over five billion euro in European funds, demonstrating that it can utilize the sums allocated by the European Union, said on Thursday in Timisoara (western Romania), European Funds Minister Eugen Teodorovici.
'If this money had entered the economy sooner, things would have been different today: we would have had more jobs, a higher economic growth', said Eugen Teodorovici during the reunion with representatives of public authorities.
The minister emphasized that Romania can bridge the gaps between it and other member states on the condition that we settle clearly, starting right now, what is to be financed in the public domain as well as in the private domain, and have an efficient implementation system.
'I really want Romania to attract as quickly as possible, maybe in the first five years, the 43 billion euro sum allotted for the 2014-2020 period, because only in this way can there be rapid effects in the economy', said Eugen Teodorovici.
6. Analysis Erste: The objective of accession to the euro zone in 2019 is very ‘ambitious’ but more realistic it would be after 2021
Romania’s objective to access the euro zone in 2019 is ‘ very ambitious’, a more realistic date would be over 2021, so that Romania avoid the premature accession to the European currency, while the decision factors seem to ignore the challenges and the risks of the member state, according to Erste.
‘Over the last years, Romania’s accession to the euro zone has become a moving target. The latest deadline mentioned now is 2019. We consider that this new deadline as very ambitious and we think that a more realistic date would be over 2021.’ The Erste report says. ‘ Romania’s accession to the euro zone; a moving target?’ Romania’s plans to access the euro zone stayed unchanged even during the period of crisis, when the existence of the European currency was under discussion and Hungary and Poland turned this objective into a waiting one.
Romania’s accession to the euro zone, a moving target since the accession to the European Union, was used as ‘ historic project’ necessary to serve as anchor for the economic decisions of the governments, being supported by the BNR.The countries which propose to access the euro zone must observe five nominal criteria, such as the ones defined by the Maastricht Treaty.
Romania does not cover the criterion regarding average inflation over the last 12 months, which should be maximum 1.5% higher than the non-weighted average of average inflation in the countries with the lowest inflation in the euro zone. The countries with low figures caused by severe recession or the salaries cuts are excluded from the inflation standard.
‘In spite of the lowest historic inflation in Romania, the disinflation in the euro zone was more powerful, making the difference against the level of reference to increase in 2013 after a temporary decrease in 2012’ stated the analysts of the credit institutions.The Romanian authorities meet the criteria regarding the budgetary deficit which should not be over 3% of GDP. At the same time, the public debt is significantly under the level of 60%, this as another condition.
Romania is close to the meeting of another criterion, which requires that the interest rates on long term do not surpass by more than 2% the average of governmental bonds yields with maturity of 10 years in the most performing three EU member states from the perspective of price stability (countries which qualified for the calculation of the reference value of inflation).
At the same time, the candidate countries must enter, for two years, in the Mechanism of Exchange Rate (ERM/ERMII) in the European Monetary System (EMS) and at the same time, not devalue the national currency along the last two years. This means that the candidate country should keep the rate of exchange in an interval of plus/minus 15% against the central course.
Romania has not yet accessed officially the ERM and will enter only two years before accession to the monetary union to become a more feasible objective. However, the volatility recorded by the euro-leu rate
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Arundel House, 4 Palace Green London W8 4QD UK Phone: 0044 (0)20 7937 9666 Fax: 0044 (0)20 7937 8069 e-mail: [email protected] web site: www.london.mae.ro
Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ______over the last years shows that the national currency varied more or less between +/- 15% as required, Erste shows.
The financial crisis showed that only the nominal convergence criteria do not meet the possible problems which a country could have after premature accession to the euro zone, ignoring both competitivity and the convergence gap of real economy, the bank says.
An analysis made on the basis of real convergence indicators would offer a better image to understand how far Romania is from the EU development standards.A first indicator, work productivity, shows that Romania is 50% under the EU average and much under the level reported by the most recent member states euro at the moment of their accession (Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia and Latvia). Supposing there is an annual growth of 3% which is a moderate growth rhythm, Romania would need approximately eight years to reach the level recorded by Latvia at the moment of accession to the euro zone.
Another indicator which shows that Romania is far from the euro zone as regards the development and real convergence, risking poverty and social exclusion. Supposing the present trend of convergence will continue, Romania would need another 7-8 years to reach the level of Latvia when they accessed, Erste shows.
One of the most important factor for accession to the euro zone is GDP per head at the parity of purchasing power.Both GDP per head of Romania is growing, but it got to 50% of the EU average, while the gap between the last states which became members of the euro zone and the EU average was much lower at the respective moment than the reported by present Romania.
The value of this indicator gradually lowered, so that the gap between the candidate country and the EU average increased gradually from 11% to 33%.
A first scenario should be one where the minimum threshold will not be reduced for Romania, which should have a GDP per head of at least 65% of the EU average, the level recorded by the last member state. Romania needs economic growth rates as high as possible, comparable to the EU to reduce the gap in a shorter period of time.According to the Erste calculations, the period which is most probable in which Romania could reach the level of 65% of GDP per head is 10-13 years.
A second scenario takes into consideration the possibility that the necessary threshold for accession to the monetary union to be reduced and Romania should be willing to take the risk of accessing at a GDPper head of only 60% of the EU average. The reduction of the limit would drop the number of necessary years to surpass this threshold. The most probable thresholds of economic growth of the E and Romania suggest that 7-9years would be necessary to reach this objective.
Romania needs more time than it is considered at present in public discussions for accession to the euro zone. Although the criteria for nominal convergence could be reached soon, the difference of economic development between our country and the rest of the EU is higher than it can be ignored, the Erste analysts say.
‘The easiness with which the accession calendar has varied along the last years suggests that the decision factors in Romania have the tendency to forget the challenges posed by the member state of the euro zone and the risks generated by accession lacking the corresponding preparation. The most recent advanced term, 2019 respectively, was considered as ambitious by the central bank and we cannot but agree with this taking into consideration that the scenarios discussed previously suggest that accession post -2021 is more realistic’ the report says.
Even a date after 2021 will not be easy to reach without the tough decisions which supposes the boost of economic competition. Restructuring and privatisation of state companies, increase of budgetary income and absorption of the European funds and the favouring of the investments in infrastructure instead of social expenditure are only some of them, the Austrian bank shows.
7. The Romanian-Czech economic forum held in Bucharest
The Romanian-Czech economic forum held in Bucharest on Tuesday could be an opportunity to exceed 2.5 billion euro in commercial exchanges between Romania and the Czech Republic by boosting
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
collaboration in the former joint Eastern cooperation, where connections were made between big enterprises, said Mircea Ionescu, the president of the National Association of exporters and importers in Romania(ANEIR).
“It is a forum between two countries which have complementary economies in many domains. This situation was inherited in communist times when these countries planned their economies. What gives us hope is the fact that we have the same target, the most rapid integration in the euro zone, which will give us big chances to increase the bilateral exchange volume. The European market is the main trade area,” said the ANEIR president.
He considers that there is potential for the over 100 Czech and Romanian companies participating in the Forum to identify new possibilities of cooperation in production,to develop joint investments, to cope with competition coming from Asia and other world areas, together.
“As president of the Export Council I had in view other countries in the former joint economic area. We are good and looked for not only in the Czech Republic in the software, electronic equipment and transport equipment areas. We sell railroad cabins manufactured at Astra Carriage Arad. In the farming sector we sell fruit and vegetables, produced in greenhouses, forest fruit or food supplements. We also have collaboration in electricity production. The Czechs came and installed wind fields but these installations were made from imports, without trying a partnership with Romanian companies, with manufacturing units in Romania,” said Mihai Ionescu.
As for the invitation addressed by the governor to Czech businessmen to come and try Romanian wines, Mihai Ionescu said that Mugur Isarescu had spoken not only as BNR governor, but also as producer.
The National Association of Exporters and Importers in Romania and the Czech embassy organized the Romanian-Czech Forum in the presence of Czech president Milos Zeman and other officials from the two countries.
8. Romania wants to benefit from EU Danube Region strategy very much
Romania needs a type of lobbying and a change of mentalities when it comes to the European Union Danube Region Strategy (EUDRS) and it wants to benefit from such move very much, the EUDRS Romania national coordinator Carmen Podgorean said on Thursday, on the first day of the Danube - Black Sea Social-Economic Innovation Forum held in the Romanian capital.
'We want to benefit from the European Union Danube Region Strategy very much. Indeed, what we lack, besides merely disseminated information, is the type of lobbying and effort to change the mentalities. I must, however, say that not only Romania has such shortcomings. We must understand that the European Union is not pouring money (into projects), but such money must be re-gained, because that money is our fees. There is need for us to attract money from the private environment, from banks, from credit', Podgorean stressed.
She said the EU is currently reviewing the governance of the macro-regional strategies, the Danube one included.
'Very beautiful things are taking place in the Danube Strategy. The European Union is currently reviewing the governance of the macro-regional strategies, not only the Danube one. The European Commission report on this matter must be released today (Thursday - editor's note) drawn up on the basis of a pondering process initiated last year. In this process, the improvement of governance is carried out by a range of suggestions and proposals that have huge involvement of the partner states, Romania included. We have sought to measure up to the requirements set by the European Union as much as possible', the EUDRS Romania official underscored.
9. Romania to hold Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization Chairmanship-in-Office in H2 2015
Romania will take over the Chairmanship-in-Office of both the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) in the second half of 2015, with this dual mandate opening new opportunities that need to be capitalized upon,
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ______
Senator and PABSEC member Marian Vasiliev said on Thursday, on the first day of the Black Sea- Danube Social-Economic Innovation Forum in Bucharest.
'The theme of the Danube is interesting for every one of us. The parliamentary side of Black Sea interaction comprises 12 countries, with Romania being the 5th contributor to this organization and playing a very important role in the development, on parliamentary ground, of relations based on Black Sea cooperation. As a member of Romania's delegation to PABSEC, I want to assure you that promoting entrepreneurship and cooperation projects of Black Sea countries is one of our priorities. I want to point out that in the second half of 2015 Romania will take over the Chairmanship-in-Office of both the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization and of the relevant Parliamentary Assembly. I believe that this dual mandate of coordinating Black Sea cooperation both at governmental and parliamentary level opens important opportunities we need to put forward,' Vasiliev said.
He also mentioned that lawmakers need to get more involved in activities envisaging the development of the Danube area and of the Black Sea region.
'Lawmakers must get involved at all activity levels. They act just like a power transmission belt that is best in whatever has to do with the outer segment linking the Government and the local authorities. Every step we take will in the end produce prosperity for the Danube and Black Sea areas,' said the Senator.
Eurolink - House of Europe Foundation organizes on Thursday and Friday the fourth edition of the forum devoted to the European Maritime Day in Romania, an event taking place under the aegis of the European Commission - Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, with support from the Senate of Romania, the Foreign Ministry, the Romanian Academy and the Romanian Banking Institute.
The logo of this year's edition of the forum is 'Promoting Intelligent Entrepreneurship in the Context of Innovation for the Danube - Black Sea Region.'
The European Union has allocated EUR 100 ml worth of funding for the Danube region under the Cohesion Policy 2007 - 2013.
10. Romania to continue cooperation with African states
Minister of European Funds Eugen Teodorovici said on Wednesday that a great friendship that has well resisted time connects Romania and African states and that their cooperation will continue.
'I am truly honored to represent the Prime Minister of Romania at this event and I convey my personal wishes of success and the warmest thoughts of prosperity and peace to the entire Africa. A great friendship that has withstood time exists between Romania and African states and our cooperation will continue, based on the sympathy and constructive dialogue we have been enjoying up until now. Romania's relation with the African countries stays an important component of the Romanian foreign policy. Romanian teachers and numerous experts have contributed to the development of the African continent,' Teodorovici told an event for the celebration of Africa Day organized by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in Bucharest.
He added that Romania has contributed to international efforts towards the promotion of peace and democracy and the sustained development of continents.
'After EU accession, we noticed that despite the global economic crisis, business relations between Romania and African countries have continued to develop. The companies reported a 400 percent growth in the exchange of goods between Romania and African countries compared to 2006. Specifically, in 2013 the value of trade relations amounted to 2.5 billion US dollars, of which Romanian exports accounted for 2.1 billion US dollars,' said Teodorovici.
The Minister stressed that security remained the key factor in building a prosperous society that provides citizens with opportunities for personal development, thus furthering economic growth and generating high living standards.
In turn, Ambassador of Morocco Faouz El Achchabi said that Africa is a continent with a strong potential as regards both natural and human resources.
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
'The group of African ambassadors appreciates Romania's support for strengthening the capabilities of the institutions of African countries. We also appreciate the political support provided for enhancing Africa's capabilities and the determination to stay involved in specific projects that contribute to the stability and prosperity of African countries, enabling them to capitalize on the highly appreciated Romanian expertise,' said Morocco's Ambassador Faouz El Achchabi.
