January 23, 2014
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România Internațional, 23.01.2014, 13:00
PLANE CRASH PROBE – The Romanian Interior Minister, Liberal Radu Stroe, Thursday resigned, three days after an airplane crash in western Romania in which 2 people died and five others were injured. Previously the PM Victor Ponta and the Liberal leader Crin Antonescu had criticised the response of the Interior Ministry and of other institutions and the management of rescue operations. The Prosecutor General of Romania, Tiberiu Nitu, has today announced an inquiry may be initiated, to look at how the authorities handled the crisis.
EC REPORT – The EC report on the progress of the Romanian justice system highlights important steps forward, but the good results in one area risk being offset by the backslides in other areas, said the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso. The document recommends, among other things, that the Code of Conduct for MPs should include clear provisions concerning the respect for the rule of law. Romania is also urged to take advantage of the opportunity created by a possible revision of the Constitution to monitor the current provisions on the separation of powers.
AGRICULTURE – The development of agriculture is neither a local, nor a regional problem, but a global one, the European Commissioner for Agriculture Dacian Ciolos has said in Chisinau today. The European Common Agricultural Policy is a foundation for the European construction process, and this experience could be taken over by the neighbouring states, Ciolos added. The European official is taking part in the first conference of agriculture ministers from the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) and from the EU. The conference takes place in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova.
PROTESTS – Thousands of Ukrainians have taken to the streets again in Kiev today, to protest the authorities’ decision to strengthen ties to Russia and suspend the European accession process. For over two months now, Ukraine has been facing large-scale protests, and on Wednesday the clashes between protesters and the police left five people dead. The EU warned this might have consequences on its relations with Ukraine, if the police are proved to have used firearms against the protesters. The EU lays responsibility for the spiralling violence on the enforcement of legislation that toughens sanctions against protesters.
TENNIS – The pair made up of Romanian Horia Tecău and Indian Sania Mirza qualified to the mixed doubles semi-finals of the Australian Open. The 6th seed defeated, in the quarterfinals, the pair made up of Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan) and Julia Goerges (Germany). In the semi-final, Horia Tecău and Sania Mirza will play against the Australian pair Matthew Ebden/Jarmila Gajdosova. Tecău won in 2012 the mixed doubles event of the Australian Open, playing together with Bethanie Mattek-Sands from the US.
