July 24, 2017 UPDATE

Romania won four gold medals and one bronze at the International Physics Olympiad.

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Newsroom, 24.07.2017, 19:56

Physics Olympiad – Romanian students have once again got remarkable results at this year’s International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) — four gold medals and one silver. According to the Education Ministry in Bucharest, this result puts Romania on the first place in Europe and among the top five in the world. The International Physics Olympiad, this year at its 48th edition, was held in Indonesia between July 16 and 24 and brought together 424 participants from 88 countries. The International Physics Olympiad is a competition for high school students and is held annually in a different country. The first IPhO was held in 1967 in Poland. It has gradually expanded to over 80 countries from 5 continents.

Spain – Romania is an important market for Spanish investors, bigger than Argentina, South Korea, Russia or Canada, and is comparable with the Japanese or Brasilian markets, Spanish Ambassador to Romania, Ramiro Fernandez Bachiller said on Monday, at a meeting with Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose. The two officials discussed about boosting economic ties and staging in the near future a Romania-Spain intergovernmental meeting. The Spanish Ambassador has mentioned, among other things, the Romanian community in Spain, the largest foreign community in that country, numbering over 1 million people, that have adjusted very well in the adoptive country and that have an important contribution to Spain’s economy.

Justice — Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader meets this week in Brussels First Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans. The two will discuss the bill package aimed at justice reform, which Toader wants adopted by the Romanian government on September 1, to consequently be sent for debate and voting in Parliament. The meeting was set up during the visit to Brussels by PM Mihai Tudose two weeks ago.

Agency – Romanian authorities are taking all necessary steps so that Bucharest becomes host to the European Medicines Agency, Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Victor Negrescu, said on Monday. Negrescu, Romanian Health Minister Florian Bodog and the President of the National Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices, Nicolae Fotin traveled to London to plead for Romania to host to the European Medicines Agency after Britain leaves the EU. The Romanian government has finalized its application for the move. Competitors for the position of host of the agency are France, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary and Bulgaria, who have already applied. The European Commission will evaluate the projects and issue its verdict by 15 September, with the final decision resting with the General Affairs Council, meeting in November.

Laws — Poland’s president Andrzej Duda vetoed two proposed laws on Monday that would have given the right-wing governing party direct control of the judiciary. Poles opposing the laws which they saw as a retreat from democratic norms had taken to the streets by the tens of thousands, and the European Union, which Poland joined in 2004, had warned Warsaw that adopting the laws, which the bloc’s officials called a threat to judicial independence and the rule of law, could result in legal sanctions.

Ukraine — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko insisted on Monday over the need for UN military to be deployed in the conflict areas close to the country’s border with Russia, during a telephone conversation with leaders from France, Germany and Russia. Poroshenko described the fighting during the past few days as the bloodiest this year. On Sunday, Washington’s special representative for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, had accused Moscow of being rsponsible for the war. Russia has constntly denied accusations that is supporting the rebels.

(Translated by Elena Enache)