July 7, 2023 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 07.07.2023, 20:19

TENNIS Romanian tennis player
Sorana Cirstea has qualified for the third round of the Grand Slam tennis
tournament in Wimbledon after a three-set win against Jelena Ostapenko of
Latvia. The WTA 37th Cirstea has never got over the third round of
the Wimbledon competition, which she reached four times in 2009, 2021, 2017 and
2021. She will be next up against Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil on Saturday.
Haddad, a finalist of the Roland Garros tournament a couple of weeks ago, on
Thursday eliminated Romanian Jaqueline Cristian. Two other Romanian players,
Ana Bogdan and Irina Begu left the competition on Friday.

ARRESTS Romania’s Prime Minister
Marcel Ciolacu has called on the country’s Labour Minister, Marius Budai, to dismiss
the boards of the National Agency for Social Inspection and its branch in
Ilfov, southern Romania, following the scandal over the inhuman conditions in several
old people’s homes in the region. In the meantime, Marius Budai has ordered
checks and measures from all the directions involved in the case and upon the
Prime Minister’s request, commissions will be set up in every county. Four
people have been apprehended so far in the aforementioned file, whereas 11 others
have been placed under house arrest and six under judicial control. Following
this case, with a prejudice that exceeds one million euros, inspections have
been ordered at similar institutions all over the country. Among other things,
prosecutors are investigating the way in which the aforementioned centers have
got their operating permits.

SUMMIT Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis will be participating in
the NATO summit in Vilnius on Tuesday and Wednesday, the presidential
administration in Bucharest has announced. The summit is to include three
high-level meetings of the North-Atlantic Council, in formats, which include
Ukraine, the European Union as well as NATO’s Indo-Pacific partners. At the
summit, the Romanian president is expected to underline the fundamental
importance of continuing the implementation of the Madrid decisions on
strengthening the allied defence and deterrence posture on the Eastern Flank.
Iohannis will also reiterate the robust support for Ukraine, including its NATO’s
accession, as well as for the most vulnerable partners, especially for the
Republic of Moldova. According to the same sources, the head of the Romanian state
will be also referring to the need for having the importance of the Black Sea
region in the Euro-Atlantic security reflected in the allied documents and
decisions.

DEFENCE The Country’s Supreme Defence Council on
Thursay approved the creation in Romania of a regional centre to train pilots
flying military F16 aircraft. The centre will initially train Romanian pilots
and later also pilots from allied and partner states, including Ukraine. The
Council also approved Romania’s objectives for the upcoming NATO summit in
Vilnius next week. President Klaus Iohannis will again bring to the fore
aspects related to the security of the Black Sea region. According to a
statement from the president’s office, Romania is ready to contribute to the
allied effort both by hosting NATO multinational structures and by boosting its
defence spending to 2.5% of GDP from this year. The Council also approved the
army and interior ministry personnel to take part next year in foreign missions
and operations, with Romania’s boosting its participation in the EUFOR ALTHEA missions in the Bosnia and Herzegovina
theatre of operations.

(bill)