The Romanian is the largest foreign community in Spain. Within the framework of the celebration of 140 years of relations between Madrid and Bucharest, and with an eye on the first bilateral summit that will take place this summer, the president of the Senate and former Minister of Public Finance, Anca Dragu, on a visit to The Spanish capital details, in an interview yesterday with EL MUNDO, the advances in the vaccination campaign of the Balkan country. In addition, he insists on the importance of recovering the human capital lost with the diaspora of Romanians settled in other countries.

What is your assessment of Romania's management since the Covid-19 pandemic began? Like all other countries, Romania has been affected by the pandemic. Both the health system and the educational and economic system have suffered its consequences. The Romanian Executive devised a series of packages to stimulate the economic environment and imposed restrictions to keep infections under control. Therefore, I would say that the country has managed it well. We have had just over a million cases and around 29,000 deaths, but official data today shows around a thousand cases a day. Precisely on Thursday, a relaxation of the restrictions was announced as of this Saturday, which will abolish the curfew and the use of a mask in open places, with the exception of crowded areas.. It is a very powerful signal that we are going in the right direction.. Health personnel are the ones who have borne the brunt of the pandemic. They are the true heroes and I want to thank them also in this way. Romania is carrying out a vaccination tourism strategy.. The State is concentrating its efforts on the vaccination campaign. Romania has managed to immunize some 3.7 million people, of which 2.4 million have already received the second dose, and we want to reach five million by June 1. Our objective is to accelerate this campaign to reactivate the sectors of the economy that have been totally or partially blocked by the crisis, especially allowing the education system to function at 100%.. Since May 7, vaccinated without an appointment, and among the actions that we are carrying out from the Senate we offer free visits to those who come to get vaccinated. The Government and the institutions have also organized marathons in all the large cities of the country, including tourist areas such as Constanta, the largest Romanian port located on the Black Sea.. In fact, the Minister of Health herself [Ioana Mihaila, a doctor by profession] goes to the centers to vaccinate the public. And in the town of Bran is Dracula's castle, where any tourist who visits during the month of May can receive their dose without an appointment.. Thousands, both national and foreign, have already done so. How well received is the vaccination campaign in Romania? The Romanian population has been open to vaccination from the beginning. But, of course, as in other countries, a part of it is skeptical or undecided. The Romanian community is the largest foreign community in Spain…The Romanian community in Spain is already a mature and consolidated community after the two main waves of emigration registered from 2001 -the year of the elimination of visas with the European Union- and 2007, the year of joining the great European family. It is an unavoidable topic in the innumerable conversations that we have with the Spanish authorities at all levels, always with the confirmation of the full integration of Romanian citizens into the local communities of which they are a part.. Without a doubt, the Romanian community in Spain is an indispensable part of the microcosm in which it lives, which contributes decisively to the social and economic well-being of its host country. How does the diaspora of nationals and the 'flight' affect Romania? of brains'? The potential of the human capital of the diaspora is enormous. With a minimum of perseverance on the part of the Romanian state, in the medium term, part of this potential can be transformed into a great opportunity for Romania. If we examine the evolution of the Romanian presence in Spain, we can observe a reconfiguration of the professional and educational spectrum of this community. If in the first years after 1990 the majority of those who left Romania worked in agriculture or construction, over the years more and more health, engineering or research personnel have left the country, which represents a real human resource drain. However, in recent years we have been witnessing a clear slowdown in this flow. The economic, social and labor conditions in Romania are constantly evolving and have become attractive to those who seemed to have left forever.. Every Romanian who returns to his country is a great profit and we have several programs to create incentives. I myself am a Romanian citizen who has lived abroad, who has been part of that diaspora, and who has returned to my country. Regarding the Conference on the Future of Europe, what role will Romania have and what does Bucharest expect from the reform of the Union? This is a very important moment for Europe. It is necessary to think about the citizenship having an active role, that is to say, that it is a Europe for the citizens. The EU is based on very solid and deep values that make it unique. We must bring these values closer to Europeans and deepen them. We welcome the symbolic launch on 9 May of the Conference on the Future of Europe and its strategic importance, both in strengthening the resilience of the European Union in the face of the unprecedented challenges posed by the current pandemic, and in shaping the Union from the future. The pandemic has taught us that European solidarity is one of our most precious values. I have worked in the European Commission and I am deeply European, and we have taken note of the priorities that Spain wishes to promote under the auspices of the Conference. Among them, improve the provision of health, education, services and housing or support isolated/unpopulated communities; they will certainly be in tune with the citizens of Romania. What attitude should the EU adopt towards Russia, one of the biggest threats to its stability? And at what point are relations between Bucharest and Moscow? The EU has imposed progressive sanctions on Russia since 2014. Obviously the relationship between Brussels and Moscow is tense. In general, Member States are aligned with European policies and Romania is no exception, although we continue to have a pragmatic relationship with Russia. I am confident that the EU will be able to find a suitable and balanced tone for this relationship, although it is true that there are countries that think that the measures against Moscow should be tougher or, on the contrary, softer.. Regarding the tension in eastern Ukraine, how does it affect Romania as a neighboring country? Ukraine is a neighboring country, and important for the EU. Romania supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine and also its European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. At the European level, we are also concerned about the deterioration of the situation in eastern Ukraine and it is an issue that we discussed on April 23 between Romania, Poland and Turkey, as well as at the B9 Summit in Bucharest on May 10, which resulted in a joint declaration of heads of state. Our country is perfectly aligned with the European and NATO policies in this Ukrainian region. Romania is a country that embarked on the path of European accession and achieved it in 2007, we want to share our experience (both the positive aspects and the less favorable ones) with other states with Europeanist aspirations. Spain and Romania celebrate their 140 years of bilateral relations. What are the short-term objectives to deepen relations between Madrid and Bucharest? We share an excellent relationship, elevated in 2013 to the rank of Strategic Association. This anniversary represents an opportunity to give new impetus to political, economic and cultural relations.. At the beginning of February, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, visited Bucharest. She was the first representative of a NATO and EU Member State to come to Bucharest in 2021. It can be said that we have managed to incorporate Spain into a series of regional interests in the eastern neighborhood and, for our part, we are emerging as an active player in the Mediterranean. In addition, I am particularly interested in the issue of gender violence, a topic at the forefront of my agenda. Spain has been a leading state in the fight against this type of violence for years and an example in the matter for Romania, where the issue has not yet received the attention and effort it requires. The Romanian Parliament only has 17% women. We will allocate a part of the 180 million euros of European funds that Romania will receive to the fight against gender violence. On March 31, the mission of the NATO Air Police ended successfully, being the first time that the Spanish Air Force sent ships to Romania to carry out exercises in the Black Sea. How relevant is this joint operation? As border states of the EU and NATO, Spain and Romania understand the importance of projecting in the European neighbourhood, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea the values they share: deep and consistent attachment to multilateralism and international law, protection of human rights and promotion of the settlement of disputes of any kind by peaceful means. Our states are strong allies in NATO and pursue the same common, forward-looking values and goals. Ensuring the missions of the Reinforced Air Police is an allied commitment in order to guarantee the security of the NATO States on the eastern flank, in a complicated security context in the Black Sea. In other words, the Spanish mission in Romania is, first and foremost, a manifestation of the Alliance’s cohesion and solidarity in the face of today’s security challenges. We are grateful to Spain for providing air surveillance over Romania during the first months of 2021 and I am convinced that we will have increasingly intensified cooperation on the eastern flank, including the Black Sea region.