February 4, 2014 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Valentin Țigău, 04.02.2014, 13:26
The Foreign Ministry in Ukraine has summoned the ambassador of Germany following suggestions by the German Foreign Minister that sanctions should be used as a threat against Ukraine’s government unless it finds a solution to its long running dispute with the opposition, the BBC reports. A high Ukrainian official calls on Germany to refrain from provocative statements. The measure comes after the Ukrainian opposition has exerted pressure for reinstating the country’s former Constitution, which reduces the prerogatives of president Yanukovych and schedules presidential election earlier. Since November last year Ukraine has been scene to a wave of social unrest following a government decision to suspend the country’s association with the EU. The EU high representative for foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton continues diplomatic efforts to help Ukraine overcome the crisis.
The Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean and his Slovakian counterpart Miroslav Lajcak, took part on Monday in the opening of two consulates of Romania in Slovakia, in the cities of Banska Bystrica and Stara Lubovna. Also on Monday, on the first day of his visit to Slovakia, Minister Corlatean had a meeting with the mayor of Bratislava, Milan Ftacnik, whom he conveyed an invitation from his Romanian counterpart Sorin Oprescu, to pay a visit to Bucharest.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, the specialized agency of the World Health Organization for cancer, has launched the “World cancer report 2014”. The report reveals how the cancer burden is growing at an alarming pace and emphasizes the need for urgent implementation of efficient prevention strategies to curb the disease. In 2012, the global burden of cancer rose to an estimated 14 million new cases per year, a figure expected to rise to 22 million annually within the next 2 decades. Most types of cancer could be avoided if the information we have so far on the disease, were used correctly, the WHO says. In Romania over 78,000 new cases of cancer are being reported every year and 50,000 people die because of this disease.
Romania’s economy will go up by 2.2% this year, according to an IMF forecast. The International Monetary Fund has today presented the results of its 2-week assessment mission in Bucharest. The IMF Chief, Andrea Schaechter has made public the fact that the natural gas market for industrial consumers will be fully liberalised in about five months. She has also said that the Romanian energy sector is a strategic one and it is a means of attracting foreign investment. According to Andrea Schaechter, the Bucharest authorities have presented the IMF a plan of reorganising energy producers into companies holding a mix of resources.
The weather will remain cold in eastern, southern and central Romania, while in the other regions it will be warmer than usual for this time of the year with highs reaching up to 8 degrees Celsius in the west. Navigation on the Danube is still closed down between kilometers 1040 and 1075. Due to gale force winds of up to 100 km/h all the ports upstream from Belgrade have been closed down and the number of convoys blocked reached 33.
On Wednesday and Thursday Romania’s president Traian Basescu will be paying a visit to Turkey for talks with his counterpart Abdullah Gul and with Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, sources with the Romanian presidency have announced. Also high on the agenda are talks with Cemil Çiçek, speaker of the Turkish parliament. On Wednesday afternoon the Romanian president will meet members of the Romanian community in Turkey. On Thursday president Basescu will attend a Romania-Turkey economic forum hosted by the head-offices of the Trade Chambers Union and Stock exchange in Turkey. Also on the agenda are visits to Turkish Aerospace Industry and to the National Flight Simulation Centre for F 16 planes.
