February 16, 2018 UPDATE

PM Dancila travels to Brussels, Tennis tournament in Doha

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Newsroom, 16.02.2018, 20:02

Visit — The 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 has said that her purpose for the upcoming period is to enhance foreign policy interactions and economic relations with partner states.

Munich – North Korea is a threat to all NATO member states, said Friday the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, on the fist day of the Security Conference hosted by Munich. The 54th annual conference is being attended by more than 500 high-ranking officials from across the world, among them 20 presidents and prime ministers, joined by many security experts. Attending the conference will be the British Prime Minister Theresa May, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who 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.

Sofia — The Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu participated on Thursday and Friday in Sofia in the informal meeting of the foreign ministers of the EU member states. The Romanian official hailed the initiative of holding a new conference on Syria in Brussels and reiterated that the EU should play a pro-active role in the political process under the UN aegis and then in the post-conflict reconstruction process. In another development, he highlighted Bucharest’s interest in continuing the EU’s enlargement policy, given that this is one of the priorities Romania will be promoting during its first mandate at the helm of the EU Council in the first half of 2019. The developments in the western Balkans and the North Korean file were also on the agenda of talks.

Police — Preventing and fighting corruption among policemen and reforming the Romanian Police are the priorities of this institution’s management. Other priorities are reducing crime, renewing the car fleet and dealing with understaffing. Attending the meeting occasioned by the presentation of the Romanian Police report, PM Viorica Dancila said that a project for the reform of the institution was needed after, last year, the Police was faced with several serious cases that shook people’s trust in this institution. The interior minister, Carmen Dan, herself said that a real change was needed within the Romanian Police, which means setting up certain mechanisms and staffing the police with well-trained people.

Flu — Another two persons have died of flu in Romania, the death toll this winter reaching 32 – the health authorities have announced. There are more than 500 people suffering from flu, mostly in Bucharest and in the counties of Constanta, in the southeast, Olt, in the south, Brasov (center) and Iasi (northeast). The authorities have recommended people to get vaccinated but the Health Ministry announced there are only 80 thousand doses available. So far, 920 thousand people have been vaccinated. According to health minister Sorina Pintea Romania is not faced with a flu epidemic at present and prevention measures are most important.

Chisinau — The suspended mayor of Chisinau, Dorin Chirtoaca, on Friday announced his resignation, underlining that he gave up his position in sign of protest against the current government. Following his resignation, the Moldovan government will have to organize early local elections in Chisinau. Chirtoaca was suspended in July 2017 following his prosecution in a corruption file. He was taken into custody in May 2017 and placed under home arrest. He is charged with influence peddling in a case involving paid parking in Chisinau.

Doha – The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, world no. 2 player, on Friday defeated the American Catherine Bellis (48 WTA) 6-0, 6-8, in the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament in Doha, Qatar. The tournament has total prizes up for grabs worth 3.1 million dollars. On Saturday, in the semifinals, Simona Halep will be up against Spanish Garbine Muguruza, world no. 4 player. On Thursday another three Romanian players, Sorana Cîrstea (38 WTA), Mihaela Buzarnescu (43 WTA) and Monica Niculescu (92 WTA) were eliminated in the last eight of the tournament. (news translated and updated by Lacramioara Simion)