February 11, 2014 UPDATE
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Roxana Vasile, 11.02.2014, 12:35
Leaders of the Social-Liberal Union, the ruling center-left coalition in Romania on Tuesday failed to reach a consensus over the future government structure. Social-Democrat leader Prime Minister Victor Ponta came up with an alternative in which Liberal Klaus Johannis, the mayor of Sibiu, a city in central Romania, is the Interior minister and deputy Prime Minister. Prime Minister Ponta’s alternative has also provided for the government to include four deputy Prime Ministers representing all the political groups in the present ruling coalition. A fresh round of talks over the new government structure is due tomorrow. Besides the Interior Ministry, other vacant seats are those at the Ministries of Finance, Healthcare and Economy.
The European commissioner for agriculture and rural development, Romanian Dacian Ciolos, currently on a visit to Bucharest, on Tuesday held talks with Prime Minister Victor Ponta and with agriculture minister Daniel Constantin. High on the agenda was the EU’s new agricultural policy and the way in which Romania will implement that policy in order to develop its agriculture. 2013 was an exceptional year, Ponta said, being for the first time since 1994, when Romania’s food exports had exceeded its imports. During the talks, the Romanian Prime Minister stood for the modernization of agriculture and for organic faming.
Cristian David, minister for the Romanians all over the world, on Tuesday held talks in Madrid with representatives of the Romanian-language press in Spain. Besides the support granted to Romanians for their participation in Spain’s social life and for projects on expressing their identity, minister David has also voiced support for a campaign aimed at improving the image of the Romanian community in Spain. With over one million people, the Romanians are making the largest foreign community in Spain.
Romania has voiced profound regrets towards the decision of Switzerland to limit migration, Romanian foreign minister Titus Corlatean said on Tuesday. His reaction comes after on last Sunday’s referendum, more than 50% of the Swiss voted in favor of quotas for migrants from the EU. The head of the Romanian diplomacy has recalled that the freedom of movement is one of the four keystones of the EU. The Foreign minister went on to say that Romania would join its European partners in the decision-making process. After the referendum, Burssels said it would revise its relations with Switzerland.
The value of trade between France and Romania reached the record level of over 7 billion euros in 2013, the French Ambassador to Romania, Philippe Gustin has said today at the Business Forum France-South Eastern Europe. He has also said Romania is France’s third most important business partner. The event, staged by the French Embassy’s Agency for the Promotion of International Technology, is attended by 400 companies from 14 countries, Romanian officials and ambassadors of the south eastern European countries in Bucharest. The companies activate in sectors like infrastructure, transport, energy, car industry, environment protection, agriculture, food industry, e-commerce, IT&C and medical equipment. French businessmen will thus have the opportunity to meet with potential partners from South-eastern Europe, a region with great potential for economic growth.
