accession

The EU Commissioner for regional policy, Corina Cretu, said on Monday that Romania’s accession to Eurozone is an “aspiration which should be followed”, as improvements in both standard of living and economic growth should be her country’s main objectives following the accession.

Romania is not prepared to accept postponement of the date of accession in the Schengen area, President Traian Basescu told the Financial Times in an interview, which also touched on Romania’s role in the EU, its relations with Russia and the Republic of Moldova and the anti-missile shield.

Romanian presidential adviser for European affairs Leonard Orban told RFI Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area in March 2011 isn’t set in stone and a delay in March could extend into a delay for several years.

Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc on Friday demanded the construction of the new terminal building of the Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport be finalized by November 4, and warned “heads will roll” if the deadline is not met and Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area will be affected.

The draft law revising Romania’s Constitution stipulates that the country’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization needs two thirds of the votes cast in the single-chamber Parliament in order to be approved, although Romania has been a NATO member since March 2004.

Romanian president Traian Basescu supports the accession of Balkan states and former soviet states in the EU, but this needs to be done based on the Lisbon Treaty, Prague Chamber of Deputies spokesman Miroslav Vlček told MEDIAFAX.

The Republic of Moldova’s EU accession perspectives are distant if the country is “dropped together with Ukraine”, Romanian President Traian Basescu said Thursday, when he received the visit of Moldovan Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanii.