Basically, the Romanian 5 G Law mentions the following:

• Romania takes into consideration the international partnerships with the EU and the USA. Here the main partnership to be taken into consideration is the one signed with the Americans in August 2019
• Each 5 G technology supplier or developer needs to be approved by the PM’s decision after it gets by the Supreme Council of National Defense
• The 5 G providers and operators that don’t abide by the law are sanctioned with a fine between 1% and 5% of their revenues.

Romania signed a memorandum with the US in August 2019, during an official visit of the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, who met the then US president, Donald Trump. Starting from that moment, Romania postponed the 5 G tenders and prepared the legislative framework necessary to ban the Chinese companies, mainly Huawei, from the Romanian market.

Huawei is the wrong way became the motto of the Americans when it came to debates regarding the presence of the Chinese giant on the Romanian market. Almost two years from the signing of the memorandum have passed and Romania kept its word: Huawei will be banned from the Romanian 5 G market.

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The memorandum Romania signed in 2019 in US regarding 5G providers

In August 2019, when the current Romanian president Iohannis met with president Trump, there was also signed a memorandum which obliged Romania to carefully examine and evaluate the 5G vendors. This was hinting at the Chinese giant, Huawei, as the US wanted to ban this vendor from 5G tenders across the world where the US had strategic partnerships. In Europe, the Americans have two main partners who side with the American interests on a regular basis: Poland and Romania.

For Romania the equation is very simple: US are the 5th on the top of the main investors in Romania and the main partner when it comes to military defense.

Critics would say that Poland follows its goals better than Romania. Let’s remember that Poland was officially invited to join the Visa Waiver program in 2019, while Romania still has to have its citizens wait in lines at the American embassy for getting visa when travelling to the United States. But, to cut a long story short, for more information about the difference between Poland and Romania when it comes to the American strategic partnership, please check the analysis in the link.

Now, let’s get back to our subject: 5G memorandum and what steps are taken by Romania to side with the US as agreed. In other words, let’s see how Romania understood that Huawei is the wrong way, as the American Ambassador in Romania wrote on the embassy’s website.

Huawei 5G ban in Romania not definitive, one more step to take

What happened this week, though? The fact is Romanian Government signed-off a bill which enforces the memorandum of understanding provisions. It still has to be approved by the Parliament, allegedly this week.

Though, at the moment, Romanian Government is amid a political crisis, with one of the parties which form the coalition upset because the Romanian PM fired the minister of Health. In such a context, we doubt the Parliament will be summoned this week for voting the bill, but miracles can happen anytime, even in the Romanian politics.

What we know for certain is that on one hand the Romanian president, who signed the memorandum and who is undoubtedly backing and coordinating the bill’s voting process through the governing coalition, wouldn’t have had the bill sent from Government to Parliament if there weren’t proper chances for the bill to be adopted.

In other words, chances are in favor of the bill to be voted and Huawei, but not only Huawei, might be excluded from 5G tenders in Romania starting from this week. On the other hand, because of the coalition crisis in Romania, it is possible for the vote to be postponed.

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The battle for the implementation of the 5G network infrastructure in Romania is not a new one. It is well known that the current Romanian Government has turned its back towards the Chinese company Huawei after coming to power in October 2019. The change came right after president Trump forbid its allies in Europe and across the world to deal with Huawei for the 5G deals.

Romanian president signed a memorandum with president Trump in 2019 and he said a definitive NO to the Chinese 5 G technology in Romania in August 2020, when he stated:

Romania’s position is exactly the same position expressed in the memorandum signed last year when I paid the official visit to president Trump. We want secure networks which are not controlled by other states with other goals than the ones they officially declared, and we also want networks which fulfill the needs of both the Romanian citizens and of our companies.

Klaus Iohannis on Chinese 5G technology in August 2020

Now, the American ambassador to Romania, the Romanian born American Adrian Zuckerman, stressed out more on the same topic:

Huawei and the Communist Chinese want to make Romania the surveillance state of 30 years ago- just like it is in Communist China. Send Beijing a message—the Communist surveillance state no longer exists in Romania. President Trump and the American people had the courage to say no. I know the brave and courageous people of Romania will also say no. The people of Romania want democracy, privacy, decency and the rule of law. The people of Romania want to do this the RIGHT way. Huawei is the WRONGWAY for Romania.

H.E. Adrian Zuckerman on Huawei presence in Romania

Also, the ambassador accused the Romanian mass-media for being paid by the Chinese government. The “guilt” of the mass-media news portals is the publishing the clarifications of the Chinese Embassy in Bucharest on 5G technology.

