February 16, 2018
Romania's first woman prime minister, Viorica Dancila, goes on her first foreign visit; Romania's Defense Minister Mihai Fifor attends a major security conference in Munich
Corina Cristea, 16.02.2018, 13:37
VISIT — Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila goes on her first foreign visit, and will be in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday. She has scheduled meetings with European Union leaders, among them European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, and European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu. The prime minister said that her purpose for the upcoming period is to enhance foreign policy interactions and economic relations with partner states.
PROTEST — A few hundred railroad trade unionists on Friday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation building against underfinancing of their sector and working conditions. According to the head of the Federation of Railroad Transporters, Gabriel Maxim, some of the grievances of unionists are the delay in passing a law regulating the status of railroad workers, the lack of material means and delays in paying wages. He also said that underfinancing has caused the number of passenger cars to drop from 4,100 in 1998 to 700 at present.
SECURITY — A major security conference takes place in Munich to discuss global conflicts. It focuses on the future of Europe, relations with the United States one year after President Donald Trump took office, and the conflicts in the Middle East. Present are over 500 high ranking officials from across the world, among them 20 presidents and prime ministers, joined by many security experts. British Prime Minister Theresa May, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be joined by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who declined to attend the event. Her country will be represented by Foreign Minister Sigman Gabriel and Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen. Romania is represented by its defense minister, Mihai Fifor.
TENNIS — Romanian tennis star Simona Halep, number two in the world, plays today against Catherine Bellis of the US, 48th seeded, in the quarter finals of the WTA tournament in Doha, Qatar, with 3.1 million dollars in prize money. Halep, the only Romanian left in that competition, defeated yesterday Latvian player Anastasija Sevastova, 15th seeded. On Thursday, the other three Romanians previously in the competition, Sorana Cirstea (38th seeded), Mihaela Buzarnescu (43rd seeded), and Monica Niculescu (92nd seeded), were eliminated in the eighth finals.
FLU — Two more people have died of the flu in Romania, bringing the official figure to 32 fatalities. Over 500 people have been struck with the disease, with the most cases concentrated in Bucharest, as well as the counties of Constanta, Olt, Brasov, and Iasi. The authorities recommend getting vaccinated, and the Ministry of Health announced about 80,000 shots are available, with about 920,000 people having had the shot. Health Minister Sorina Pintea said that there is no flu epidemic in Romania. She added that prevention is the most important way to deal with the problem.
SOFIA — Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu takes part in the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers that continues today in Bulgaria, which now holds the EUs rotating presidency. On Thursday, the main topics under discussion were prospective membership of states in the West Balkans to the union, and the situation in Syria. Candidate state representatives held talks with member state foreign ministers, discussing cooperation and partnership in security and defense. The Syrian situation was also a major topic, especially in view of the conference scheduled for April in Brussels. The recent improvement in relations between North and South Korea on the occasion of the Winter Olympics was on the agenda as well.
