March 23, 2023 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 23.03.2023, 19:45

EU. Romanian president Klaus
Iohannis is participating in the spring meeting of the European Council and the
Euro Summit in inclusive format, held on Thursday and Friday in Brussels.
According to the president’s office, talks are looking at the situation in
Ukraine, especially food security and the reconstruction process, climate
change and measures to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. We must
be united on the side of Ukraine, we must be in solidarity with Ukraine, we
must help Ukraine with everything we can, said the Romanian president in
a press conference before the Council. He also said that talks would also focus
on other important issues, such as the economy, the single market and
competitiveness, as well as ways to prevent the deindustrialisation of Europe
and the energy issue, and the situation in the Republic of Moldova, which is to
receive substantial additional aid from the EU.

Moldova. On a visit to Chisinau, accompanied by
several ministers, the Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă had talks with the
President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu and with Prime Minister Dorin
Recean. The meetings focused on issues related to Moldova’s accession to the
European Union, the way in which the republic’s economy can develop, the path
to democratic reforms and the situation in the region in the context of the
conflict in Ukraine. The Moldovan president thanked Romania for helping
Moldova’s people and economy get through this complicated winter, given the exponential
increase in energy and gas costs and a lack of supply in particular as a result
of a cut in supply by Gazprom for several months. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă
hailed the decision of the Moldovan Parliament to amend the legislation in keeping
with a Constitutional Court decision and recognise Romanian as the official
language in the Republic of Moldova. Consolidating the security environment in
the Republic of Moldova and ensuring the resources to combat any form of
destabilisation of this country is a priority for Romania, Prime Minister
Nicolae Ciucă also said during the discussions with Dorin Recean. Romania is
our advocate in all European institutions, therefore we can advance on our
European path, said the Moldovan Prime Minister. Talks also looked at the stage
of implementation of the support programme for the Republic of Moldova, benefitting
from 100 million euros worth of funding from the Government of Romania. In this
sense, the Romanian Prime Minister announced the first payment of 25 million
euros.

Partnership. Romanian
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, and UK Foreign Secretary,
James Cleverly on Thursday signed in London a renewed Strategic
Partnership between their countries. The document provides for a new framework
for bilateral cooperation, reflecting the current stage of relations and the latest
security developments at Euro-Atlantic level. Under the renewed partnership,
cooperation under the umbrella of the Strategic Partnership will focus on six
key areas: foreign affairs; defence and security; law enforcement, home affairs
and cooperation in the area of the judiciary; people-to-people ties; cyber
security, technology and hybrid threats; and the promotion of trade,
investments and entrepreneurship. The two officials reiterated their firm
condemnation of Russia’s illegal, illegitimate and unprovoked aggression
against Ukraine, with its consequences for the security of the entire region
and the Euro-Atlantic security architecture. Also on Thursday, the Romanian and
British officials opened the first Romania-United Kingdom Bilateral Forum, to
take place annually in Bucharest and London, alternately. The forum brings
together government and business
representatives, parliamentarians, academics and civil society to discuss ways
to consolidate bilateral cooperation.

Report. A report presented at the Congress of Local and Regional
Authorities in Strasbourg on Thursday showed that Romania’s local autonomy
system works well and generally complies with the obligations laid down in the
European Charter of Local Self-Government. The authors of the report, who made
fact-finding trips to Romania, noted a significant improvement in local
democracy and increased state funding for the local authorities. The Romanian
minister for development, public works and administration Cseke Attila, who was in Strasbourg,
said there are still things to solve, but that what’s important is that the
report is positive. Among others, the Congress recommends the Romanian
government to create the legal conditions for the voluntary unification of
small neighbouring villages and communes, provide the local authorities with
sufficient and necessary financial resources to improve the quality of
citizens’ lives and to take measures to prevent any form of political
interference at a local level. (CM)