Huawei and the Chinese Embassy continue to try to mislead the people of Romania. The purported clarifications of Huawei’s position distributed by the Chinese embassy, various authors with checkered pasts and Russian disinformation outlets are demonstrably false and unavailing. The Communist Chinese disdain freedom, the rule of law, human rights, and the truth. Huawei and its Communist Chinese bosses in Beijing are masters at intimidation, influence peddling and trying to prevent honest Romanians from reading the truth.

H.E. Adrian Zuckerman on Romanian mass-media

Romania posponed twice the tender for 5G, the last time because of the pandemic lockdown. The future will tell who wins this 5G war of attrition in Romania: will they be the Americans, who want “safe” companies such as Ericsson or Samsung, or will they be the Chinese, who want to implement Huawei 5G in Romania after winning the tender.

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Some of us are not worried enough. (…) They do not realize what is actually happening. I think we will have to discuss in The Supreme Council of National Defence, too.

Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, August 2019

His statements came right before his official visit to the USA from August 2019, where the 5G technology was an important subject to be discussed.

The American president, Donald Trump, warned his European partners to forbid the Chinese company Huawei, the world leader in 5G technologies, from taking part in the tenders for 5G technologies.

On Wednesday, August 12, Klaus Iohannis clearly expressed his opinion once again:

Romania’s position is exactly the same position expressed in the memorandum signed last year when I paid the official visit to president Trump. We want secure networks which are not controlled by other states with other goals than the ones they officially declared, and we also want networks which fulfill the needs of both the Romanian citizens and of our companies.

Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, August 2020

Though Iohannis hasn’t named companies or countries, everybody understood that Huawei or any Chinese companies are no longer welcomed to the Romanian tender for implementing the 5G technology. The tender was postponed in October 2019 for Q1 2020, but this year in March it was postponed once again for Q4 2020.

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Romanian people are used to see Huawei as a smartphone producer and seller. Yet, Huawei is almost the only one producer for the equipment used by Romanian companies and institutions in the 4G networks. It means the company should have a bright future in Romania, right? Not quite!

Huawei has one major problem in Romania: the social-democrat Romanian government has been ousted from power following the no-confidence motion. This is going to pose a major problem, as the political situation has dramatically changed. In June we were writing that the Romanian Government was not to ban Huawei from 5G auction, along with the Hungarian Government, who did the same. Now, the liberal party, who was invited to form a new Government, say they will respect the Memorandum signed on the 20th of August by the Romanian and American officials regarding the 5G auction, which means filtering out the participants – in other words, forbidding Huawei from taking part at this auction.

There will be consequences, no doubt about it. First of all, Chinese-Romanian bilateral relations will become colder following the ban on Huawei from entering the auction. Second of all, the presence of Huawei in Romania will surely get thinner and the IT&C giant will no longer need 7000 employees, but lesser and most of the existing staff will get fired. And third of all, the very existence of the 4G networks, which represents the blood vessels of communication in Romania, will be in danger. Does anybody imagine that Chinese will offer the same support for the 4G equipment as until now?

There are also concerns about this 5G technology. It is not a largely tested technology and the scientific community, including doctors, fear the new technology might have yet undiscovered effects on humans. Even the Romanian president warned about the using of the 5G technology, unless it was just a political game of delaying the auction while the social-democrats were in power in Bucharest.

A conclusion, just for making sure everybody understands what is really going on: if the right wing party forms the new government, Romania will follow ad literam the memorandum signed with the Americans. If, by any chance, the right wing party won’t be able to form a government and to get the support of the Parliament, then the things will go as planned, with Huawei entering the auction. Now in Romania the left wing party ensures the political transition until the formation of a new government, for an indefinite period of time.

Will Huwaei Romania be left with only their smartphone selling division? Will they continue to fight for their right in taking part at the auction? The future will definitely tell us, but now the odds are clearly against the Chinese giant.

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The specification comes in the context where 5G technology could enter the market even from the first months of next year, Romania preparing to launch the tender for 5G services, by the end of this year, and will allow access to all companies, including Huawei. “The auction will be open to everyone, including companies that use equipment from Huawei Technologies Co.,” said Alexandru Petrescu, The Minister of Communications and Telecommunications.

The implementation of 5G technology has triggered a global war of the big players in the field and the governments behind them. The United States has recently called on its allies not to appeal to the Chinese company Huawei accused of espionage through its infrastructure and equipment, for the introduction of revolutionary 5G technology. Huawei company rejected the allegations and sued the US government. The European Commission has not banned the use of Huawei devices, but in several countries, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, it is the governments that decide whether to introduce 5G technology through the equipment of the Chinese company. No decisions have yet been made in this regard.

EU countries are currently taking important steps to prepare for this process. For 2019, the bidding procedure for at least one frequency band is scheduled in 11 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Portugal. Six other tenders are scheduled for 2020 in Spain, Malta, Lithuania, Slovakia, Poland and the United Kingdom.

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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?

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