Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu will be on Tuesday and Wednesday on a working visit to Great Britain, having meetings with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, House of Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, and City of London Lord Mayor Alastair King on the agenda, the government said in a release. Also, the prime minister will participate in the Romania - UK Economic Forum due on November 13.His program also includes a visit to a Romanian local church and meeting with members of the Romanian community in Great Britain."The government of Romania is interested in strengthening the Strategic Partnership with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on all levels of bilateral interest, adjusted according to the current challenges and opportunities. The Romanian community in the United Kingdom is quite a strong one, and the promotion of the rights of our fellow nationals represents a vital pillar of bilateral cooperation," said Ciolacu, as cited in the release.This is the first visit of a Romanian prime minister to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 17 years, the Executive notes.The official delegation will include Foreign Affairs Minister Luminita Odobescu, National Defense Minister Angel Tilvar, Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Radu Oprea, Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja, honorary advisor and EP Vice-President Victor Negrescu, and state advisor Nicolae Comanescu.***The Romania - UK bilateral relationship is governed by the Strategic Partnership launched on June 26, 2003, revised in 2011 and updated on March 23, 2023 by a Joint Declaration signed by the two states' Foreign Affairs ministers.The Romanian community in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is estimated at over 1.2 million.Romania is represented in the United Kingdom through the Embassy in London and three Consulates General in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. Steps are currently being taken to operationalize the Consulate General in Birmingham and a consular office in Belfast, to serve Northern Ireland.According to the release, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is one of Romania's most important trading partners, and the first in the ranking of the countries with which Romania is running a trade surplus (1.6 billion euros in 2023, and one billion euros in the first seven months of 2024).Total trade exchanges in 2024 are estimated at over 4 billion euros. In the first seven months of 2024, provisional data indicate a trade amount of 2.42 billion euros, marking an 8.84% increase in bilateral trade. According to the National Trade Registry Office, as of June 30, 2024, there were 7,011 trading companies with British capital registered in Romania.
The European Parliament called on November 26 for EU-wide rules to strengthen the protection of minors online, recommending a minimum age of sixteen for accessing social networks, video-sharing platforms, and AI chatbots, according to a statement from the institution,
The government of Romania will be empowered to establish, ex officio or upon request, by Government Decision, an extended surveillance regime over local companies strongly affected by economic sanctions imposed by other states, according to the legislative project prepared by the government, given that the situation of the assets held by the Russian giant Lukoil […]
The European Commission (EC) will reportedly give Romania four more months to appoint permanent management under competitive procedures at 48 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the energy sector, after the Romanian government agreed to double the fine paid by the country and the penalties charged to those responsible (ministers) if the milestone set under the Resilience […]
The Romanian banks boasted in 2025 virtually the same record aggregated net profit as in 2024, namely RON 11.6 billion (EUR 2.3 billion, -0.6% y/y) in January-September and RON 6.2 billion (EUR 828 million, -0.3% y/y) in Q3 alone, according to data published by the National Bank of Romania. The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio has […]
The Romanian Parliament approved the National Defense Strategy on Wednesday, November 26, with 314 votes in favor, 43 against, and three abstentions, following a joint session attended by president Nicușor Dan. The document will guide national security policy for the 2025-2030 period. During the parliamentary debate, Ana Maria Gavrilă, leader of the opposition party POT, […]
Romania celebrates its National Day this long weekend, when December 1 is a public holiday, as is St Andrew’s Day. At the same time, several Christmas markets are opening in Bucharest, Brașov, and Timișoara.
