Romanian minister delegate for European Affairs, Ana Birchall stated that the rights of Romanians in Britain, and the EU bill are the two biggest obstacles to Brexit. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she said the country will not initiate talks until British Prime Minister Theresa May agrees to give Romanian migrants British citizenship.
The move came as EU leaders met in Brussels to draw negotiating guidelines for future Brexit talks in which, Romania is expected play a vital role. The veiled threat could mean full rights as British citizens to over 220,000 Romanians who are current legal residents in the UK. When asked whether her Brexit priorities were to have “Romanian citizens gain citizenship of the country if they lived here for 4-5 years?” Birchill said, “For Romania, it is very important to fully protect the rights and interests of Romanian citizens in the UK. Not just for one year or two, but long-term. We are talking about numbers here, we are talking about people's lives, their future, their hopes.”
She also said that Britain has to pay up its financial commitments to the EU before exit talks can begin. “We will act as an honest broker. We will continue to advocate- to act as one in the negotiations, to have a predictable and orderly withdrawal,” she said.
