August 15, 2016 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 15.08.2016, 13:15

ASSUMPTION FEAST On Monday,
Christian believers celebrated the Assumption of Mary, the oldest celebration
of Virgin Mary. On this day, believers and pilgrims from all over the
country go to churches and monasteries to pray. In the Christian faith, the
Mother of God is the most revered after the Holy Trinity. She gave birth to the
Son of God as a human being, and when she died she was taken up into Heaven.
August 15th is also the Romanian Navy Day. To celebrate the occasion, Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis participated in the events held on the promenade of
the Black Sea port-town of Constanta. In his speech, the president said that
what’s happening in the Black Sea Area is no longer a local matter.
Developments in this area have effects beyond its borders and implications for the Euro-Atlantic
security, and the Black Sea is important from a strategic point of view. That
is why Romania’s stand and its main security options are so decisive now, the
president also said.

SUMMER UNIVERSITY Representatives
of the Romanian historical communities and the Diaspora took part on Monday in
the Feast of the Assumption of Mary at the Monastery in Izvoru Muresului,
dubbed the monastery of the Romanians around the world. According to the Bishop of Covasna and Harghita Andrei
Moldovan, this monastery is an oasis of Romanian spirituality. Starting August
15th, for a week, Harghita county in central Romania is playing host to the
14th Izvoru Muresului Summer University. There are 100 participants, including
representatives of the academic environment, of the main political parties, of
Romanian communities in the country and
around the borders. The theme of this year’s edition is The Romanian State and
the Romanians on the Border of the EU and NATO. The participants will talk
about inter-faith conflicts and xenophobic manifestations in Europe, the fight
against human trafficking and the law on postal voting.

LOCARNO The feature film
Scarred Hearts by the Romanian director Radu Jude won the Special Jury Award at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.
A post on the festival’s web page reads that the film was highly praised by
international critics. This is Radu Jude’s fourth feature film. Last year he
won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival with Aferim!.

DRILLS On Monday, Russia started tactical
drills in the east of the Mediterranean, to test its military capacity to
counterattack terrorist threats, the Russian Defense Ministry has announced.
The participating ships are equipped with long-range Kalibr missiles, which
were used to hit Jihadist strongholds in Syria in 2015. In the past months, Russia has strengthened its naval capacity in the east of the Mediterranean, as
part of its intervention in Syria, where it is running an air-strike campaign in
support for president Bashar al-Assad’s troops.

VISIT The US Vice President
Joe Biden is paying a two-day visit to Serbia and Kosovo. The White House has
not given details about the agenda of talks, but the visit is taking place five
months after the one paid to the White House by the former president of Kosovo,
Mrs. Atifete Jahjaga, news agencies report. Back then, Vice President Biden stressed the US’s support for the
dialogue with Serbia, facilitated by the EU, encouraging the Kosovo government
to take steps forward in normalizing its relations with Serbia, 16 years after
the NATO air intervention, which opened the door for the former province’s
independence. On Thursday, the Serbian Parliament endorsed a new, populist
government, headed by Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who promised to pursue
Serbia’s EU integration, while at the same time maintaining close ties with
Russia.

FOOTBALL The Romanian
football squad Steaua Bucharest will play against Manchester City on home turf
on Tuesday, in a match counting for the first leg of the Champions League’s
play-off. The return game is scheduled for august 24th in Manchester. If it
manages to defeat Manchester, Steaua will qualify for the Champions League
groups.

TENNIS Romanian Simona Halep, ranked 3rd in
the WTA classification, is taking part in the Cincinnati tournament, in the US,
with 2.8 million dollars in prize money. She will start straight in the second
round of the competition. Another Romanian player, Irina Begu, no. 24 in the
WTA rankings, is also taking part in the tournament, but enters the competition
in the first round. In 2015, Simona Halep played the Cincinnati final, but was
defeated by Serena Williams. This tournament is the last before the famous US
Open, the last Grand Slam of the year.