Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ____________________________________________________________________________________________ No. 9/ 4th Year 1st – 15th of May 2011 Politics 1. Romania is and will stay fully devoted to its European destiny 2. Lecture by Traian Băsescu, President of Romania 3. Minister Teodor Baconschi’s visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 4. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov at Cotroceni Palace 5. Dutch European Affairs Minister Knappen paid an official visit to Bucharest 6. Foreign Ministry launches website for expat Romanians' vote by mail 7. Romania's contribution to human rights promotion and protection praised by U.N. Secretariat high officials 8. LIBE Commission adopts Coelho report on Schengen Area enlargement 9. Germany will support Romania and Bulgaria’s adhesion to Schengen 10. The Ambassador of Romania's lecture at the University of Oxford 11. The official opening of PiLON Training, Innovation and Vetting Centre 12. The Annual meeting of the Romanian health care professionals working in the United Kingdom Economics 1. National export strategy 2011 – 2015 2. Statistics: Industry turnover up 24.3 percent in Q1 3. New orders in industry advance 26.4 percent in Q1 4. Romania keeps 2015 deadline for Euro adoption 5. Oxford Economics improved Romania’s economic growth estimates for 2011 6. Positive reports on economy complicate monetary policy 7. Correction of foreign deficit shows Romanian economy has changed 8. Inflation will fall within set range in Q1 2012 9. Registering new companies will take three days 10. Bulgarian-Romanian Gas Interconnection Underway 11. Romania’s Top-40 state-owned companies to hire private managers 12. Constanta, the European city with the highest average speed of Internet connections 13. Benetton Group chairman, interested in investing in Bucharest Historical Centre 14. Portuguese investment worth 93M euro at Lehliu 15. Samsung: Home appliances market will grow in 2012 16. PwC report: Romania's Construction Market To Gain $22B By 2020 17. Franke owner sets up Swiss village near Timişoara 18. Pound trades at 4.70 lei Culture and Education 1. Legendary Romanian pianist Dan Grigore in London 2. Romania at „Children and Families across Borders” London International Spring Fair 3. Museum night held on Saturday, 14 May 4. Bookfest 2011 at 6th edition Arundel House, 4 Palace Green London W8 4QD UK Tel. 020 7937 9666 Fax: 020 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 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ • Politics Romania is and will stay fully devoted to its European destiny Bucharest, May 9 /Agerpres/ - Romania is and will stay a state fully devoted to its European destiny and as Romanians and European citizens, we are duty-bound and have the potential to contribute to the assertion of the common identity of Europe, said President Traian Basescu in the message he sent on celebrating the Europe Day. "It is in Romania's interest that the European Union we belong to should go on consolidating from a political and economic point of view. Romania is and will stay a state fully devoted to its European destiny. As Romanians and European citizens we are duty-bound and have the potential to contribute to the assertion of the common identity of Europe. We make more and more progress in the steps we are taking in order to make our being one of the Union member states bring as many benefits as possible both to Romania and the Romanians and to the Union and its citizens. Celebrating today the Europe Day confirms the fact that the most ambitious projects can come true and the common ideals can change into concrete policies to the benefit of all European citizens," reads the message sent by the Head of State and published by the Presidential Administration. President Basescu thinks that today's Europe has made progress from the moment when it started putting into practice the "Great European project" and solidarity has stayed a fundamental principle of actions all over the community. "The solidarity of the Union member states and of the community institutions is the more so remarkable in the current context in which the aim of getting out of the crisis and making an economic relaunch cannot be achieved if the Union takes no concerted and united action. This is the same as promoting a domestically powerful Union that should be capable of taking coherent action globally," added President Traian Basescu. The President also said that the Europe Day was equally an opportunity for celebration and reflection, considering the fact that there will be 61 years since the first official step that, in the course of time, made it possible to build the present-day European Union. In his message the President emphasizes the fact that the statement made on May 9, 1950 by French Minister of Foreign Affairs Robert Schuman had the merit of putting Europe on the road to a common future of "Peace and prosperity." Arundel House, 4 Palace Green London W8 4QD UK Tel. 020 7937 9666 Fax: 020 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 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ "Today the European Union is made up of 27 member states, with a population amounting to over half a billion citizens, who benefit by rights and share common responsibilities. We are happy to celebrate the values and principles the European Union is grounded on: liberty, democracy, equality, the rule of law, the observance of human rights and, last but not least, solidarity. We also have the opportunity to evaluate the road the Union has covered so far, to ponder on what we are today and on the future direction in which the Union will develop," also says the Head of State in his message. Lecture by Traian Băsescu, President of Romania Inaugural conference dedicated to LSEE Ghiţă Ionescu Memorial Series Date: Monday 6 June 2011 Time: 5.15-6.15pm Venue: London School of Economics, venue to be announced to ticketholders Speaker: Traian Băsescu, President of Romania Discussant: Professor Vladimir Tismăneanu The event is organised together by the LSE and the Embassy of Romania to the United Kingdom with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in London. It forms part of the LSE European Institute - APCO Worldwide Perspectives on Europe Series and is coordinated by LSEE (LSE Research on South Eastern Europe). Ghiţă Ionescu Memorial Series are dedicated to the memory of the great Romanian-British Professor, with the purpose of increasing the cultural links between Romania and United Kingdom and to enhance the presence of Romanian personalities and topics related in the British intellectual-academic milieu. The project is structured as a cycle of four conferences scheduled to take place between June 2011 – June 2012. Ticket Information This event is free and open to all, but a ticket is required. One ticket per person can be requested on Friday 27 May. Members of the public can request one ticket via the online ticket request form which will be live on this weblisting after 10.00am on Friday 27 May. The ticket request form will be online on LSE web page for around an hour from going live. If after an hour LSE has received more requests than there are tickets available, the line will be closed, and tickets will be allocated on a random basis to those requests received. If after an Arundel House, 4 Palace Green London W8 4QD UK Tel. 020 7937 9666 Fax: 020 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 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ hour LSE has received fewer requests than tickets available, the ticket line will stay open until all tickets have been allocated. More information: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/events/2011/20110606t1715vLSE.aspx Minister Teodor Baconschi’s visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Romanian MFA/ Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi made a visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 16 May, at the invitation of his British counterpart, William Hague. The visit provided the opportunity for an in- depth analysis of the stage of the bilateral relations and of cooperation at a European and international level, with a view to consolidating and boosting the Romanian-UK strategic partnership. The two officials talked about specific ways to boost bilateral commercial exchanges and British investment in Romania, confirming their positive trend in the last few years.“We have an ambitious, very dynamic cooperation agenda that confirms the objectives of the strategic partnership between our countries. I am confident that these objectives will be reflected this year in robust economic exchanges and new investment helping to enhance the competitiveness of the Romanian economy,” stated Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi. As far as European priorities are concerned, the common objectives related to the EU economic growth and competitiveness agenda were assessed, and so was the position on the EU’s post- 2013 financial perspective. Both countries favour implementation of the Internal Market, promotion of competitiveness and innovation, and support for the business environment. The two ministers expressed support for the EU’s regional initiatives geared at the Western Balkans and the Eastern Neighbourhood, notably the Eastern Partnership. In this context, the Romanian Foreign Minister spoke of the progress the Republic of Moldova made in its drive to get closer to the EU and asked the British partners to support European projects targeted at that country.