June 19, 2014 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 19.06.2014, 20:04
Romania’s Minister Delegate for Romanians Worldwide Bogdan Stanoevici is on a visit to the United States, where he will meet with Loretta Sanchez, a member of the House of Representatives in the US Congress, co-chair of the Romanian Caucus. Bogdan Stanoevici will also meet in New York with representatives of the Romanian community and the Romanian press and will attend the festival “The Romanian Days on Broadway”. On his way to the US, Bogdan Stanoevici stopped for a while in Paris to visit the young Romanian of Roma origin who was kidnapped and assaulted by a group of people on the Paris outskirts. The boy is in a critical condition. The Romanian Foreign Ministry has called on French authorities to shed light on the circumstances of this incident as soon as possible. French officials have publicly condemned the assault and have opened a criminal investigation for attempted murder.
The Romanian Foreign Minister, Titus Corlatean, attended on Thursday the 30th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), held in the Bulgarian city of Varna. Bulgaria is currently holding the chairmanship-in-office of the organization. The main topics on the agenda of talks were economic cooperation and the implementation of the organization’s economic agenda for an enhanced BSEC partnership. In his address, Titus Corlatean reasserted the importance of regional cooperation on Romania’s foreign policy agenda and also Romania’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, against the background of Crimea’s illegal annexation by Russia.
Romania, the country that is currently holding the chairmanship in office of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) organized on Thursday the annual meeting of the Regional Cooperation Council. The meeting focused on the latest developments in the field of regional cooperation and reviewed the status of implementation of the 2020 South-East Europe strategy. Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean said that Romania will continue to actively support the enlargement of the EU, on the basis of fulfillment of accession criteria, including the protection of national minorities and personal merits. On Friday Bucharest will also host the their meeting of the foreign ministers of the SEECP, the only political forum in the south east of Europe managed exclusively by countries in the region.
20 Ukrainian soldiers died on Thursday in clashes with Russian separatists in Slavianks, in the Donetk region. The 20 soldiers were part of the 24th brigade of Iavorovshcina. In another move, Washingotn has hailed the announcement made by the Ukrainian President Petro Porosenko regarding a unilateral cease-fire to be soon achieved in the east of Ukraine, and has stated he is waiting for Moscow’s response so that the current crisis may end. The US Vice President, Joe Biden, has announced that the US will cooperate with the allies to make Russia pay an additional price”, should Moscow fail to use its influence to stop the separatists in eastern Ukraine. The EU has warned it will ban all imports from Crimea starting next week, to sanction the annexation by Russia of this region in southern Ukraine.
Mircea Basescu, Romanian President Traian Basescu’s brother, has been detained for 24 hours by prosecutors with the National Anti-corruption Directorate for influence peddling. He allegedly received 250 thousand Euros in bribe money to influence the release of Sandu Anghel, who had been sentenced to 8 years in prison for attempted murder. In another move, several members of the Anghel family are now being investigated for blackmailing Romanian president’s brother, in their attempt to recuperate part of the bribe money they say they’ve paid for the release of Sandu Anghel. In a press conference, President Traian Basescu has stated he has not talked to his brother about Sandu Anghel’s alleged protection. He has made a public appeal to all the officials involved to come out and say whether there he has intervened in any way in the investigation or in the ruling of the sentence.
The new king of Spain, Felipe the 6th, starts his activity as head of state with a working meeting on Friday, the 20th of June, alongside Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Also, the king will attend his first official public event, a ceremony held in memory of the victims of terrorism. Felipe was proclaimed king of Spain on Thursday, before the Spanish Parliament, after a solemn ceremony. The king promised he would lead a renewed parliamentary monarchy, adapted to the needs of modern times.
Last year, prices in Romania were among the lowest in the whole of the EU, standing at 57% of the average, outranked only by Bulgaria, according to data published by Eurostat on Thursday. By categories, foodstuffs were the cheapest in Poland — 62% of the EU average, while Denmark stood at the opposite pole, with 140%. The lowest prices of alcohol and tobacco were reported in Bulgaria, 59%, and the highest in Ireland, 178%. With regard to clothing and electronics, variations were significant. Another Eurostat study shows that the purchasing power in Romania in 2013 was 54% of the EU average, 6% bigger than the previous year.
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, ranked 3rd in the WTA classification, has stated she will recover in time for the WTA tournament in Wimbledon next week, after on Wednesday she withdrew from the Hertogenbosch tournament after sustaining a shoulder injury in the round of 16 match against Annika Beck of Germany. Halep had won the first set 7-5. This month Halep lost the Roland Garros finals to Maria Sharapova of Russia.
