February 11, 2018 UPDATE

Romania has defeated Canada in Fed Cup

Newsroom, 11.02.2018, 18:47

MEETING – Prime Minister Viorica Dancila is meeting US Ambassador to Bucharest Hans Klemm on Monday. The meeting is the first in a series that the Romanian Prime Minister is expected to hold with representatives of diplomatic missions to Bucharest.

CRASH – A Russian Antonov AN-148 airliner crashed on Sunday shortly after taking off from Domodedovo airport in Moscow. All the 71 people onboard died in the crash. The plane was headed to Orsk, in the Urals on a domestic flight. President Vladimir Putin has conveyed condolences to the victims families and has called for a government inquiry.

BACCALAUREATE – The first session of the Romanian Baccalaureate kicks off next week with the Romanian language and communication oral tests. The digital skills testing will be carried out over February 16-20. The foreign language test is scheduled for February 21 and 22. The written exams are scheduled for June. First results will be announced on July 4, with the final results expected to be made public on July 9.

EMVS – The European Medicines Verification System has been officially launched in Romania and will be rendered operational within a year EU-wide. As of February 2019, only medicine observing the new security regulations will be circulated in EU space. The authorities, representatives of pharmaceutical companies and pharmacists say the initiative is key to securing citizen health, considering the dangers of introducing counterfeit medicine in the trade system. Under the new regulations, medicines boxes can no longer be opened for individual pill handouts.

JOINT DRILLS – One hundred Romanian troops will take part, as of Monday in joint military exercises alongside some 200 military from the United States, Moldova, Bulgaria and Ukraine. The exercises will be unfolding for five days, at a military base in Babadag, in Tulcea County, south-eastern Romania. Romanian military will carry out tactical drill and rescue operations as part of the Black Sea Rotational Force, an annual military exercise aimed at training the military for peacekeeping operations. The operation is headed by the US Naval Force Europe-Africa Command.

STORM – A Romanian citizen was killed in Saturdays storm in Malta. The Romanian Consulate in Catania, Italy, is monitoring the developments and providing consular assistance. The Romanian died after a tree fell on his car. The woman in the car was injured but is stable. Strong wind and heavy rainfall have hit Malta, blocking roads and escalating water levels.

BORDER CONTROL – A state-of-the-art border control system was tested this week on the Calafat border crossing point as part of a research project involving a consortium of companies and authorities from seven EU member states. The project entails the use of a fully automated system for examining travel documents for people and vehicles in a database. Some €17 million have been allotted to this project, which will smoothen border crossing for EU citizens, while observing personal data and privacy. Similar systems are being tested in maritime and air border checkpoints in Spain and Portugal.

MOLDOVA – The Audiovisual Council in Moldova will as of Monday monitor the implementation of the anti-propaganda law by radio and TV stations. The law is aimed at eliminating any propaganda from the Russian Federation and at protecting information consumers from attempts to misinform the population, by excluding any content that is produced outside the EU and the US. The law was promulgated last month by Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu, interim president at the time.

RUGBY – Romanias rugby team trounced Germany 85-6 on Saturday in Cluj Napoca in a match counting towards the 2018 Rugby Europe International Championship. The match also counted towards the 2019 World Cup preliminaries. Romania made it up for the 41-38 loss to Germany in February last year. Romania ranks first in the 2019 World Cup preliminaries with 17 points.

TENNIS – Romanias tennis team on Sunday won 3-1 the Fed Cup match against Canada played at home, counting towards the first round of World Group II and will play in the playoffs for Group I. Irina Begu defeated Katherina Sebov in straight sets and Raluca Olaru and Ana Bogdan lost the doubles match against Gabriela Dabrowski and Carol Zhao. On Saturday, Cirstea defeated Zhao 6-2, 6-2, while Begu won against Andreescu 6-3, 6-7, 6-3. Sundays last match pitting Sorana Cirstea against Bianca Andreescu was cancelled. Simona Halep could not play for Romania after an injury sustained in the Australian Open.

(Translated by V. Palcu)