January 16, 2015 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news.

România Internațional, 16.01.2015, 12:20

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Friday signed the book of condolences at the Ukrainian Embassy in Bucharest in memory of the civilians killed in the attacks committed by separatists in Eastern Ukraine. Romania firmly condemns violence against civilians and calls for dialogue and political solutions to the crisis in Ukraine, President Iohannis has said. According to the head of state, Romania will always support Ukraine’s bid for the EU and NATO.

Belgium raised its threat level to almost a maximum fallowing large-scale counter-terrorist operations deployed at national level. Thirteen more people were detained in Belgium and two were arrested in France in a separate anti-terror sweep following a firefight Thursday in the eastern Belgian city of Verviers. Two suspected terrorists were killed and a third wounded in that raid on a suspected terrorist hideout. The suspects were within hours of implementing a plan to kill police, either on the street or in their offices. A bomb scare forced Paris to evacuate its busy Gare de lEst train station during Friday morning rush hour. No bomb was found. The Paris prosecutors office said at least 12 people were arrested in anti-terrorism raids in the area. In Berlin, police arrested two men Friday morning on suspicion of recruiting fighters for the Islamic State group in Syria.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday hailed the contribution of Romanian military to allied operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo. Upon meeting with president Klaus Iohannis in Brussels, the NATO official labelled Romania a strong ally, hailing Bucharest authorities’ decision to earmark 2% of the GDP to the country’s defence. In turn, president Iohannis said that against the backdrop of the crisis in Ukraine, NATO should re-assert its solidarity by means of firm actions. Iohannis called for what he has termed ”continuous support” from NATO to countries in its eastern vicinity, including Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. In Brussels president Iohannis also talked with European Council president Donald Tusk, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. The message the president conveyed was that Romania can and should be part of Schengen.

French president Francois Hollande on Friday offered US Secretary of State John Kerry to ‘find together the right answers’ after last week’s jihadist attacks in Paris, France Presse reports. In turn, John Kerry paid tribute to the 17 people killed last week and conveyed a message of support for the French people. The French media writes this is a tardy homage, after no US representative was present in last Sunday’s solidarity march in Paris, which brought together over 50 heads of state and government from all over the world. At the time the White House claimed the president could not attend due to the high security risk. John Kerry was the first US official to express solidarity and compassion in the French language shortly after the attacks on the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine on January 7.

Asian stock markets were slightly lower on Friday after the National Bank of Switzerland surprisingly lifted the 1.20-per-euro cap on the Swiss currency, which resulted in a 30% hike of the franc. The Swiss franc this morning was valued close to a euro on Asian markets. Shares also soared on Central and East-European markets, to the extent that the Romanian Leu and the Hungarian Forint hit historical lows as against the Swiss franc, Bloomberg reports. Over 150,000 Romanians have loans taken out in Swiss currency.

Romanian Justice Minister Robert Cazanciuc on Friday told Radio Romania that our country will have a positive report from the European Commission under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) for the second year in a row. According to Cazanciuc, the soon-to-be-released report proves that Romania has an independent judiciary and institutions that enforce the law. Romania is also a good example of best practices in the field, Cazanciuc also said. The Romanian official said he would discuss with Commission officials about the report on Monday and Tuesday during his visit to Brussels. Efforts to combat corruption and the reform of the judiciary have been monitored under the CVM since 2006.

Romanian tennis player WTA 3rd ranked Simona Halep will take on Karin Knapp of Italy in the opening round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, which is due to kick off on Monday. Last year Halep made it to the quarterfinals. In other news from tennis, the pair made up of Romanian Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands has qualified to the doubles final of the ATP tournament in Sydney, totalling 439,405 dollars in prize money. On Friday, the pair edged out Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Marcin Matkowski of Poland. Another Romanian player Florin Mergea and his team mate Domonic Inglot has qualified to the doubles final of the ATP tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, offering 464,490 dollars in prize money, after knocking out Marcelo Melo of Brazil and Max Mirnyi of Berlarus.