Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ____________________________________________________________________________________________ No. 8/ 4th Year 15th – 30th of April 2011 Politics 1. Ceremony is held as Regele Ferdinand frigate leaves on mission 2. Romanian and Moldovan Presidents agree on quickly drawing up action plan for implementing strategic partnership 3. President Aliyev: There is very good cooperation context on natural gas with Romania 4. President Basescu met King Abdullah II in Amman 5. Romania maintains target of accessing euro area in 2015 6. ForMin Baconschi to visit London to prepare President Basescu's official visit 7. ForMin Baconschi, Minister Davutoglu discussed options for boosting bilateral cooperation 8. Iraq's gates are open to Romanian companies 9. Foreign Affairs Minister Baconschi signs convention on avoiding double taxation 10. Qatar Crown Prince professes to Minister Baconschi his resolution to consolidate economic relations with Romania 11. Romania prepares technical aspects of accommodating Tunisian immigrants from Italy 12. Swedish companies are interesting by Constanta-Istanbul submarine power cable 13. British Ambassador to Bucharest: Well qualified work force is an advantage of Romania but it needs fiscal and legislative predictability 14. The Ambassador of Romania attended the Royal wedding ceremonies at Westminster Abbey Economics 1. Romania FDI inflow rises to EUR294M in Jan-Feb 2. BCR expecting Romanian economy to advance 3.9 pct in 2012 3. Centre of Excellence in Research in Targu Mures, with IBM expertise 4. Den Braven Romania sales increase 25 percent in first quarter 5. Thirty companies showcasing Romania's export offers at Sharjah 2011 General Exhibition 6. Pound trades at 4.56 lei Culture and Education 1. Romanian legendary pianist Dan Grigore in London 2. The Ambassador of Romania lecture at the University of Oxford 3. Romania at „Children and Families across Borders” London International Fair 4. Annual meeting of the Romanian medical professionals living in the UK 5. Romania at the London International Wine Fair 2011 6. "Strangers in the night" with Florin Piersic and Medeea Marinescu 7. Romania public art sales up 124% on year in 2010 8. 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 Ceremony is held as Regele Ferdinand frigate leaves on mission Bucharest, April 22 /Agerpres/ - President Traian Basescu took part in a ceremony held in the Black Sea port of Constanta as The Regele Ferdinand frigate was leaving for NATO's Unified Protector operation aimed at enforcing an arms embargo on Libya, with the head of state underscoring this is an important mission of the Romanian Navy meant to curb the number of victims in the civil war in Libya. "It is for the first time since World War Two that the Romanian Naval Forces are engaged in a real combat mission. It is a mission resulting from the United Nations' Security Council resolution, from the resolution of the Romanian Supreme Defence Council. An important mission that has as its first and foremost goal to reduce the number of the victims in the civil war in Libya, by the ban you will have to enforce on the arms imports by sea", Basescu said. He stressed the mission The Regele Ferdinand will take part in will contribute to saving human lives, while at the same time being a mission accomplished in the name of Romania. "Romania now has the capability to project its forces not only on land, but its naval forces too at a distance from its territorial waters. It is a positive development of the Romanian Army's combat capability and it is high time the Navy, but the mission they carry out, confirmed that all types of forces are capable of fulfilling NATO missions", the Romanian leader added. Basescu underscored that the Romanian Army is being highly praised on the Afghanistan front, it was highly praised in Iraq and the Romanian Air Forces provided the air patrol system for the Baltic states in the last years. "Today, the Romanian Navy is called to an important mission in the Mediterranean. The name of the ship sends us back to history, while at the same time projecting us forward. The Ferdinand destroyer was one of the ships to have earned glory in World War Two, today The Ferdinand frigate must continue the Romanian Navy's tradition", President Basescu said in addressing the ship captain and crew. Defence Minister Gabriel Oprea, in turn, said that the Romanian Army, by its participation in the new mission of the Unified Protector operation, reconfirms Romania's status of an important vector of regional security and of regional stability provider, by acting where the national interests and the pledged international commitments call it. "I want to assure the entire crew of the frigate of my esteem and respect in my capacity of national defence minister, for the efforts made and for their training to the highest standards in a short time, so that we should be able to report the Romanian President - the Armed Forces commander-in-chief - today that the National Defence Ministry is ready to begin carrying out 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 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ the mission. All the professionals acting in the ship crew and in the entire command chain know what they have to do in detail and they have the determination to successfully fulfil this new mission", Defence Minister Oprea said. The frigate, commanded by Commodore Mihai Panait will carry a crew of 205 sailors and conduct embargo enforcement missions in the Mediterranean Sea. Aboard the frigate are also two officers of the Romanian Navy who will become part of the General Staff of the NATO Allied Maritime Command based in the Mediterranean. The Regele Ferdinand frigate took part in the Active Endeavour operation in the Mediterranean in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010, where it carried out specific missions aimed to prevent and combat terrorism and illegal trafficking, alongside other ships and forces under NATO command. Romanian and Moldovan Presidents agree on quickly drawing up action plan for implementing strategic partnership Bucharest, April 28 /Agerpres/ - President Traian Basescu said that, together with interim President of the Republic of Moldova Marian Lupu, he established that the action plan for putting into effect the strategic partnership for European integration should be drawn up as soon as possible. "I and President Lupu have practically approached the whole range of domestic and foreign political questions. Our message to the President and the parties in the Alliance [for European integration] is that we want an alliance as solid as possible that should guarantee the progress of the Republic of Moldova to Europe. Together with President Lupu I have established that, as soon as possible, we should have to draw up the action plan for putting into effect the statement on the strategic partnership for European integration between Romania and the Republic of Moldova, a statement signed by me and President Ghimpu at that time," said President Basescu at the end of the official talks with Marian Lupu. Romanian President Traian Basescu made it clear that the talks with interim President of the Republic of Moldova Marian Lupu were very good and observed the tradition of the dialogue between Bucharest and Chisinau in the past two years. "Let us hope that this tradition will be consolidated, because something that is maybe highly important to the Romanian-Moldovan relationship has happened, namely that what we agree on will happen. I am convinced that this manner of working will continue in the bilateral relationship," said President Basescu. According to him, the sides also approached the priorities of the Republic of Moldova concerning the EU. President Traian Basescu reiterated Romania's support to the European road of the neighbour country. 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 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ "I have assured President Lupu of our entire support. ... Last but not least, we have dealt with the priorities in the bilateral relation and they were to be found first of all in the energy field, projects of interconnecting our power grids and the gas carrying pipes. We have also held talks about using the money allocated through the Eastern Partnership," concluded President Basescu. Romanian President Traian Basescu also told visiting interim President of the Republic of Moldova Marian Lupu that this moment's priority is to make good use of the non-repayable assistance given by Bucharest. "At the last meeting of the (Romanian and Moldovan) heads of state, nearly all of those established were enforced, be it the small-scale border traffic law, the bilateral legislation, Romania's and Moldova's adoption of the law on the non-repayable assistance and many others. The important thing now is to first and foremost make good use of the non-repayable aid to the Republic of Moldova by feasible projects approved in line with the European standards. I hope our two countries' governments will respond fast", President Basescu said. The Moldovan interim leader thanked for the financial support granted by the Romanian state. "I am quite sure that the strategic cooperation between our two countries will be discussed during this visit and that we'll draw certain lines for strengthening and diversifying such cooperation", added the interim President of the Republic of Moldova.