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British Prime Minister David Cameron, on an official visit to Bucharest
Great Britain supports the principle of the freedom of movement in the European Union, on Wednesday said in Bucharest the British Prime Minister, underlining that the "pressure" upon the public services deriving from this freedom of circulation should be solved. Romanians, like any other Europeans, have a valuable contribution in Great Britain in many fields, yet I have never thought that this freedom of circulation would bring in so many people and all this pressure upon our public services should be solved, said David Cameron, at the Cotroceni Palace, after the meeting he had with President Klaus Iohannis.
He said he had discussed with the Romanian head of state about the way the EU could be reformed to become more competitive, and the British people's worries regarding this aspect to be solved.
Great Britain is an important member, net contributor to the EU, said Cameron. I want Great Britain to remain in a reformed European Union, that is why I want important reforms to solve the worries of the British people, added Cameron. As the European Council's Chairman said, we are making progresses, but I have to admit that in certain fields progresses are more difficult, especially with respect to the reforms on wellbeing, said the British PM.
Cameron reminded that the net migration to the UK counts for 300,000 persons per year, which is not sustainable. And for this, he added, we should find ways to solve this situation. To the next week's European Council, we shall discuss about the reforms we have tabled and I hope we will find solutions for each domain. The EU has also shown before that it has the flexibility to answer to the member states' worries and it has to do the same now, said David Cameron.
Visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron said at the presidential Cotroceni Palace on Wednesday he had discussed with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis about how can Britain and Romania strengthen cooperation on defence, migration and the reform of the European Union.
He underscored that Britain and Romania have important bilateral relations, stressing the two countries are partners in the EU, in NATO and are "good business partners". Cameron underscored that commercial exchanges between Romania and the United Kingdom totalled 3.5 billion euros last year.
We are also energy partners and we support the need to consolidate the energy security in Europe, he added.
The British prime minister hailed the fact Romania already invests 2 percent of its gross domestic product in defence till 2017 and noted that the two countries' forces train together.
Romania is consolidating its naval fleet and there also exists an opportunity to develop this cooperation with Great Britain, he added.
As regards the migration from the Middle East and Africa, Cameron said the talks with Iohannis focused on the way in which the causes can be addressed.
We must break the link between the traffickers of persons. Great Britain plays its part in this area, we donate in Syria, we have ships in the Mediterranean and we offer practical assistance to the front-line European countries by customs officers from Great Britain, who help monitoring and registering the migrants, the British premier stressed.
David Cameron said he was happy to be the first British Premier to visit Romania this century, adding that he hopes there will not pass another 16 years until another British PM pays a visit here.
In his turn, President Iohannis emphasized that most of the Romanian nationals are well integrated and contribute through their taxes and dues to Great Britain's economy.
As for the renegotiation process of the relationships between the EU and Great Britain, he indicated that Romania believes that the place of Great Britain is clearly in the European family.
"The European Union is stronger with Great Britain inside it and Great Britain is stronger inside the EU. We wish some solutions to be identified so they lead to a favourable vote for the UK to remain in the EU, through the referendum to be organized in Great Britain in this respect. These solutions should be in compliance with the provisions of the Union's treaties, to observe the fundamental rights and freedoms, including the persons' free circulation," said Iohannis.
He also said that they discussed about deepening the strategic partnership with the United Kingdom in various areas, as he said the military and security dimension of the bilateral cooperation plays a major role, particularly against the current security background.
"Great Britain is one of our important partners to which we are linked by a strategic partnership. In today's talks we proposed to deepen this partnership in various areas. We consider that the military and security dimension of the cooperation between Romania and Great Britain plays a major role, particularly against the current security background, which is a complex one and marked by confrontation. It is in our two countries' interest to strengthen such cooperation at all levels", Iohannis told a joint press statement with Cameron at the presidential Cotroceni Palace.
He underscored that one of the areas reflecting the cooperation level is the security policy and the partnership in NATO.
"Naturally, Romania is chiefly interested in making secure NATO's eastern flank, where we have lately been witnessing significant strategic modifications", Iohannis said.
The Romanian leader added he had also discussed with the British prime minister ways to boost the economic cooperation between Romania and the UK.
"Commercial exchanges recorded the highest level in bilateral history last year, and the signals for this year are very positive", he added.
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British Prime Minister David Cameron, on an official visit to Bucharest laid a wreath and lit a candle at the premises of the Colectiv club on Wednesday, in memory of the October 30 fire victims.David Cameron was accompanied by Romanian Health Minister Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu and the ambassador of the United Kingdom to Romania, Paul Brummell.
After laying the wreath, Cameron took a few moments' silence in front of the tragic club and scanned the photos of the ones perished in fire.