17 February, 2018 UPDATE

Romanian PM Viorica Dancila to travel to Brussels for first foreign visit./ Romania has strong presence in 68th Berlin Film Festival.

Newsroom, 17.02.2018, 18:30

Brussels trip. Romania’s prime minister
Viorica Dancila next week travels to Brussels for her first foreign visit. She
will have talks with European leaders, including the head of the European
Commission Jean Claude Juncker, the president of the European Council Donald
Tusk, the speaker of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani and the European
Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu. Dancila said recently she was
planning to intensify foreign policy actions and the economic relations with
the partner states.

Munich Security Conference. Romania’s
defence minister Mihai Fifor on Friday and Saturday attended the Munich
Security Conference, a major forum for the discussion of security policy. On
Friday, Fifor had a series of bilateral talks where he presented Romania’s
priorities in the area of defence. According to a defence ministry press
release, Fifor met the US senator and Chairman
of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ron
Johnson for talks on the relations between Romania and the US, with emphasis on
cooperation within the North Atlantic Alliance. Minister Fifor used the
opportunity to highlight the good discussions he had with the US Defence
Secretary James Mattis at a recent NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels. He
also assured the American partners that Romania is committed to its pledges as
a NATO member and to the Strategic Partnership between the two countries. At a
meeting with the representatives of the Atlantic Council, retired general James
Jones and Alexander Vershbow, minister Fifor underlined the importance
of security in the Black Sea region for the agenda of the forthcoming NATO
summit in July in Brussels. Talks also focused on the importance of the
top-level meeting of the Three Seas Initiative to be hosted by Bucharest this
year.

Moldova-EU.
On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the prime minister of the Republic of Moldova Pavel Filip
on Saturday met the EU Commissioner for European
Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn. The two
officials discussed Moldova’s progress in carrying out the required reforms,
including the requirements for receiving macro-financial assistance from the
EU. Progress was noted in respect of the reform of the judicial system, the
implementation of a new money laundering law and the passing of legislation to
regulate the activity of NGOs. Prime minister Filip said these examples confirm
the determination of the Moldovan authorities to continue on the path of
European integration. He also reiterated his country’s commitment to fulfil the
goals established at the Eastern Partnership summit in November last year. Commissioner
Hahn welcomed the progress made and the commitment of the Moldovan government
to the implementation of reforms at a fast pace and maintained the EU’s support
for its Association Agreement with the Republic of Moldova.

Canada visa waiver. The visa waiver for the Romanian citizens
travelling to Canada was followed by a significant increase in asylum
applications for this country, which led to a meeting between the federal
government and Romanian diplomats in Ottawa, according to the Canadian website
Le Presse. Immigration officials say 232 Romanian citizens filed asylum
applications since December 1st 2017 compared with only 120
throughout 2016. Paul MacKinnon, an official with the
Department of Citizenship and Immigration, says it has not been established yet
if this is a trend that will persist or if its link to the visa waiver is
incidental. The two parties agreed to continue the visa waiver program for Romanian
citizens, but if asylum applications reach a certain level within a 12-month
period, it is possible that visas will again be introduced, the Canadian
official also said. The change in Canada’s policy on immigration was linked to
the completion of negotiations on a free trade agreement between Canada and the
European Union last year.

Sofia. The Romanian foreign minister Teodor
Melescanu attended an informal meeting of EU
foreign affairs ministers in the Gymnich format held in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
Melescanu welcomed the idea of a new conference on Syria in Brussels and said
the European Union must play a proactive role in the political process taking
place under the NATO aegis and later in the post-conflict reconstruction
process. He also said Romania was in favour of a continuation of the EU
enlargement process and that this was one of its priorities during its first
presidency of the EU Council in the first half of next year.

Berlin
Festival. Romania has a strong presence this year in the 68th
edition of the Berlin Film Festival which got under way on the 15th
of February and comes to an end on the 25th. Touch Me Not, Adina
Pintilie’s feature film debut, runs in the Competition section. A winner of the
Golden Bear in 2013 with Child’s Pose, the Romanian helmer Calin Peter Netzer
will this year be part of the jury. Touch Me Not, which will be shown for the first
time in Berlin, is a personal exploration that questions our preconceived ideas
about intimacy as a fundamental aspect of human existence. Ioana Uricariu’s
Lemonade has been selected in the Panorama section, which rewards artistic
vision and the courage to be different. Corneliu Porumboiu’s documentary
Infinite Football will be screened in the non-competitive sidebar Forum. Two
more Romanian productions are being shown in the Generation Kplus competition for children
and young people. Last year, Dana Bunescu won the Silver Bear for the editing
in Calin Peter Netzer’s Ana, mon amour.