August 29, 2014
A roundup of Romanian and international news
România Internațional, 29.08.2014, 12:00
At the European Council meeting to be held in Brussels on Saturday Romania will ask the EU and NATO member states to support the Ukrainian army, otherwise the Ukrainian government has no chance to get control over eastern Ukraine. This was stated Friday by Romania’s President Traian Basescu on the last day of the annual meeting of Romanian diplomats that was held in Bucharest in late August. The President also added that Romania would support in Brussels the re-assessment of sanctions imposed on Russia. Attending the meeting in Bucharest, the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said Thursday that the first step towards settling the crisis in Ukraine should be the cessation of the fighting, followed by negotiations.
The autumn session of the Baccalaureate exam in Romania ended Friday with the written examination in the subject matter chosen by students according to specializations. The results will be made public on September 4th. In the June-July session more than 59% of the 12th grade graduates passed the Baccalaureate exam, 3% more than last year. In spite of small irregularities, the exams unfolded without major incidents.
The Romanian defense minister, Mircea Dusa, continues his official visit to France. Today he will visit the EU command and control facility in Mont Valerien. On Thursday Mircea Dusa conveyed to his French counterpart Jean Yves le Drian Romania’s appreciation for France’s efforts in the context of the security crisis on the eastern flank of NATO. High on the agenda of talks were also the NATO summit to be held next week in Wales and other important issues on the EU agenda among which the European integration efforts of the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia.
Ukraine intends to re-launch the NATO accession process in order to face the Russian aggression, said Friday the Ukrainian PM Arseni Iatseniuk. Against the backdrop of the rapid worsening of the situation in the east of Ukraine, the ambassadors of the 28 NATO members gathered in an emergency meeting in Brussels on Friday to discuss the Russian military presence in Ukraine. The situation in Ukraine is also on the agenda of talks of the EU foreign ministers who met Friday in Milan. Also on Friday the Russian president Vladimir Putin called on the pro-Russian separatists in the east of Ukraine to open a humanitarian corridor for the encircled Ukrainian soldiers. According to Kiev Putin’s request shows that the separatists are under Russia’s direct control. On Thursday evening, Moscow was accused by the West, in the UN Security Council, of direct involvement alongside the separatists in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine. The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said the movement of fighting from the east of Ukraine to the south was a ‘dangerous escalation’ of the conflict and urged Kiev and Moscow to negotiate a solution to the conflict.
The UN officials said that the current crisis in Syria is the most serious of our times, requiring emergency humanitarian aid that the world’s states are unable to provide. According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 3 million Syrian refugees have fled their country because of the war, most of them taking refuge in the neighboring countries. Over 1 million Syrian refugees have gone to Lebanon. The violence has led to domestic migration of 6.5 million Syrian nationals, which means that almost half of Syria’s population had to leave their homes, the UN Refugee Agency reports. Since the start of the conflict in March 2011, over 190 thousand people have been killed.
Holder of Romania’s football Cup, Astra Giurgiu managed to qualify in the Europa League groups although it was defeated Thursday, on home turf, 0-1 by the French side Olympique Lyon, in the 2nd round of the competition’s playoffs. In the away match Astra defeated Olympique Lyon 2-1, thus benefiting from the rule of the goal scored in an away match. Romania’s 2nd representative in the Europe League, Petrolul Ploiesti, was eliminated from the competition, after losing the away match 2-1 to Croatia’s champions Dinamo Zagreb. In the first match the Croatians defeated Petrolul Ploiesti 3-1. Romania’s champions Steaua Bucharest will also play in the Europa League groups after on Wednesday they were eliminated, in Sofia, from the Champions League’s playoff by the Bulgarian side Ludogoreţ Razgrad.
