November 18, 2024 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 18.11.2024, 20:00
VISIT – The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, on Monday visited the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation in Berlin on the sidelines on his visit to Germany. “The visit highlights people’s suffering from war, a time when man’s fundamental rights are ignored”, the president said. On Sunday, Klaus Iohannis addressed the Bundestag as part of a ceremony devoted to the Victims of War and Dictatorship Remembrance Day. “The fall of the Berlin Wall 35 years ago encouraged Romanians to fight for freedom, while the fall of the Iron Curtain allowed Romania to return to the family of European democracies”, the president said. Klaus Iohannis met with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and discussed security topics and the support the two countries provide to Ukraine. His meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz tackled Romania’s full Schengen accession.
ROMANIA AND NATO – Romania’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, on Monday met the European Parliament president, Roberta Metsola, on the sidelines of his visit to Brussels, marking the start of a new Parliament session and the adoption of the 2024-2029 Strategic Agenda. Joint projects highlighted by Prime Minister Ciolacu for the upcoming period include supporting a promising EU budget post-2025 that should foster competitiveness and internal convergence. The Prime Minister also met with the European Council president-elect, Antonio Costa. Also on Monday, Marcel Ciolacu met with NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, on whom he called to deploy additional Allied troops to Romania, a decision he has called “vital” for a robust deterrence in the face of Russian challenges, also with a view to consolidating NATO’s presence on the Eastern Flank, in the extended Black Sea region. Romania has already allotted 2.5% of the GDP to defense spending this year and will continue to prioritize investments in defense over the coming period as well, the Prime Minister told the NATO Secretary General. Romania will continue to provide multidimensional support to Ukraine and to the Republic of Moldova, Marcel Ciolacu also said.
SCHENGEN – Romania’s Interior Minister, Cătălin Predoiu, held talks in Vienna with his Austrian counterpart, Gerhard Karner, ahead of the informal meeting that will take place in Budapest at the end of this week, where Romania’s Schengen extension will be discussed. Romania will continue to take action to combat illegal migration and cross-border crime, through a preemptive approach, the Bucharest official said. According to Brussels sources, the Ministers of Internal Affairs from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Austria will hold preliminary talks in the Hungarian capital regarding the date when Romania and Bulgaria would join Schengen with their land borders as well.
EU-FAC – Romania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminiţa Odobescu, on Monday attended the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) meeting in Brussels. On the sidelines of the event, she took part in a working meeting of EU Foreign Ministers with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova, Mihai Popșoi. The meeting occasioned in-depth discussions regarding the results of the presidential election and the referendum for European integration in the Republic of Moldova, with an emphasis on Russia’s hybrid attacks in this context, by means of which it tried to undermine the democratic electoral process and hijack the European course of this country. Minister Odobescu congratulated the authorities of the Republic of Moldova for the very good organization of the presidential election and the constitutional referendum, expressing satisfaction for the new mandate obtained by president Maia Sandu. Minister Odobescu emphasized Romania’s determination to continue the active and consistent support for the Republic of Moldova at all levels of cooperation. (VP)