11. World Bank Group Supports Romania to Ensure Strong Economic Growth and Prosperity for All its Citizens
*EUR750 million budget support to modernize public expenditures and improve the functioning of key markets The World Bank Group Board of Directors discussed Thursday a Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Romania for 2014-2017, a press release informs. The new strategy outlines the Bank’s cooperation with the Government of Romania over the next four years. Also today, the Board approved a EUR750 million budget support loan (DPL), the first of a series of such operations loans included in the new CPS. The Bank’s loan series supports critical reform measures to strengthen public debt management, enhance the quality of public spending, and improve the performance of state-owned enterprises and the functioning of property, energy, and capital markets, all of which are key for private sector development and growth. The DPL series builds upon previous budget support lending to Romania and complements the ongoing European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs. The new strategy supports Romania’s goal of converging with EU income levels, focusing on improving living conditions for the poorest 40 percent of the population while ensuring gender equality. The strategy is focused on three main pillars: (i) creating a 21st century government, (ii) supporting economic growth and job creation, and (iii) increasing social inclusion. The CPS is the result of extensive consultations with a wide variety of stakeholders in the government, the European Commission and international institutions, the private sector, academia, think-tanks, civil society, and representatives of selected municipalities and residents within Romania. “Romania and the World Bank Group are deepening an already strong and fruitful partnership”, said Ms. Mamta Murthi, World Bank Director for Central Europe and the Baltic Countries. “Romania is now stable from a macroeconomic perspective and better prepared than before 2008 to absorb global and regional markets volatility. Reaching a growth above 3.5 percent in the medium term, and catching up with the rest of the European Union will require better infrastructure, a policy environment capable to attract significant amounts of private sector investment, and improved utilization of EU funds. We are aware of these challenges, and we hope to reach these ambitious objectives with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank.” said Liviu Voinea, Minister Delegate for Budget and Romania’s Governor of the World Bank Group.. “Our expectations are that Romania’s economic growth will further trend upwards and structural reforms implementation will continue. We welcome World Bank's decision to support our endeavors, including the new CPS, whose objectives reflect our aim to offer predictability to the business environment and a more efficient public sector. Over time, we have built a strong partnership with the World Bank that allowed operations in various sectors of the economy. Looking forward, we hope that it will continue to support the structural reform process, including in public finance. I am aware that the business environment expects fiscal measures that lead to economic growth and development, not only to higher revenues. The fiscal policies that I will promote would pave the way for a more efficient, predictable and transparent public finance system,” said Ioana Petrescu, Minister of Public Finance. Under the new strategy, the Bank will provide lending and advisory services. The Bank’s private sector arm, the IFC, will work with financial intermediaries to support small and medium enterprises, provide loans to under-served populations, and co-financing for EU programs where appropriate. IFC will help develop Romania’s competitive advantage in primary goods production, food and beverages processing, and retail and will complement the Bank’s activities in areas such as infrastructure, including through public private partnerships with an emphasis on energy efficiency, innovation and new technologies especially for exporters. MIGA, not active in Romania since 2004, is now looking into provide guarantees to key state-owned enterprises in the energy sector to support the expansion of local and regional interconnections. “I am optimistic about Romania’s future and, if the reform process is deepened and sustained, I am convinced that convergence with the European Union average income will return to a pace similar to pre- 21
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ______crisis level and will benefit every citizen in Romania.” said Elisabetta Capannelli, World Bank Country Manager for Romania.
12. World Bank: fiscal consolidation effort to place Romania in good situation for euro adoption The continuous effort of fiscal consolidation will place Romania in a good situation for adopting the euro, the World Bank Country Director for Romania and Hungary, Elisabetta Capannelli told a press conference.
According to Capannelli, it is up to the Romanian authorities to discuss with the European authorities, when they are ready, to join the Eurozone, and 'I believe that many of the reforms we are backing together, including the tax ones, the structural reforms, will provide the necessary tools to join the Eurozone,' she said.
In her opinion, joining the Eurozone can function as an anchor to accelerate reforms.
'We believe that we can have a 4-5% growth under conditions of macro-stability and that is very important to reduce the gaps from the other countries in the Eurozone. A sustainable acceleration of the economic growth will help us join the Eurozone. The closer we are to the level of development when we join compared to the developed countries the better for us in terms of managing potential asymmetric shocks which may appear,' said Catalin Pauna, World Bank Senior Country Economist.
Catalin Pauna says that the growth agenda is very important for Romania and that our country has the potential to improve its economic growth by 'removing those obstacles that block the added value in activities with low productivity.' 13. Mihai Bogza (FIC): Last year's progress could increase Romania's appeal for investors
Romania could become more attractive for investors, given the positive evolutions over the last year, Foreign Investors Council President Mihai Bogza said in an interview to AGEPRES; he mentioned the economic growth, the inflation in normal and predictable parameters, and balance of payments current account indicating some stability and standing at a quite acceptable level.
According to the CIS official, a direct impact of the recent Standard&Poor's rating of Romania will be visible in the costs of the country's foreign borrowing, since some funds that were under restriction of buying Romanian bonds, as long as the ratings of all three major rating agencies were not 'investment grade.'
As regards the incoming investments, there are more criteria taken into account over longer terms.
'For instance, I think that the decisions on investments to Romania would be rather stimulated by other positive elements seen lately, such as the relatively high economic growth both last year and over the first quarter of this year; the inflation reaching normal and predictable parameters; a current account of the balance of payments indicating some stability and standing at a quite acceptable level, around one percent of the GDP last year, and probably around the same figure this year. Such good news from the economy will make Romania more appealing for foreign investors,' Bogza said.
Asked about the solution for settling issues of state-owned companies, Bogza answered that he personally sees privatization as the only solution.
'Let us remember that Petrom, for instance, had huge losses before the privatization; not it is very profitable. There are many similar examples,' he added.
As regards the merging of the 92 parafiscal taxes, Bogza commented that they were 'minor taxes, which were more a headache for the companies. If these taxes were anyhow unjustified for the Government, it is a good thing that someone took this step of identifying and eliminating them.'
According to Bogza, the Government's intention to adopt the euro on January 1, 2019 is 'a goal worth mobilizing our efforts. Whether we succeed or not remains to be seen, but we should at least do what we
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
can to set into place the necessary premises, and then take the decision based on the domestic or external context. However, this is a target that can muster the energies in Romania, like it happened with the accession to NATO or the EU, or like things went up to a point for the attempt of joining the Schengen Area; here, unfortunately, the failure has led to a certain demotivation. So adopting the euro is a goal worth following,' he underlined.
14. Romania by year-end can be model of drawing EU funds (Minister Eugen Teodorovici)
The Romanian EU Funds Minister Eugen Teodorovici said in northwestern Oradea on Friday that Romania, by year-end, can be a model of drawing the European Union funds by a new streamlined system.
The minister made the remark on signing the contracts under the FARMATERM Competitiveness Pole, an event also attended by Prime Minister Victor Ponta, Vice Prime Ministers Liviu Dragnea and Daniel Constantin, the Chamber of Deputies Speaker Valeriu Zgonea and Bihor County Prefect Claudiu Pop.
'This group of projects is of special importance for this area and for the entire country too. It is a project with an innovative side, since it is a partnership among 19 members, namely four research institutes and universities, 11 firms mainly in pharmaceuticals and consultancy and another four catalyst members', Teodorovici underscored.
