August 13, 2015

For a roundup of domestic and international events, click here.

Newsroom, 13.08.2015, 12:00

NAVY DAY – Navy military this morning started preparations for the parade celebrating the 113th anniversary of the Romanian Navy, which will take place on Saturday in the port of Constanta on the Romanian Black Sea coast. Some 2,000 navymen and civilians, as well as 35 ships of various categories will take part in the parade, while 9 aircraft will be overflying the events. 21 cannon shots will mark the event, which this year coincides with the 155th anniversary of Romanian Modern Navy.

MOLDOVA – The instatement of a pro-European Government with a majority in Parliament has pulled Moldova from the brink and set it on the right track, Moldovan Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet told Deutsche Welle. The European Council Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland recently said Moldova is at the brink, with the risk of turning into Europes upcoming security crisis. According to Valeriu Strelet, Chisinau is already offsetting delays reported in the implementation of the Association Agreement with the EU signed last year. The Moldovan official admitted that Jaglands statement has “an inkling of truth, mostly regarding the adoption of measures needed to move forward.

NEGOTIATIONS – Political representatives of Moldova and Trandniestr are today meeting as part of a new round of negotiations regarding the settlement of the issue of Transdniestr, a pro-Russian breakaway region in Moldova. International observers and third parties were invited to attend in the 5+2 format. The 5+2 format comprises, alongside Moldova and Transdniestr as equal parties, the OSCE, the Russian Federation and Ukraine as mediators, and the EU and the USA as observers. The format was set up in 2005, although negotiations broke down shortly. Talks resumed in late 2011, although no round of talks has been held since June 2014. We recall that Trasdniestr proclaimed its independence in 1992 after a short armed conflict that killed hundreds of people.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player WTA 3rd ranked Simona Halep ranks 7th in a list of the worlds highest paid sportswomen released by Forbes magazine. According to this source, Halep had earnings of 6.8 million dollars in the last year. Seeded 2nd in the Toronto tournament, Halep on Wednesday knocked out Jelena Jankovici of Serbia, ranked 23rd in WTA standings. In the next round Halep will take on Angelique Kerber of Germany. In the doubles competition, Irina Begu and Raluca Olaru have qualified in the quarterfinals after brushing aside the pair made up of Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez of Spain. In the quarterfinals the Romanians will play Carolin Garcia of France and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

UKRAINE – Violence escalated at the outskirts of Mariupol in Ukraine, one of the last cities in the separatist East currently controlled by Kiev authorities, France Press reports. Clashes between Government forces and pro-Russian militias continued yesterday for the third day in a row, midway between the port of Mariupol and Donetsk, a hotbed of pro-Russian separatism. The EU and Ukraine accuse Russia and the rebels of undermining the ceasefire agreement signed in Minsk. Since April last year some 6,800 people were killed in the separatist conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

GREECE – Greek MPS are today debating the agreement signed with international lenders, while a vote on this matter is scheduled later today. The document provides for new budget adjustments and reforms in exchange for the third bailout package worth some 86 billion euros over the course of three years. Brussels has warned that in order to come into force, the agreement must be politically sanctioned. The Eurogroup will convene to discuss this issue on Friday. If the agreement is ratified, Greece is to receive the first instalment by August 20, when this country needs to pay 3,2 billion euros as part of its debt to the European Central Bank. Greeces debt amounts to over 320 billion euros, of which 65% to Eurozone and the IMF. On July 1 Greece defaulted on its payments.

IMMIGRATION – The European Commission has again called on Member States to accept distribution quotas for refugees and immigrants, in the context of escalating tension in Greece, currently the stage of clashes between security forces and immigrants on Kos Island. Over 125,000 immigrants have arrived in the Greek islands since the beginning of the year, of which 50,000 in July alone, according to the European Agency for Border Protection FRONTEX. Hungary is an important transit hub. To stop the wave of immigrants, the Hungarian army is building a 4-meter-high wall on the Serbian border. We recall that Brussels will earmark 2.4 billion euros over the 2014-2020 period to 19 countries, including Romania, in order to help them secure their borders and accommodate immigrants.