March 23, 2023 UPDATE

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)