December 8, 2015 UPDATE

British PM David Cameron in Bucharest Wednesday; US will never recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea

Newsroom, 08.12.2015, 12:05

The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis will be receiving the British PM David Cameron on Wednesday. The meeting will be followed by a joint press conference. The British PM is making a visit to Romania, during which he is also to meet the Romanian PM Dacian Cioloş. The talks will tackle, among others, the migrant crisis. Prior to the visit, the Romanian PM said that, in the context of London preparing a referendum with respect to Britains EU membership, Bucharest thinks the UK staying in the EU would be beneficial to both London and Brussels.

A 17-year old from the southern Romanian city of Craiova, suspected of jihadist propaganda, was taken for questioning by Romanian prosecutors on Tuesday. The high-school student has allegedly posted support messages for the IS group. This is apparently the first Romanian citizen taken into custody under suspicion of jihadist propaganda. So far 9 foreign citizens have been expelled from the country for activities related to terrorist ideologies or movements. Another over 240 Middle East citizens have been denied access to the country, according to the Romanian Intelligence Service.

The Committees for European Affairs in the two Parliament Chambers Tuesday approved the mandate of the Romanian PM Dacian Cioloş for the European Council meeting of December 17 and 18. The idea of Romania being represented by its prime minister came from the President Klaus Iohannis. In this context, the PM said he suggested a meeting of the two parliamentary committees, focusing on European affairs, given that one of the priorities of his Cabinet is to start preparing Romanias agenda for the presidency of the EU Council in 2019.

While on an official visit to Montenegro, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies in the Romanian Parliament Valeriu Zgonea emphasised Romanias support for the national objectives of that country, namely the EU and NATO integration. According to a news release, Zgonea was received by the President of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic, and had talks with the Parliament Speaker, Ranko Krivokapic. On this occasion, Zgonea said Montenegros NATO accession will be a valuable gain for the Alliance.

The Romanian Foreign Minister, Lazăr Comănescu, in his capacity as sitting president of the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, Tuesday received the Secretary General of the International Permanent International Secretariat of the BSEC, Michael Christides. The visit takes place in the context of the conclusion of Romanias presidency of the organisation, in December, and ahead of the meeting of the Council of BSEC Foreign Ministers, due on December 11 in Bucharest. According to a news release, the topics of the talks included key issues on the agenda of the organisation and the contribution of Romanias current BSEC presidency term to fostering regional economic cooperation.

The USA will never recognise Russias annexation of Crimea and will continue to apply sanctions against Russia and against Vladimir Putin personally, until the last occupant leaves Ukraines Donbas, the US vice-president Joe Biden said in Kyiv on Tuesday. In an address to the Ukrainian Parliament, Biden also said the president of the Russian Federation was afraid Ukraine might become a successful state and the people in the east of the country, temporarily occupied, will no longer want to be a part of the Russian world. During his visit to Kyiv, Biden announced the US will grant Ukraine additional assistance, amounting to roughly 200 million US dollars.

(translation by: Ana-Maria Popescu)