President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday, during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, that Romania counts on Germany’s support to finding solutions to move towards accession to the Schengen area.
“We addressed during the meeting the subject of Romania’s accession to the Schengen area. We count on German support for finding solutions to move towards this objective. There are convincing arguments that, we believe, lead to the removal of remaining reluctances put forward in the past for this process,” said Iohannis.
Among the arguments, Iohannis mentioned the last CVM report as well as the “already proven ability and contribution Romania has had to the European Union’s external border security.”
Chancellor Merkel plays down Schengen hopes
On the other hand, asked if Romania joining the Schengen area may be considered later this year, Chancellor Angela Merkel replied: “Latest reports were positive. We are talking about the next steps, I cannot say anything, but I understand that Romania should receive a response showing that we are going forward. Regarding Moldova, we’ll help. We hope that the new government will work successfully, it will receive our support.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday said that there mustn’t be “an undifferentiated” attitude concerning the migration from Romania to Germany and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that “poverty migration” isn’t significant from a numeric point of view, showing that our country is confronted with a difficult phenomenon, namely the migration of qualified workers, which it must counteract.
“Concerning the migration from Romania to Germany, I believe we mustn’t have an undifferentiated attitude. There is that poverty migration, but there are also many qualified workers working here, employed, and we must also mention this aspect in what concerns the presence in NATO,” Merkel said, when asked how she commented the perception of Germans in regards with Romanians in the context of poverty migration.
In his turn, President Iohannis underscored that “the issue of poverty migration is one which unfortunately got mixed too many times with the problems of the labour force free movement in Europe.”
“Unfortunately, when it comes to Romania, the poverty migration is seen first, which is not numerically significant, and very difficultly seen and rarely discussed is a phenomenon which is significant, problematic for Romania and a net gain for Germany. It is about the qualified and very qualified labour force migration from Romania to Germany. (…) To Romania, these persons are a loss. Our educational system is relatively performing, but a country as Romania has a problem if significant parts of the qualified labour force are leaving. (…) It is in our interest to find a counteracting [of this phenomenon],” the head of state said.
Iohannis showed that the number of those qualified who leave Romania and come to work, for instance, in Germany, is many times higher than those who are regarded as poverty migrants.
“Romania will have to confront this problem and this phenomenon can be stopped if we manage to introduce a sustainable economic development, a sensible increase in incomes, especially those of the younger generation, and if we manage, through transparency, in the public procedures, but also in the ones of career in the private environment, to guarantee the youth a good chance, be it in the public space, be it in the private one. There are young people deciding to come back to Romania, because they believe our country also has possibilities, but there is still much to be done,” President Iohannis said.
From one President to another
Before the talks with German Chancellor, President Klaus Johannis was received on Thursday by his German counterpart, Joachim Gauck, at the Presidential Palace in Berlin.
According to the Presidential Administration in Bucharest, among the topics addressed were mutual support between Romania and Germany in the European Union, concern for the stability and security in the current geopolitical context, the role of Saxons and Swabians minorities in Romania and, respectively, of Romanians in Germany, the preservation of joint traditions and cultural values, as well as the co-patronage of the two presidents for the Foundation of fortified Saxon churches in Transylvania.
The Romanian president was received at Bellevue Palace, where a military ceremony took place, and then signed the book of honour. Before tete-a-tete conversation with Joachim Gauck and the working lunch offered by the President of Germany, Klaus Johannis met a group of students from the Kepler School of Neukölln district, known for its integration programs for children from migration environment.
President Iohannis promises to closely monitor Parliament proceedings on emigration vote
The voting procedures for the Romanian citizens abroad are a priority of this session of the Parliament, President Klaus Iohannis declared on Thursday night.
I wish to have new party and election campaign financing rules, stricter and more open. I wish new rules for the political parties, encouraging participation and bringing politics closer to the citizen. I especially want a law to ensure the right to vote of citizens abroad. Guaranteeing the conditions and finding a solution to allow all the Romanians in the emigration exerting their constitutional right to vote is a matter of principle. This is a priority of the current parliamentary session and I will closely monitor the way things advance in the Parliament,’ the President said at the meeting with representatives of the Romanian community of Germany hosted by the Romanian embassy in Berlin.
Iohannis declared himself aware of the last November vote being ‘the carrier of great hope’ and pointed out that his presence among Romanians in Berlin was ‘the expression of the aspiration of a foreign policy close to Romanian citizens, wherever they are.’
‘I have assumed a more creative, more open and more active foreign policy, through which we exploit opportunities, consolidate relations and make ourselves heard in the world. I want Romanians, wherever they live, be proud of the way they are represented abroad. And I wish the strengthening of our relations with other states has practical consequences for any citizen,’ he added.
He also stressed his intention of changing the way of doing politics.
‘Let us replace scandal with dialogue, let us get over the logic of permanent conflict and build durable rules. It is the only way we can have efficient, solid institutions, working for people. It is the only way to really achieve the prosperity and stability that would make Romanians who left the country to return home someday,’ Iohannis declared.