Estonia and Romania

Bilateral relations

Romania recognised Estonia's independence on 26 February 1921. Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Estonia and Romania were restored on 13 September 1991. Romanian Ambassador Marian Cătălin Avramescu, who resides in Helsinki, presented his credentials to the President of the Republic on 28 September 2011.

Estonia has covered Romania from Warsaw since 2000, when the first ambassador of the re-independent Estonian Republic  Peeter Reštšinski presented his credentials. From 2001-2005 Estonia's ambassador to Romania was Aivo Orav and from 2006-2009 Ants Frosch. The current Estonian ambassador to Romania is Taavi Toom, who resides in Warsaw.

The Romanian Honorary Consulate in Tallinn began functioning on 1 February 2000, and the first honorary consul was the chairwoman of the Estonian-Romanian-Moldovan Cultural Association, Veronika Palandi. Since 11 September 2007, the Romanian honorary consul has been Peep Aaviksoo. The official opening of the honorary consulate took place in Tallinn on 21 April 2008.

The Estonian honorary consul in Romania (Bucharest) has been Mrs. Ingrid Cristea Vendelin since 6 July 2009. The official opening of the honorary consulate took place on 8 June 2010.

Relations between the nations are good. We are partners in the EU and NATO, our views are very similar on many matters, and in political relations there is interest on both sides towards closer communication between the top politicians and parliaments of both nations. Consultations also take place between ministries.

 Communication between the parliaments became frequent after September 2005, when the Riigikogu established an Estonia-Moldova-Romania parliamentary group. The Romania parliamentary group consisted of 9 members; the group was headed by Taavi Rõivas. The new membership of the Riigikogu has not continued the activities of the group.

 In the Romanian Parliament there is a Romania-Estonia friendship group made up of 20 delegates and senators, led by Social Democrat Victor Socaciu.

Visits

Agreements

Important agreements signed by Estonia and Romania:

• Intergovernmental Agreement for the Organising of International Highway Traffic (came into force 27.12.1993);
• Friendship and Co-operation Agreement (came into force 22.05.1994);
• Agreement on the Readmission of Persons (came into force 15.09.2005);
• Agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation with Income Tax and Capital Tax and the Evasion of Taxes (came into force 29.11.2005);
• Agreement on Abolition of Visa Requirement (came into force 24.04.2004).
• Agreement on Mutual Understanding in the Field of Military Co-operation (came into force 13.01.2005).
• Agreement on the Mutual Protection of Classified Information (came into force 01.09.2007)

Economic Relations

Trade

Estonia's trade with Romania has been modest. A significant change in trade volume was seen in 2004 when Estonia joined the European Union; since then trade between the two countries has grown steadily.

Romania ranked as Estonia’s 44th trade partner in both 2007 and 2008; in both years trade with Romania made up about 0.1% of Estonia’s total foreign trade. In 2008 trade with Romania even grew slightly compared with 2007, despite the fact that there was a global economic downturn.

In 2009 trade with Romania decreased (primarily due to the dramatic decrease in Estonia’s export), but Romania’s relative importance in Estonia’s total trade continued to grow. Romania was 40th among Estonia’s trade partners (with about 0.1% of foreign trade); among both export and import partners Romania ranked in 41st place.

In 2010 trade with Romania grew (primarily due to an increase in imports) and Romania's relative importance among Estonia's total trade remained more or less the same.

In 2011 trade with Romania grew even more, reaching 31.1 million euros (0.1% of Estonia's foreign trade), of which  11.1 million euros was from exports and 20 million euros from imports.

In the first half of 2012 trade with Romania totalled 14.1 million euros, of which export made up 5 million and import 9.1 million euros.

Estonian-Romanian trade 2005-2012 (half year) (in millions EUR)

Main articles of export, first half of 2012:

• Metals and metal products – 21.6%
• Plastic and plastic products – 14.0 %
• Chemical products – 11.1%
• Machinery and equipment – 10.4%

Main articles of import, first half of 2012:

• Machinery and equipment – 66.6%
• Prepared foods and beverages – 17.5%
• Metals and metal products – 4.3%
• Paper pulp and paper products – 3.6%

All economic figures originate from the Statistical Office of Estonia

Investments

According to Bank of Estonia data, as of 30 June 2012 Estonian direct investments in Romania totalled 23.5 million EUR (0.6% of Estonian direct investments in foreign countries) and Romania’s direct investments in Estonia totalled -0.4 million EUR.

Estonian investors invested primarily in professional, research and technical activity, the manufacturing industry, wholesale and retail trade, the information and communication sector, real estate, and financial and insurance activity.

Romanian investors in Estonia have invested in financial and insurance activity and the wholesale and retail trade sector, as well as transport and inventory, the information and communication sector, and real estate. According to the Business Register, as of 29 February 2012 there are 12 businesses with Romanian involvement registered in Estonia.

Tourism

Opportunities to develop tourism between Estonia and Romania have certainly not yet been exhausted. To date the  tourist numbers have been quite modest.

In 2010 Estonian accommodation establishments housed 1 343 Romanian residents (mostly in Tallinn), who spent a total of 3 719 nights in the country. In 2011 the number of Romanian tourists accommodated was 2 295 (mostly in Tallinn). Within the first eight months of 2012, 1 486 Romanian tourists have been accommodated in Estonia.

According to Statistics Estonia, in 2009 there was a significant drop in tourists from Estonia. Estonian travel agencies sent 570 people to Romania from Estonia, for a total of 3 198 days (in 2008 it was 2 192 people and 10 419 days).

Culture

Cultural relations between Estonia and Romania have been relatively reserved for the last few years.

Romanian cultural days took place in Tallinn from 10-11 September 2007.

On 28 March 2008 Sõprus cinema in Tallinn screened Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s film “4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days”, which won both the Palme d’Or and the international film critics’ award at the Cannes Film Festival.

On 10 June 2008 the film “Autumn Ball” (“Sügisball”) received an award for Mart Taniel’s camerawork at the Transylvania film festival in Romania.

On 20 October 2008 the first “Estonian-Romanian Dictionary” was published, which was compiled by Veronika and Regina Palandi.

During the 13th Black Nights Film Festival that started on 26 November 2009, the film-going public saw the world premier of the film made in co-operation by Romania and Moldova “Wedding in Bessarabia”, which participated in the EurAsia competition programme.

On 11 May 2010 the Estonian-Romanian dictionary compiled by Regina and Veronika Palandi was introduced in the European Parliament as a sign of the two nations integrating in the European Union (at the initiative of European Parliament members Norica Nicolai, Kristiina Ojuland and Adina Ioana Valean).

In March 2011 Marianna Kaat and her film “Pit No. 8” had a successful run at the international documentary film festival One World Romania.

Estonia and Romania are playing in the same division for the qualifying round of the 2014 football World Cup.

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