The main goal of the event, as highlighted by the minister, consists in enhancing the visibility of FARMATERM Competitiveness Pole by its promotion in the domestic and global markets with a view to building the image of the pole brand. The project aims to obtain innovative products based on spirulina algae and geo-thermal water active substances.
'By the collaborations with reputed universities in Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Hungary (Debrecen) and by forging partnerships with the foreign organisations, a greater note of seriousness is given as well as a guarantee that today's signing is a step forward for the Romanian pharmaceutical and chemical industry', the minister stressed.
At the same time, 30 positions will be created for managers and staff for the implementation of the projects, alongside with 15 engineers' jobs for the buildings and installation maintenance and 119 production jobs.
The EU funds minister underscored Romania succeeds in drawing the funds earmarked by the EU, with the clearest proof being that Bucharest has claimed more than five billion euros since May 2012 till now. This compares to only 1.4 billion euros it was paid in the prior years, he added.
The FARMATERM Competitiveness Pole projects total 56 million lei, with the EU funds amounting to 26.3 million lei.
15. EY: Romania ranks third in top of most attractive countries in CEE for foreign investments
Romania has surpassed Hungary in the classification of the most attractive countries for foreign investments in Central and Eastern Europe in 2014, ranking third in the area after Poland and the Czech Republic, according to the EY Survey (European Attractiveness Survey).
However, the first two countries in the top are having a dropping tendency in 2014 compared to 2013, while Romania’s attractiveness has grown by 2%. If it continues with this tendency, Romania may surpass the Czech Republic in 2015, becoming the second most attractive country for foreign investors in CEE.
Last year Romania ranked 10th in Europe for the number of jobs newly created through direct foreign investments in 2013, which generated 6,157 jobs, on the drop by 13% against the previous year when direct foreign investments generated 7,114 jobs.Great Britain, France, Poland, Russia and Serbia were on the first positions.
EY points out that Central and Eastern Europe has dropped in the investors’ preferences in 2013, because of a slow economic growth and unstable economic conditions. The region attracted 5% fewer direct
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ______foreign investment projects, while the jobs generated dropped by 4%.Direct foreign investments in Europe reached the highest level last year according to European Attractiveness Survey.
The Survey, now at the 12th edition, combines an analysis of foreign investments in Europe with the results of an opinion poll made on a sample of 800 CEOs about the evolution of global investments in the next 10 years.
The poll was made by CSA Institute over February-March 2014 by phone interviews of a representative group made of over 840 international decision makers.
16. Romania-China Business Forum
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Municipality of Bucharest (CCIB) on Thursday organised a Romania-China Business Forum, counting on the participation of a number of 14 large and very large companies of China.
The event was organised under a partnership agreement signed by the Chamber of Commerce in Bucharest with the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME). This is the largest and most influential relevant Chamber of China, with almost 8,000 member enterprises and 19 branch offices.
The Forum was opened by CCIB President Sorin Dimitriu, with officials of the Economy Ministry's Energy Department going to participate in the event, as well as representatives of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Bucharest.
Among the companies represented in the Forum, there is Sinohydro, the first brand of China in hydropower constructions, China Petroleum Technology & Development Corporation, the largest world supplier of crude oil, petrochemical products and equipment, China Coal Technology & Engineering Group Corp, the spine of the coal industry in China, State Grid Corporation of China, the largest utility company worldwide, Shanghai Electric Group Co.Ltd, one of the largest conglomerate companies in the production of complete equipment of China, Harbin Electric International Company Limited, a leader in China in project contract-signing and in power equipment export, as well as other companies in the areas of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, machinery construction, electronics, radio-communications.
These companies are interested in identifying in Romania local partners and opportunities of involvement in future projects.
The Chamber of Commerce of the Municipality of Bucharest over the past few years has granted a special attention to the relation with China. CCIB organised a great number of economic missions and business forums with Chinese partners and starting October 2012 it has supported the Romanian - Chinese projects also through a representative office opened in Beijing.
SOCIAL
1. The Independent: Romanian and Bulgarian migration: Number of workers down in UK since visa restrictions lifted at start of year
Numbers of Romanians and Bulgarians working in Britain have fallen by 4,000 in the first three months since visa restrictions were scrapped, official figures revealed today, quoted by The Independent daily news.The statistics contradict claims by the UK Independence Party (Ukip) that Britain would be hit by an influx of workers from the two east European states once the transitional controls were lifted on January 1.
Ukip warned that the “floodgates will open”, while the pressure group Migration Watch predicted 50,000 arrivals a year from Romania and Bulgaria. Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said the new figures “gave the lie to Ukip’s scaremongering on immigration”. He said: “The very modest numbers of Romanians and Bulgarians coming to work in Britain this year is in stark contrast to the inflammatory rhetoric of earlier this year.”
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Ahead of the removal of visa controls, the Government also rushed in changes to welfare rules designed to deter “benefit tourism” and David Cameron called for new rules on “freedom of movement” for new EU member states. The Office for National Statistics reported that there were 140,000 Romanians and Bulgarians employed in the UK in the first quarter of 2014. That was a fall of 4,000 on the final three months of last year, but an increase of 28,000 over the last 12 months. Keith Vaz, the chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee, demanded an apology from Ukip and others who “promised the end of the world”. Keith Vaz went to Luton airport on 1 January to assess numbers of new arrivals from the two countries, only to encounter one passenger. He said: “The committee viewed for itself how the supposed flood of immigration from Romania and Bulgaria was little more than a trickle. "It would appear now that many may have actually left the UK. "Those, including UKIP, who promised the end of the world on January 1, now owe the public and those from Romania and Bulgaria a full apology.” Ukip pointed to separate ONS statistics, showing numbers of foreign workers in Britain has risen by 292,000 over the last year. Its leader, Nigel Farage, said they demonstrated that Coalition immigration policy was an “abject failure”. He said: “Far from controlling immigration, this government has shown it has absolutely no control over Britain's borders and no intention of putting the British people first.” Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: “These quarterly statistics always fluctuate. The latest annual figures show an increase of 28,000, in a period when restrictions were in place for nine months. “We believe they are consistent with our estimate of a 50,000 population increase from Romania and Bulgaria for each of the next five years.” * A minister has admitted the Government would not hit its target of reducing net migration to tens of thousands. Anna Soubry, the defence minister, said: “At the moment we don’t seem to be on course.” The latest figures showed net migration running at more than 210,000. New figures will be published
2. As many as 18,226,995 Romanians recorded on electoral roll copy as of May 16
The electoral roll copy lists 18,226,995 Romanian voters as compared to 18,285,509 eligible-to-vote Romanians recorded on the electoral roll on May 10, the Standing Election Authority announced in a release on Friday.
