Romania not to ban Huawei from 5 G auction

Romania is to launch 5 G auction this autumn, according to the Telecommunication Minister, Mr. Alexandru Petrescu. Yet, this is old news. The actual news is that Romania is not to ban Huawei from taking part at this auction. That’s news, right?

The conclusion is Romania is not ready to give up the partnership with Huawei, exactly like Victor Orban’s Hungary who announced they will stick by the partnership with Huawei in spite of the USA ban.

Right, especially when you think about timing – on Tuesday, Mr Alexandru Petrescu made the announcements regarding no ban for Huawei at the 5G auction which is to yield approximately 470 mil. USD in state revenue. On Saturday, Donald Trump, the president of the USA, announced the lifting of the ban for Huawei, which was breaking news for the tech world all over. Of course, nobody could knew beforehand what Mr Trump will decide at G20 in Osaka, and Mr Petrescu is no exception.

Now, one question remains – are the Eastern-European countries less likely to be influenced by the USA external economic policy? Is Donald Trump less respected in this part of the world? Do the EU policies and regulations started to matter in Romania as well?

These questions came after at least a decade of Romania having this strategic partnership with USA, firstly military, as Romania hosts an American military defense rocket base at Deveselu, and secondly economic. Is this strategic partnership ready to enter a new decade, where Romanians will stick to their intersts and will start acting as equal-right partners?