French Ambassador to Bucharest talks in an interview about France’s position in the Schengen file and about the next steps Romania and Bulgaria could take, one newspaper reads on Monday. Elsewhere in the news, IMF demands Romania to make supplementary efforts to control spending in health and public enterprises. Last but not least, Bucharest’s mayor Sorin Oprescu ordered a 10 minute movie to change tourists’ perceptions about Bucharest.
In an interview for Evenimentul Zilei, French Ambassador to Bucharest Henri Paul reveals that Paris’s critical position in the Schengen file is not determined by any deal. The diplomat observes the problems Romania faces in justice and invited Romania and Bulgaria to a common action that could lead to some solutions to tackle these problems.
The ambassador rejects speculations that link France’s position to the fact that French companies did not get a contract in Romania for the construction of reactors in the Cernavoda nuclear plant. Henri Paul reiterates the French position that the adhesion of the two countries is still premature.
In his opinion, a decision on Schengen should be taken only when the two countries started to remedy their problems in security and justice and the fight against corruption.
The French Ambassador underlined that this is the position of his country. The French diplomat advises Romania and Bulgaria to set up a common action at Brussels to define the way that will allow solutions to these problems that need to be tackled, not hidden.
Elsewhere in the news, Romania libera reads about the IMF demands to Romania to control spending in health and public enterprises. IMF declared that the absorption of EU funds needs to become a priority for the government. First Deputy Executive Director of the Fund, John Lipsky declared that the main challenge for Roma