'As compared to the last public information made by the Standing Election Authority on this issue, the electoral roll copy includes 18,226,995 voters. (18,285,509 eligible-to-vote Romanians recorded on the electoral roll on May 10, 2014). The balance of 58,514 Romanian voters is the result of the current operations made by the mayors on the electoral roll relevant to their communities, of the import of programmed data from the Directorate for the Population Records and Data Bases Management with the Ministry of the Interior and of deleting the Romanian nationals recorded on the electoral roll of another state from the Romanian electoral roll copy in line with article 15, para (3) of the Law no. 33/2007 on the organization and conduct of the elections for the European Parliament, the re-published version with the subsequent modifications and completions', the release said.
The electoral rolls are drawn up by communities and they include all the eligible-to-vote citizens residing in the town or village for which they have been drawn up, according to the information written in the identity papers issued by the Romanian state. The deadline for printing the electoral roll copies to be used in the polling stations set up for the May 25 elections is this May 22.
3. Eurostat: Romania posts highest rise in construction works among EU members in March
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ______
Romania recorded the most significant advances in construction works in the European Union in March 2014, when compared to the previous month, show the data presented on Monday by the European Office of Statistics (Eurostat).
Construction work in the EU has declined in March by 0.5 percent, and in the Eurozone a 0.6 percent contraction was recorded.As for the member states, construction work has had the most significant advance in Romania (10.3 percent), and the greatest decline was recorded in Portugal (3 percent drop).
4. Nearly 100,000 registered nurses have left the country (labor unions)
A new wage law in the healthcare system should take into account registered nurses as raising salaries for this category through performance-based wages is one of the necessary measures to combat the migration of experienced employees in the public healthcare system, given that, according to statistic estimates, nearly 100,000 registered nurses have left to work abroad in the past seven years, the Health Solidarity Federation of Romania (FSSR) pointed out on Monday.
According to a press release of the healthcare unionists, information regarding the situation of registered nurses in the public healthcare system is taken from public databases of the National Statistics Institute (INS) and was the object of a research which showed that, when compared to 1990, the public healthcare system's number of registered nurses dropped by 30,000 (around 25 percent), namely from 125,484 registered nurses in 1990 to 95,484 in 2012. The most dramatic drop in the number of registered nurses took place between 2007 - 2012, namely 23,000, the public healthcare system losing around 17 percent of registered nurses.
'... in 25 years, the public sector [of healthcare] has lost around 40,000 employees (on the backdrop of an increase in number of patients). As such we observe that the public healthcare system records the gravest crisis in the healthcare sector. In the past 23 years the number of patients has gone up by 12 percent while the number of registered nurses has gone down by 25 percent. The situation indicates a 40 percent increase in the work tasks in this interval (higher if we take in to consideration the years in which the number of patients was higher than in 2012)', the FSSR release shows.
In the opinion of the unionists, a raise in the age of retirement of registered nurses from 60 years (59 years and 8 months currently) to 65 years is far from being considered a success, being in fact a 'festinate measure, meant to save a something from the disaster that struck this personnel category, created by the governments of the past seven years'.
The unionists pointed out that the workforce in the care service of the public healthcare system is meager (at least 25 percent less employees), composed of tired workers (due to overtime work permanent in nature), aged (due to remaining in activity after the normal retirement age), disappointed (by the level of wages), and ailing (due to the work conditions and occupational diseases).
5. Prince Charles arrived in Romania on private visit
Charles, Prince of Wales, arrived on Tuesday afternoon at the 'Transylvania' Airport of Targu Mures (central Romania), on board a private plane; the heir to the British throne headed for Viscri - Brasov County.
Caroline Fernolend, president of the Transylvania-based 'Mihai Eminescu' Trust under the Prince's patronage, told Agerpres that the Prince first went to the house he owns in Viscri and that he chatted with Fernolend's mother.
According to Caroline Fernolend, from Viscri, the Prince of Wales left for Covasna County, where he owns another property. According to the same source, Prince Charles will stay in Romania until Friday.
6. Switzerland prolongs the restrictions on the work market for Romanians and Bulgarians until 31 May 2016
The Swiss Federal Council decided on Wednesday to prolong the restrictions on the work market for the Romanians and the Bulgarians until 31 May 2016, according to a press release of the institution.
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Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
‘The Federal Council decided today (Wednesday) to prolong by two years the temporary restrictions applied to Bulgarian and Romanian workers. The priority offered to the native workers,a limited number of residence permits as well as control on the salary conditions are kept’ the press release of the Federal Council says.
According to the quoted source, the prolongation of the restrictions to 31 May 2016 is ‘ according to protocol II of the agreement regarding the free circulation of the people signed between Switzerland and the European Union.’.
The agreement which came into force on 1 June 2009 allows Switzerland similarly to the old member states of the EU to restrict access on the work market for 7 years for the new entries. The period of transition has three stages. During the last stage, Switzerland may keep restrictions only in case there is serious trouble on the work market.
Switzerland announced on 30 April, the annulment of restrictions on the work market imposed gradually in 2012 and 2013, to the citizens of the 25 member states of the EU.
The Wednesday decision of the Federal Council includes all workers and service providers in certain economic sectors, such as constructions and flower growing.
At the end of 2013, in Switzerland there were 15,199 residents from Romania and Bulgaria, up by 18.1% which is 0.8% of the total number of EU citizens established in this country.
7. INSCOP poll: Almost 45 percent of Romanians have good opinion of Royal House of Romania
A share of 44.9 percent of Romanians have a good and very good opinion of the Royal House of Romania, while 47.5 percent would vote against monarchy, as show the data of a INSCOP-ADEVARUL poll referring to the Romanians' views on monarchy, carried out in the period May 1-7, 2014, at the request of Adevarul daily.
The perception on the Royal House has improved reported to the month of July last year, when 41 percent of the population voiced good and very good opinions.
'The popularity share of the Royal House is high. It is interesting that it seems to have slightly increased, in the conditions in which, unlike last year, we are in an electoral year, therefore the public agenda does not grant any special attention to monarchy-related topics. So much the more as last year this topic was much approached, especially in the context of some positive events which concerned the main European Royal Houses,' INSCOP project coordinator Darie Cristea pointed out in a press release.
At the same time, 37.8 percent of the respondents say they have neither a good nor a bad opinion, as against 43.5 percent in July 2013, 9.6 percent have a bad opinion, compared with 5 percent last year, and 2.2 percent have a very band opinion, compared with 1.4 percent last year.
According to the data, 5.6 percent of the respondents do not know or do not wish to answer.
In May 2014, 30.2 percent of Romanians say they would vote for monarchy in a possible referendum devoted to changing Romania's ruling formula. Concerning the same matter, in July 2013, a share of 27.2 percent said they would vote in favour of monarchy.
On the other hand, 47.3 percent would vote against monarchy and for keeping the republic - compared with only 39 percent in 2013. The number of non-answers decreased in this matter from July 2013, from 33.8 percent, to 22.5 percent.
