18 July, 2016

A third day of national mourning is observed in France today.

Newsroom, 18.07.2016, 12:00

French and Romanian authorities are still looking for a
Romanian national reported missing after the terrorist attack in Nice last
week. His wife, who was also missing, was found in a hospital in serious, but
stable condition. Their minor son, who was also wounded, is in a hospital in
Nice. Two other Romanians, husband and wife, sustained injuries in the attack.
A third day of national mourning is observed in France today. The perpetrator
of the attack is a 31-year-old Franco-Tunisian man who, investigators say,
minutely planned his Bastille Day attack. This is the third terrorist attack
taking place in France after January 2015, when 17 people died, and November
last year, when 130 people were killed, both times in Paris.

Turkish security forces continue the cleansing operation
ordered by president Recep Tayyp Erdogan following Friday night’s attempted
coup. After a faction of the army failed to take over power, Erdogan launched a
cleansing campaign among the army and the judiciary which has been met with
concern by the international community. Almost 9,000 interior ministry staff,
mostly police and gendarmes, have been sacked. Earlier, around 6,000 people
were arrested, most of whom military, as well as 3,000 magistrates, including
judges and prosecutors, who are suspected of involvement in the coup. According
to the latest toll, at least 290 people were killed in the incidents, while
more than 1,400 were wounded.

The EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and the EU foreign
ministers on Monday called on Turkey to refrain from possible general
repression in the wake of the failed coup. Mogherini said the rule of law must
be protected in the interest of the country. A meeting of the EU External
Affairs Council is held in Brussels today to discuss the failed military coup
in Turkey, the attacks in France and the UK’s leaving the European Union. Talks
will also look at the Union’s global strategy in respect of China. EU foreign
ministers will have an informal meeting with the US state secretary John Kerry.
Romania is represented in Brussels by its foreign minister, Lazar Comanescu.

1,000 Romanian military and another 1,000 from Bulgaria, Canada,
Greece, Poland, the US, Turkey and Ukraine are taking part in the biggest
multinational exercise held this year by the Romanian Naval Forces. Called Sea
Shied 16, this is carried out between the 18th and the 22nd
of July in Romania’s territorial waters and the Black Sea international waters.
The 2,000 military will conduct joint training and apply NATO standard
operational procedures to fight sea, underwater and aerial threats. In another
move, the Romanian Naval Forces are taking part in an exercise held and
coordinated by the United States Naval Forces Europe and the Ukrainian Naval
Forces which takes place starting today until the end of the month in the Black
Sea and on Ukrainian territory. Participating in this exercise are military
from NATO states such as Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania, Britain, Poland,
Romania, the US and Turkey, and the signatory countries of the Partnership for
Peace, namely the Republic of Moldova and Georgia.

Romania’s prime minister Dacian Ciolos on Sunday met
Mongolian graduates who studied in Romania as part of his trip to this country.
He called on them to actively support the Romanian initiatives for bilateral
collaboration, in particular in the field of agriculture, energy and the
extraction of natural resources. As part of a move to boost Romanian-Mongolian
cooperation, the government in Bucharest plans to resume diplomatic ties at
embassy level. The Mongolia-Romania Friendship Association has also spoken of
the need for a permanent Romanian diplomatic presence in Ulan Bator. After an
official visit to Vietnam, Dacian Ciolos attended the Asia-Europe Summit in
Mongolia last week.

A special stamp is available in Romania
starting today called Nadia Comaneci – The First Perfect Ten in the History of
Gymnastics. On the 18th of July 1976, Nadia Comaneci caused a
revolution in sports when she was awarded a perfect ten at the Summer Olympic
Games in Montreal. The stamp issued by Romfilatelia is meant to celebrate the
40th anniversary of this achievement and pay tribute to this great
Romanian gymnast.

Romanian high school children won two gold and
three silver medals at the International Physics Olympiad. The competition was
held between the 11th and the 17th of July in Switzerland
and brought together 450 participants from 90 countries. Also last week,
Romanian children won 6 medals, five of which were silver and one bronze, at
the International Mathematics Olympiad in Hong Kong. (Translated by: C. Mateescu)