In an official two-day visit to Bucharest, both the Maltese president and FM voiced their support for Romania’s joining Schengen area.
President George Abela and foreign minister Tonio Borg both stated that Romania’s acceding the border-free zone in March 2011should not be hindered or postponed by issues concerning Roma repatriation, Agerpres informs.
‘I perfectly agree with your president saying that freedom of movement is a crucial EU asset and is very important, but, as EU members we need to be careful and avoid creating dangerous precedents. I am sure a European solution will be found for the Roma population,” the Maltese president George Abela told a press conference yesterday, after his formal meeting with the Romanian head of state.
Abela also said Romania joining Schengen “will fully facilitate people’s free circulation and will improve business relations.”
In his turn, Traian Basescu said he has underlined the need of local labour force to be able to travel freely within the EU. “Romaia understands very well the reasons that led to some of the EU countries, Malta included, to ask for a transition period for local citizens looking for work. Our country however, intends to solicit an abbreviation of this transition period,” Basescu said.
During a short meeting with the Valletta political leader PM Boc joined the president in efforts to lift Malta’s labour market restrictions for Romanians.
Also part of the visiting delegation was Malta’s Foreign Minister Tonio Borg, who yesterday in a joint press statement with FM Baconschi said Romania’s Schengen accession and the gypsy repatriation scandal are “two different issues.” The Maltese FM also underlined the importance of meeting technical criteria imposed to the aspiring country and said that, as long as they are met, no postponing of accession should exist.
Economic Cooperation & Tourism
The head of Romanian diplomacy together with his Maltese counterpart signed a formal cooperation protocol between the two countries. “We don’t intend to accept the limitations of political cooperation; we will look at commercial exchanges and investment. I believe the very good ties between our two countries can improve on that, “ FM Baconschi said.
He also added that Malta could be a “genuine inspiration for our country in matters of tourism.” “Just look how a country with 400,000 inhabitants can annually accommodate 1.2 million tourists, so we all have to learn from that, ” Baconschi added.
In a business forum entitled Malta-Romania Opportunities, yesterday, President Abela said his country can be a useful take-off for aspiring Romanian businesses. “Our country considers yours to present big potential for economic cooperation and this will only get better the moment you join Schengen,” Abela said, quoted by Agerpres. According to latest data from the Ministry of Commerce, in 2009 Romania- Malta exchange amounted to EUR 80.27, with 84 Maltese companies being currently active locally. Chetcuti Cauchi recently participated in an official delegation led by the President of the Republic of Malta to the Romanian Chamber of Commerce as part of an official visit of the President to the Romanian president, HE Traian Basescu at the Palace of Cotroceni. The institutional and business delegation commenced the Business Forum with an address by the Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Romania Sorin Petre Dimitriu, followed by a speach by President George Abela.
Representatives of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Malta Enterprise and the Romanian Chamber of Commerce signed Memoranda of Understanding. A committment was undertaken to organise a Business Forum in Malta for ICT, renewable energy, health, eduction and training. The Romanian Chamber of Commerce underdook to encourage its members to attend this seminar.
From Bucharest, Dr Jean-Philippe Chetcuti commented that the bilateral discussions were positive and that, despite the difficult financial environment prevalent in the Romanian economy, opportunities still existed for strengthening of the commercial ties between Malta. Jean-Philippe emphasised the importance of co-operation of entrepreneurs of the two friendly states to bring their capital and know-how together to take opportunities presented by the economic downturn.
