31 August, 2016

Romania must actively contribute to the efforts of the international community, the European Union and NATO, president Klaus Iohannis told the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy.

Newsroom, 31.08.2016, 12:00

Romanian Language Day. A series of cultural and
educational programmes and events are held by the Romanian authorities, public
institutions, diplomatic representations and cultural institutes abroad to
celebrate Romanian Language Day on the 31st of August. Celebrations
include Romanian traditional music shows, theatre performances and poetry
readings both in Romania and abroad, in countries with large ethnic Romanian
communities, such as Serbia, Bulgaria and Ukraine. The ex-Soviet, majority
Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova, where Romanian became the official state
language in 2013, also celebrates Romanian Language Day.

The Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy. Romania must have an active contribution to
the efforts of the international community, the European Union and NATO, that
is the community of values it belongs to, the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis
told the Annual Meeting of Diplomacy in Bucharest. Romania’s interests as a
state located on the external border of this community obliges us to act in
such a way as to ensure the security of the nation and that of the essential
organisations, the EU and NATO, of which we are part of. At the same time,
Romania’s stability and economic growth, its low energy dependence, democratic
predictability and support for the rule of law, as well as its actions in the
areas of foreign policy and security are very important assets, especially in
this region. They must be used wisely and in a visionary way so that Romania
becomes stronger and more efficient, president Iohannis also said. At their annual meeting, Romania’s ambassadors and consuls are looking
at the main challenges, such as the relationship with the country’s main
partners, the development of the international institutions Romania forms part
of, security and economic development. Both prime minister Dacian Ciolos and
the foreign minister Lazar Comanescu said that in the face of the crises
threatening Europe, Romania would continue to urge for a process of reflection
so as not to deepen the already existing rifts between various states and
groups of states.

Italy earthquake. Prime minister Dacian Ciolos
will propose during a government meeting today that September 1st be
declared a day of national mourning in memory of the 11 Romanians who died in
the earthquake in Italy. The prime minister made this announcement after
attending the mass funerals held on Tuesday in Amatrice for 37 of the quake
victims. He also visited the Romanian nationals who lost their homes and said
the government would provide them with financial support and also take care of
the bureaucratic aspect of their predicament. The labour minister Dragos
Pislaru, who also travelled to Italy, said the Romanian families whose homes
were destroyed in the earthquake may benefit from the financial aid made
available by the authorities in Bucharest after submitting a sworn statement to
this effect. The application is available at Romania’s diplomatic missions and
consular offices in Italy and the county agencies for payments and social
inspection in Romania.

Former PM faces disbarring. The Council of the
Bucharest Bar is today discussing a request on the exclusion from the bar of
the former Social Democratic prime minister Victor Ponta. The request was made
by the Conservative euro MP and former justice minister Monica Macovei who
argued that Ponta became a lawyer without sitting the bar exams, based on his
holding a doctoral title in law, a title that was subsequently withdrawn over
plagiarism in his PhD paper. Later, Ponta sent a note to the Bar saying he had
challenged, before the Bucharest Court of Appeal, the order on the withdrawal
of his doctoral title and had requested that the effects of the order be
suspended. Last summer, he became Romania’s first acting prime minister to come
under criminal investigations after the National Anticorruption Directorate
accused him of forgery, complicity to tax evasion and money laundering. Ponta
resigned in November 2015 following massive street protests against widespread
political corruption.

Pakistani
citizen declared undesirable. The Bucharest Court of Appeal declared the
Pakistani citizen Shahzad
Ahmed undesirable in Romania for a period of 10 years. This ruling came after
the intelligence service discovered that he carried out on-line propaganda for
terrorist groups active in Pakistan, supporting the supremacy of extremist
Islamism. Shahzad Ahmed, who is married to a Romanian national, has been placed
under public custody prior to his removal from Romania.

US Open. Monica Niculescu of
Romania (no. 57 WTA) today faces another Romanian player, Ana Bogdan (no. 117
WTA), in the second round at the US Open tennis tournament. World no. 5 Simona
Halep, also of Romania, faces the Czech player Lucie Safarova on Thursday, in
the second round. Three other Romanian players, Irina Begu (no. 23 WTA),
Patricia Tig (no. 128 WTA) and Sorana Cirstea (no. 88 WTA), were eliminated in
the first round. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecau and
Jean-Julien Rojer today play the German-Austrian pair Florian Mayer and Julien
Knowle. (Translated by: C. Mateescu)