Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu starts Wednesday a visit to Romania and Bulgaria, marking the first prime ministerial visit to either of those countries in about 20 years, the Jerusalem Post reported in its online edition Wednesday. read more...

It seems that some are sensitive even when talking about history, Romanian President Traian Basescu said on Thursday, commenting the statements made by the Russian Foreign Affairs ministry who criticized the Romanian chief of state for his insolence related to the statements related to the attack of the USSR in 1941. read more...

Romanian President Traian Basescu raised a wave of dissatisfaction in the Russian Foreign Affairs ministry following his statements according to which he would have done like Ion Antonescu back in 1941 and sent Romanian soldiers to cross the Prut river against Russia. read more...

The EU gave Croatia a green light to join the European Union, as it approved the end of adhesion negotiations with Zagreb that started five years ago, AFP informs. The adhesion treaty will be signed by the end of this year according to the text of the document adopted on Friday at Brussels and Croatia will become a member on July 1, 2013. read more...

The European Parliament decided to waive the immunity of the Romanian MEP Adrian Severin, involved in a scandal of money for amendments in the European Parliament. European Parliamentarians voted on Thursday the report of the Judicial Committee of the Parliament that recommends the EP to waive the immunity of Adrian Severin. read more...

President Traian Basescu will attends, on Thursday and Friday the Sumer European Council meeting. The agenda includes subjects like the economic problematic, immigration, consolidating Schengen and the negotiations of Croatia to join the EU and the evolutions in the South vecinity of the EU. read more...

The Budapest government is very spontaneous in the sense that it offers statements wherever it comes to it because they want to be perceived as reactive, Romanian Embassy deputy chief of mission Mihaela Pop said. read more...

The expansion of Schengen with Romania and Bulgaria risks encouraging illegal immigration through the Greek – Turkish border, an official of Europol, the EU’s police office said at Sofia. He said that the Bulgarian coast at the Black Sea risks of becoming a new target of illegal immigration. read more...

French Interior minister Claude Gueant plans to increase the number of repatriations of illegal immigrants, cut illegal immigration and makes new tough statements related to Romania felons. He announces in an interview for Journal du Dimanche 28,000 new repatriations of illegal immigrants in 2011. read more...

The link between Romania’s adhesion to Schengen and the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism is “artificial”, Romania’s Justice minister Catalin Predoiu said for RFI radio. The official blames the reticence some countries have to see Romania in Schengen based on some internal political matters. read more...

The Dutch government will pronounce in 2012 on the adhesion requests of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen after a trial period, Dutch Immigration Minister Gerd Leers said quoted by AFP. It is too early to take a decision and it will take some time until we will be ready to make it, he said a day after the EP voted for Romania and Bulgaria to join Schengen. read more...

The European Parliament gave a green light to Romania and Bulgaria to join Schengen, saying that the two countries met all necessary conditions to join, according to the evaluation reports, a press release of the European legislative reads, remitted to HotNews.ro. read more...

Romania’s Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu rejects the appreciations made last week by the Dutch Ambassador to the EU, who declared that Netherlands does not believe that Romania’s rule of law is working because there are great problems related to the justice system in Romania. read more...

The agreement on the placement of some elements of the American anti missile shield in Romania was ratified on Monday, at Washington by the two negotiations team, Romanian State Secretary Bogdan Aurescu and Ellen Tauscher, under state secretary for arms control and international security, the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry informs in a press release. read more...

Netherlands does not believe Romania is governed by the rule of law because there are still problem related to the reform of the judiciary in our country, Dutch Ambassador said at the EU. According to a coverage made by RFI radio quoting EU sources, Romania’s rule of law was contested last week at Brussels during a meeting of Ambassadors to the EU. read more...

Spiegel dedicates eight pages of its last but one number to Romania and one article in particular, signed by Ozlem Gezer reads that Bulgarians and Romanians become the problematic group in Germany. read more...

US President Barack Obama plans to change criteria of acceptance into Visa Waiver program that might allow Romanian to obtain visas easier for the US. According to the US Ambassador to Bucharest, Mark Gitenstein, Obama plans to take into account just those who exceeded legal stay not the refusal rate also, which is the case. read more...

Italian PM Berlusconi met his Romanian counterpart Emil Boc to lead the second inter-governmental summit at the government’s headquarters that will also tackle the issue of Romania’s adhesion to Schengen. read more...

Romania’s absence from the Central European Summit organized in Poland will not be well received in Washington, the New York Times comments Romania, Serbia and Slovakia’s decision to boycott the summit. read more...

Romania’s Foreign Affairs minister Teodor Baconschi will visit London on May 16 to prepare the official visit of Romania’s President Traian Basescu to Great Britain. Basescu is scheduled to visit London in June 2011, Baconschi said exclusively to HotNews.ro. read more...