According to INSCOP project coordinator Darie Cristea, 'this clarification of options through the reduction of the non-answers rate also comes in the context of the visible debates last year related to monarchy, including the polls on this topic back then.'
The volume of the sample the poll was conducted on 1,056 persons and is representative for Romania's population of 18 years and over.
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The maximum admitted error of the data stands at +/- 3 percent, at a 95 percent confidence rate, the sample being a multi-layered probabilistic type.
The INSCOP Barometer 'The Truth about Romania' is a periodical sociological research project of Romanians' opinions concerning the main aspects of the political, economic, social and cultural life.
CULTURE
1. Thirty-three museums and cultural organizations are open in Bucharest on Night of Museums
Thirty-three institutions (18 museums and 15 cultural or educational institutions in Bucharest) are waiting for their visitors till late at night with exhibitions, concerts, shows, film screenings, performances and interactive workshops for unforgettable experiences, says Alina Patru, who works with the National Network of Museums in Romania (RNMR).
Dragos Neamu, RNMR president, informed that the network this year too coordinated the event nationwide and organized trips to museums in Bucharest, Timisoara (western Romania) and Cluj-Napoca (central Romania) as part of the project titled 'Night of Museums 2014: The Same Night, Different Scenarios,' which is financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund.
He added that this year Timisoara would have a scenario similar to the one in Bucharest, occasioned by the candidacy of the city on the Bega for the title of European capital. 'We want to make this event quite permanent in Timisoara, it depends on the results of the Night,' said Neamu, who added that, in Romania, RNMR did not interfere in the organization made by every museum.
More than 150 museums and cultural and educational organizations from 48 places in Romania organize free visits and special events on the night from May 17 to 18, as part of the 10th event titled 'Night of Museums.'
2. Romania to take part in Book World Prague 2014
Romania will take part in the Book World Prague 2014 book trade fair, this year in its 20th edition, May 15-18. Organiser of Romania's national stand at the fair is the Romanian Culture Ministry, while the cultural events to be staged will be staged in cooperation with the Romanian Culture Institute (ICR) in Prague.The Culture Ministry reports that among its invitees for this edition of the book trade fair in Prague are authors Emil Brumaru, Ioan T. Morar, Lavinia Balulescu and Krista Szocs.
The debates and readings, where also attending will be important Czech authors, will be moderated by renowned translators Libuse Valentova, Jiri Nasinec and Jitka Lukesova. Invitees of the Romanian Culture Institute are authors Bogdan Suceava and Ileana Cudalb. Romanian literature is well known and appreciated in the Czech Republic, with Romania having been the special guest of the Book World international trade fair in Prague for two years in a row.
2. As many as 22 Romanian films at TIFF
Some of the successful Romanian films, as well as premieres, will be screened at the Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF), which will take place from May 30 to June 8.
A total of 22 Romanian productions will be screened - 14 motion pictures and eight short films - some of which being premieres.
'Four films will open at the TIFF. ‘Poarta Alba,' by Nicolae Margineanu, is the drama of two students who wind up in the forced labour camp Danube-Black Sea Canal in 1949. The cast includes Cristian Bota, Sergiu Bucur and Bogdan Nechifor. In ‘Cripta,' the new film by Corneliu Gheorghita (Europolis), a French businessman remains trapped within the walls of a yard in Baile Herculane. Serge Riaboukine, an actor with dozens of films and theatre plays in his portfolio and with a Bronze Leopard at Locarno for his role in ‘Peau d' homme coeur de bête' (1999), makes a memorable role. Visual artist Daniel Djamo debuts
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at the TIFF with ‘A last year in 114 minutes,' a video diary of his grandmother's last year of life,' reads a presentation of the organizers.
The comedy ‘America, venim!' [America, here we come!], Razvan Savescu's debut, will have its world premiere at the TIFF, but hors concours. Also hors concours will be screened ‘Afacerea Tanase. Leapsa pe murite' (directed by Ionut Teianu), a documentary about the attempted assassination of writers Virgil Tanase and Paul Goma in 1982. The only Romanian film in the international competition of the TIFF is ‘Quod erat demonstrandum,' the black-and-white film of Andrei Gruzsniczki, starring Ofelia Popii, Sorin Leoveanu and Florin Piersic Jr.
The spectators will see also Victor Rebenciuc, in the ‘Japanese Dog,' Tudor Cristian Jurgiu's debut, designated the Best Film at the Vilnius Festival and screened at San Sebastian and the New Directors / New Films in New York.
The TIFF is organized by the Romanian Film Promotion Association and the Association for Film and Urban Culture, with the support of the National Centre of Cinematography, the Cluj County Council, Cluj City Hall, the Cluj-Napoca Local Council and the Romanian Cultural Institute.
3. Bishop Anton Durcovici was beatified
Roman Catholic Bishop and Martyr Anton Durcovici was beatified on Saturday, to the applause of the over 20,000 pilgrims attending the ceremony held on the Emil Alexandrescu stadium in Iasi.
Bishop Anton Durcovici was declared blessed in a Solemn Liturgy presided by Pope Francis's envoy Cardinal Angelo Amato, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
According to the beatification ritual, Cardinal Amato read the Pope's Apostolic Letter, with the Blessed Anton Durcovici's relic being brought to the altar in a procession.
'Fulfilling the request of Our Brother Petru Gherghel, the Bishop of Iasi, as well as of many other brothers in Bishopric and of numerous faithful, listening to the opinion of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, we, Our Apostolic Authority, allow that the Venerable Servant of God Anton Durcovici, Bishop of Iasi and martyr, a zealous shepherd and persevering witness of God's love, a fearless defender of the Catholic faith, as well as of the Communion with the Roman Church be called from now on by the name of Blessed and that his feast might be celebrated, every year, on the 10th day of December, the day when he was born for Heaven. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, Amen! Given in Rome, at Saint Peter's, on the 11th day of May, the Year of Our Lord 2014, the second of our Pontificate', the Apostolic Letter signed by Pope Francis reads.
The beatification and canonization process of Roman Catholic Bishop Anton Durcovici (1888-1951), who died in the prison at Sighetu Marmatiei (northern Romania) started in 1997, and his martyrdom for faith was acknowledged by Pope Francis on Oct. 31, 2013.
President Traian Basescu sent a message on the occasion of the beatification of Bishop Anton Durcovici, saying he represents 'a symbol of witness for the entire Christian world.'
''I want to thank you for inviting me to attend this Solemn Liturgy for the beatification of Bishop Anton Durcovici, a great theological personality and martyr of the Catholic Church in Romania. In 2013, the Roman Catholic Church had the great joy to host in Bucharest the beatification ceremony of Monsignor Vladimir Ghika, in the presence of believers and His Eminence Cardinal Angelo Amato, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. These two major events for the whole Catholic Church bring to our attention two extraordinary examples of humanity and faith, two theological and historical personalities united by the same vocation of witnessing their faith at the cost of their own life,'' the message reads.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta attended the ceremony alongside his wife Daciana Sarbu. ''Romania assumes its history including its tragedies. Not only Bishop Anton Durcovici, but thousands of Orthodox, Catholic, Greek-Catholic, Protestant priests have died in communist prisons. The fact that we take responsibility and honour at this moment shows that Romania left behind those difficult times,'' Ponta said.
