March 14, 2014 UPDATE
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România Internațional, 14.03.2014, 19:28
Romania supports Georgia’s NATO and EU accession process, PM Victor Ponta reiterated in Tbilisi on Friday, after a meeting with his counterpart, Irakli Garibaşvili. Ponta said Romania and Georgia share a common historical experience of insecurity and living in a complicated region, with a lot of crises, of which the Ukrainian one is the most recent. On the other hand, the head of the Romanian government insisted that the joint Romanian-Georgian economic commission should resume its activity after a 12-year break. Georgia is the most important trade partner of Romania in the Southern Caucasus. Victor Ponta is until Saturday on an official visit to that country, the first by a Romanian prime minister so far. Also on Friday, the PM of Romania discussed in Chisinau with his Moldovan counterpart, Iurie Leancă, about the stage and prospects of bilateral relations. The agenda of talks also included the situation in Ukraine and the implementation of new rules for Moldovan citizens, who will be allowed to travel in the EU without visas starting this May. Last autumn in the Vilnius Summit, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova initialled the EU free trade and association agreements.
Bucharest decided on Friday to ban from entering Romania the Hungarian citizens affiliated to the far-right Jobbik party and to 3 other Hungarian parties that carry out extremist activities in Romania. The Romanian Interior Ministry asked a court of law to declare them as undesirable after on Monday an unauthorised rally organised in Targu Mures, central Romania, by Jobbik and irredentist organisations of ethnic Hungarians spiralled into clashes with the police. The participants demanded territorial autonomy for the so-called Szeckler County, the only region in Romania where Hungarians ethnics make up the majority population. Jobbik is the third-largest party in Hungary, and according to opinion polls they are likely to win 15% of the votes in the elections due this April.
The Social Democratic Party, the main partner in the ruling coalition in Romania, would win the election for the European Parliament on May the 25th, according to an opinion poll run by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy – IRES, made public of Friday. Seventeen percent of the respondents said they would vote for the Liberals in opposition, 14% for the Liberal Democrats. Only 44% of the interviewees say they will vote on May the 25th, and 13% are certain they will not go to polls.
The decision to organise a referendum on the status of the autonomous republic of Crimea in southern Ukraine, is in full compliance with international laws and the United Nations Charter, the president of Russia Vladimir Putin said on Friday, in a telephone conversation with the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon. In London, the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said on Friday, after talks with his American counterpart, John Kerry, that Russia will respect the outcome of the referendum in Crimea. He emphasised that Moscow and Washington have different views on the crisis in Ukraine. Lavrov added that Russia does not plan a military intervention in south-eastern Ukraine. Sunday’s controversial referendum in Crimea over this autonomous region in southern Ukraine joining Russia, is seen as illegal by western countries, which announced they would not recognise the result of the vote. Previously, the US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that a Russian military intervention in Crimea might prompt the USA and the EU to impose sanctions on Moscow. Over 8,000 Russian troops have been deployed to the Ukrainian border, where Moscow initiated military moves. Russia also deployed fighter airplanes to Belarus, for common exercises with this country.
