The most important part of the visit that the Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos paid to Berlin on Thursday was the meeting with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The main topic of discussion was the Romanian — German relations, in particular in the economic field. Germany is one of Romania\u2019s most important partners, given that the level of trade between the two countries exceeds 20 billion Euros per year. The German Chancellor said that to Berlin, Romania was an important partner.<\/p>\n
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Angela Merkel: \u201cOur talks focused on the way in which we can improve economic cooperation. We already have a good relation with the Ministry of the Economy and this spring there will be new activities that will boost this cooperation. The condition, however, is that the Romanian legal system keeps improving. The second condition is fighting corruption, a field where considerable progress has already been made. Once corruption done away with, we can talk about economic progress and a higher living standard in Romania.\u201d<\/p>\n
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In turn, the Romanian Prime Minister stated that Bucharest had registered significant progress in the fight against corruption.<\/p>\n
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Dacian Ciolos: \u201cIn the fight against corruption, Romania has made significant efforts in the past years, and the progress has become visible in society. The government is determined to carry on with this positive trend, and we expect the next report on the European Commission\u2019s Cooperation and Verification Mechanism to reflect this positive trend, that should also mirror in the decision that member states will take as regards Romania\u2019s joining the Schengen area.\u201d<\/p>\n
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For many years now, Romania has been waiting for the green light to join Schengen, as it has already fulfilled all accession criteria and has acted as a member state with regard to border control. Against the recent migrant crisis, the German Chancellor believes that the Schengen area must be maintained and consolidated.<\/p>\n
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Angela Merkel: <\/strong>\u201c Schengen is appreciated by the European citizens. That is why we need to do everything to preserve it and give the countries that wish to join it the possibility to do so; it\u2019s important that Romania has taken lots of measures to secure external borders.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the Romanian PM\u2019s visit to Berlin, special attention was paid to the issues concerning the Romanian community in Germany, made up of more than 250,000 people. The PM met with some of its representatives at the Romanian Embassy in Berlin and told them that he would keep his political independence until the end of the term and would not run for the legislative elections this autumn. <\/p>\n
(Translated by Mihaela Ignatescu)<\/p>\n
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