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Ponta also said that ''all creeds are being respected' at present in Romania and ''the state has the same obligations towards all those professing a creed.'
4. Czechs Day at the Village Museum in Bucharest
On Wednesday, May 21, under the title 'Czechs day at the Village Museum', music shows, traditional dances and a photo exhibition are set to take place, presenting Czech traditions. Furthermore, Wednesday will see the launch of the album 'Kara Eflak' of the Vocal-Instrumental Old Music Orchestra 'Anton Pann', a band dedicated to the interpretation of old Byzantine music, through a concert featuring music of the Romanian Principalities and the Ottoman Empire in the 17th-19th centuries, a veritable 'musical trip between Bucharest - the capital of the Romanian Principality of Ungro-Vlahia / Kara Eflak (Wallach's country - according to Ottoman writings) and Stanbul/Istanbul/Constantinople/Tarigrad - capital of the Ottoman Empire and cultural center of southeastern Europe and Asia Minor'.
Since 2004, the Vocal-Instrumental Old Music Orchestra 'Anton Pann' has been laboring to discover and reveal to the public around the world the long-forgotten, but unique musical tradition of the Balkans. Named after Ottoman-born Romanian composer, musicologist and poet Anton Pann, the band specializes in the interpretation of medieval to 19th century music mainly through the rearrangement of musical pieces authored by Anton Pann and his associate Gheorghe Ucenescu, the latter being heralded as arranging the music of Romanian national anthem 'Desteapta-te Romane' to Andrei Muresanu's lyrics. The band also interprets songs, religious or secular in character, traditionally associated with holidays such as carols and other songs.
The events are part of the celebrations of the 78th anniversary of the Village Museum that was recorded on May 17, 2014.
5. Government increases Culture Ministry's budget for drama and film festivals
The Romanian Government on Tuesday passed a decision providing additional funds to the Culture Ministry from the reserves at the disposal of the Government provided for under the 2014 national budget, for drama and film festivals.
The Government reports in a press release that the additional funds will help the Culture Ministry support the Sibiu International Drama Festival, the Transilvania International Film Festival and the Astra Film Festival.
'These prestigious events play a special part in the promotion of Romania's dramaturgy and filmmaking, as well as of Romania's picture abroad,' reads the release.
The Culture Ministry will receive RON 1 million to fund the Sibiu International Drama Festival, RON 2 million to fund the Transilvania International Film Festival and RON 100,000 to fund the Astra Film Festival.
6. Nineteen Romanian companies at IMEX international tourism fair in Frankfurt
19 Romanian companies attend the ninth edition of the IMEX international tourism fair in Frankfurt between May 20 and 22, the National Tourism Authority (ANT) informed in a release.
Romania has been present at this fair since its first edition. According to ANT, a significant part of the revenues from incoming tourism is generated by the events; the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) industry currently brings half of the turnaround of tourism in Romania.
'In 2014, the arrivals of foreign tourists in Romania are on an ascending trend for incoming, intended as a complex activity that includes the events industry (MICE). Indeed, statistics are promising for this sector with a real potential for development in our country, also taking into account that most foreigners coming to Romania go to Bucharest and the big cities. Participating in IMEX adds to other ANT activities in support of the so-called MICE sector, carried out in the country, in collaboration with the most important representatives of the organizations involved in tourism and specifically in this segment,' ANT President Razvan Filipescu declared.
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Over the three days of the fair, guest agents will attend presentations of Romania, followed by tasting of traditional Romanian food, wines, and spirits.
7. Festival of Indian Culture at the Village Museum of Bucharest
From Friday, May 23, to Sunday, May 25, the Festival of Indian Culture - Namaste India is set to take place, comprising of Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bengali language lessons, demonstrations of traditional yoga, art demonstration of henna decoration, classical Indian dances - Odissi, Bharatanatyam, Mohiniattam, and Kathak, the history and evolution of the 'sari' over time, mandala, Indian cuisine lessons, tea presentations, book launches and film projections that will offer to the public a complete picture of India's cultural diveristy.
These events will be followed on Tuesday, May 27 and Wednesday, May 28, by traditional Indian dance shows featuring dances of New Delhi - Rajashtan Folk Dance. Among the traditional dances of Rajashtan - Land of Rajas (Kings) - the best known are the Ghoomar, Kalbelia, and Bhavai, dances dedicated to the gods, with pirouettes and scenic movements similar in appearance to those of serpents.
The events are part of the celebrations of the 78th anniversary of the Village Museum that was recorded on May 17, 2014.
8. Romania to attend Book Expo America for first time
Romania will attend for the first time the Book Expo America (BEA) fair taking place in New York between May 28 and 31, with a national stand and several events organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR).
The Romanian events organized by ICR New York and the National Book Centre are consistent with the main theme of this year's edition - translation, a release of ICR's Communication Service informed on Monday.
The schedule includes debates and conferences on the stimulation of translations and on translators' experiences, and presentations of English renditions of works of Romanian authors.
Romanian and American translators, editors and writers are on the guest list; among others, Alistair Ian Blyth, Sean Cotter, Adrian Sahlean, Jill Schoolman, Kendall Storey, and Varujan Vosganian.
Director of ICR's National Book Centre Bogdan Popescu will present ICR's programmes in support of translation.
On the closure of BEA 2014, ICR New York will host a retrospective event featuring portraits of contemporary Romanian writers and books recently published in Romania; the exhibition will then travel to the Queens Public Library, New York.
ICR New York's premises also host the :Eugene Ionesco - portraits' exhibition (photographs by Sorin Ionescu), which is already running.
On the same occasion, a delegation made up of ICR Vice President Zoltan Nagy Mihaly, Director-general of the ICR Foreign Representations General Directorate Ioana Dragan, and ICR New York Director Doina Uricariu will donate to the Washington, DC Library of Congress, on behalf of Romanian publishing houses, the most important volumes on display at Romania's stand at BEA 2014.
The delegation also includes representatives of the National Bank of Romania (BNR), who will offer several monumental publications dedicated to the history, culture, and national heritage of Romania sponsored by BNR. Among the titles to be added to the inventory of the Library of Congress are a complete edition of 'Mihai Eminescu's Manuscripts' coordinated by Academician Eugen Simion under the auspices of the Romanian Academy.
BEA is the most important book fair in North America; it brings together more than 1,000 exhibitors and 800,000 visitors each year.
