British PM David Cameron on tour in Eastern Europe
“Net migration in the UK is running at well over 300,000 a year and that is not sustainable, so we do need to find ways to allow member states to make changes to their social security systems that will help them to deal with this issue. I support the free movement of people. It is a basic principle. And Romanians, alongside other Europeans, make a valuable contribution to the United Kingdom in a wide range of fields, from finance to science and medicine. But it was never envisaged that free movement would trigger quite such vast numbers of people moving across our continent”. The statement belongs to British Prime Minister David Cameron who visited Romania on Wednesday before travelling to Poland for a working dinner with Prime Minister Beata Szydlo as Romania and Poland are two of the EU countries that are most strongly opposed to his call for the EU to allow Britain to curb benefits for migrants. The British Prime Minister met Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace in the capital Bucharest and his Romanian counterpart Dacian Cioloş. „Britain is a most important partner in our strategic partnership which we need to further enforce. We believe that co-operation between Britain and Romania in terms of defence and security plays a crucial role in addresing the challenges we face today. And it is in our mutual interest to enhance our co-operation at all levels in various ways”, President Iohannis said in his statement on Wednesday.
US Ambassador Klemm on a visit to Ford Craiova
US Ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm was on a visit to the southern Romanian town of Craiova on Wednesday. Mr. Klemm visited the Romanian branch of Ford Motor Company seen as the largest American investment in the country (more than 1 bl. euros, according to officials). Along with its German branch in the town of Cologne, the Ford Romanian plant is involved in the production of 1 ml. EcoBoost engines, a family of turbocharged, direct injection gasoline engines produced by the Ford Motor Company and co-developed by FEV engineering. Hans Klemm called on the Romanian officials to step up and finalise infrastructure projects such as the Craiova – Piteşti highway expected to ease regional transport while expressing hopes of further Romanian support for American investments in the country.
Romanian businessman detained by DNA prosecutors
A Romanian businessman involved in a corruption-related file was detained by prosecutors of Romania’s National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) in the Transylvanian town of Braşov on Thursday. Remus Truică, an aid to a former prime minister also known for his love affair with French singer Patricia Kaas and a newspaper director, are charged with taking part in a real-estate fraud also involving Prince Paul of Romania. Prosecutors detained Mr. Truică on charges of setting up a criminal group in 2006 that fraudulently acquired 170,000 square meters of state-owned land for Prince Paul, causing damages of 136 million euros. Remus Truică denies any wrongdoing. Prince Paul, 67, is the son of King Carol II’s elder son who claims that he is the rightful head of the Royal House of Romania. Paul also denies any wrongdoing. DNA prosecutors also detained Dan Andronic, managing director of daily Evenimentul Zilei, on charges of belonging to the group.
Former Romanian PM before prosecutors
Former Prime Minister Adrian Năstase appeared before the Prosecutor General’s Office as witness in connection with the Mineriad file. The term of ‘”mineriad” („mineriada”, in Romanian) refers to the violent events occured in Bucharest in January, February and June 1990 while the facts under investigation refer mostly to events during a period between June 13 – 15, 1990 when thousands of miners came to the capital in order „to save” the government. Mr. Năstase was a foreign minister at the time. Former Romanian President Ion Iliescu, former PM Petre Roman, former intelligence chief Virgil Măgureanu and Gelu Voican Voiculescu, a former ambassador, are already charged with their involvement in the case.
Alexandru Danga
