Romania approves law to potentially exclude Huawei from future 5G network
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Romania's government has approved a law that aims to exclude Chinese group Huawei from the future 5G mobile network.
According to the draft proposals, telecommunications companies may not be considered in Romania because of "risks, threats or vulnerabilities to national security".
In order to supply technologies and equipment for Romania's 5G network, companies will have to request the opinion of the Supreme Defence Council (CSAT), chaired by President Klaus Iohannis.
Romania becomes the third European country to examine such a measure, following in the footsteps of the UK and Sweden.
The adoption of the law follows a joint statement by Romania and the United States in August 2019, which suspected Huawei of potential spying for China. Beijing and Huawei have categorically denied the accusations.
Huawei's director in Romania, George Zhang, had called on Bucharest to reverse this project, saying it would lead to the group's departure from the country, which could lead to losses of €9.2 billion and "thousands" of jobs.
The law must still be approved by Romania's Parliament before it can be adopted
Bucharest plans to begin implementing the fifth generation of mobile networks in the third quarter of 2021, which could bring up to €600 million.
5G technology offers much higher speeds than 4G, with faster access to content and the ability to move billions of data without bottlenecks.