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BEA offers the Romanian authors and publishers the unique opportunity of a direct dialogue with top publishing houses and book distributors in the United States, and of raising the interest of American literary agents and publishers.
Romania's first participation to the most important international book fair in the US coincides with the celebration of a decade since the country's accession to NATO and also honors the signing of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the United States.
9. Bookfest: 300 events, 200 publishing houses, 1 million titles; guest country – Poland
The 9th edition of the International Book Fair Bookfest 2014, hosted in the Romexpo exhibition complex of Bucharest between May 28 and June 1, proposes 300 events of 200 publishing houses, with more than 1,000,000 titles on display, Romanian Publishers Association President Grigore Arsene announced in a press conference on Tuesday.
'Everybody will be at Bookfest, from creators - the authors - to the publishers and distributors. The public will have the opportunity to see how a book is produced,' said Arsene; he also voiced his satisfaction about the foundation of new publishing houses, in greater number than those closing their doors.
He mentioned the attempt to cut the participation costs for the publishers at this edition of the fair.
Great names of Romanian culture will meet the public this year, too; Andrei Plesu, Gabriel Liiceanu, Mircea Cartarescu, Horia-Roman Patapievici, Neagu Djuvara, Lucian Boia, Dan C. Mihailescu, Radu Paraschivescu, Vladimir Tismaneanu, Oana Pellea, George Banu, Aurora Liiceanu, Ioana Parvulescu, Florin Iaru, Mircea Daneliuc, Emil Brumaru, Ion Bogdan Lefter, Livius Ciocarlie, Ileana Malancioiu, Bedros Horasangian, Marta Petreu, Marius Chivu, Daniela Zeca Buzura, Daniel Cristea Enache, Gabriel Chifu, and Andrei Cornea are just a few of them.
Children have a special place at Bookfest, on June 1(Children's Day) and throughout the event; a special place is arranged for them with workshops, lectures and dedicated happenings.
Humanitas Multimedia, Humanitas, Humanitas Fiction, Arthur, Corint Junior, Curtea Veche Publishing, Nemira, Paralela 45, RAO, and Vellant publishing houses prepared the first edition of Bookfest Junior, consisting of four days of children and teenager books, meetings with authors, and drawing and theatre workshops.
'The idea of a parallel fair dedicated to children is very important. We'd like all children in Bucharest to attend,' Arsene mentioned.
Polish Institute Deputy Manager Leszek Bialy declared that participating in Bookfest is a great honour for Poland, as the Romanian public is familiar to Polish literature since Sienkiewicz, and up to contemporary authors.
'Poland's participation as a guest country at Bookfest 2014 is definitely the most important project of the Polish Institute this year, and one of the most important we ever organized. We are proud to present the Polish literature to Romanian readers within such a substantial event as Bookfest,' Bialy declared.
The International Book Fair Bookfest 2014 is organized by the Romanian Publishers Association, under the patronage of the Federation of Publishing Houses of Romania, with the support of the Polish Institute of Bucharest.
Bookfest is the most important book fair in Romania, and the only event of the publishing industry that got to reach a significant international dimension; it is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture. Romania, focus-country at Germany's Contemporary Art Ruhr fair
Romania will be for the first time the focus-country at this year's edition of the Contemporary Art Ruhr (CAR) fair, an annual event staged in the Essen region of Germany.
The Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) informs in a Wednesday release that Romania's special status will be highlighted by national stands organized by ICR in collaboration with the Union of Romanian Plastic
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Artists and the KunstArt Gallery in Bochum at both sections of CAR 2014: Media Art Fair, which takes place from May 30 to June 1, and Contemporary Art Fair, unfolding between October 24 - 26.
Romania will be represented at the Media Art Fair by Michele Bressan, Catalin Burcea, Ciprian Ciuclea, Teodor Graur, Iosif Kiraly, Carmen and George Rasovszky.
The Media Art Fair, Germany's only dedicated event, features video and sound design installations, performances, photo art exhibitions, multimedia projects, and innovative electronic games.
The opening is scheduled for Friday at 8 p.m., and the visiting program on May 31 through June is between 11 a.m and 7 p.m.
Organised since 2006, Contemporary Art Ruhr is the only art fair taking place twice a year at the same venue, and the only such event organized in an area included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The event attracts annually about 9,000 visitors.
10. Prince Charles met with villagers in Valea Zalanului
Prince Charles, currently on private visit to Romania, has met on Thursday with villagers in Valea Zalanului, an isolated village in Covasna county (central Romania) where he owns a mansion that he restored and where he usually comes for a few days vacation time each year.
Locals greeted Prince Charles and his guests in an orchard with blooming apple trees, where they set up some tables filled with traditional food, among which kurtoskolacs (a type of Szekler cylindrical pastry cake), boiled corn on the cob, sarmale (a traditional type of food that is made with minced meat wrapped in vine leaves or sauerkraut), cheese-covered mamaliga (a type of food close to polenta), sausages, wild boar meat stew, freshly-baked bread, apple pie, jam, natural syrup and other homemade foods and drinks. The prince tasted some of the traditional dishes and listened to the traditional music sung by the women and children of the village, accompanied by some lautari (traditional musicians).
The children offered Prince Charles a big box of toys for his grandson, and several women of the village offered bouquets of yellow peony, poppy flowers and other wild flowers.
Prince Charles spent nearly an hour in the company of some 50 villagers, and upon his departure declared to the reporters on the scene that he has wonderful neighbors.
The Prince of Wales has arrived in Romania during the Tuesday afternoon with a private jet that landed on Targu Mures airport, visiting the Black Church, the Saint Nicholas Church in Brasov on Wednesday, as well as the museum of the first Romanian school in Scheii Brasovului.
According to official sources, the heir to the British throne will leave Romania sometime on Saturday.
11. International Street Theatre Festival started on Thursday in Bucharest
The International Street Theatre Festival started on Thursday in Bucharest, a Municipality release informes.
From Thursday through Sunday, the Unirii (Union) Square, University Square and Cismigiu Park in the downtown, the city's historical centre and central boulevards of Bucharest host parades of spectacular machinery, giant dolls, accompanied by fireworks and improvisation events. Some 230 actors from nine countries are expected to participate.
This year's edition will continue the tradition of extreme shows combining dance and acrobatic elements, overhang installations, outdoor concerts and parades inspired by fairy tales.
It is the 6th edition of the festival styled 'B-FIT in the Street!', with the participation of specialized street theatre companies from Romania, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Slovakia, Belgium, Italy, and Australia.
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The festival's high spots include the Aquatique Show International's water light show on Dambovita River, near Unirii Square; an original representation of Hamlet by the Shakespeare's Globe Company; the surreal show of Mirror Family; spectacles of French Transe Express company; Divas giant dolls, providing colour and entertainment across the downtown; and the Celestial Carillon troupe, which will project impressive light games on the city's sky.
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