June 21, 2016
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Newsroom, 21.06.2016, 12:00
The German President, Joachim Gauck, stated that Europe is at present facing a confidence crisis and congratulated Romania for not having a populist party eager to capitalize on that sentiment. On a visit to Romania, the German President delivered a speech this morning at the invitation of the “New Europe” College and of the German Embassy in Bucharest. Also on Tuesday President Gauck and his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis will meet in the central Romanian city of Sibiu with the representatives of the Germans’ Democratic Forum and will visit the fortified church in Cisnădie. The German President praised the Romanian model of inter-ethnic living together and thanked the Romanian authorities for the way they manage the cultural and identity issues of the German minority in Romania. On Monday President Gauck said that Germany was closely following the anti-corruption reforms and fight in Romania, pointing to the activity of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, which he labeled as one of the main pillars of the reform process in Romania.
The Romanian PM Dacian Cioloş on Tuesday called on the local authorities to assess the damage caused by the recent floods in Romania and to make forecasts for the upcoming months so as to avoid similar situations. According to a recent toll, two people are reported dead and one missing and several hundreds have been evacuated. Hundreds of houses have been flooded or destroyed by hailstorms and tens of localities have been left without electricity. While the north and west of the country were hit by violent storms and floods, the center, south and east of Romania will be affected by a wave of heat.
The Belgian police has arrested a suspect after a bomb alert in a shopping center paralyzed traffic in downtown Brussels this morning. The man, who was not carrying any explosives, called the police and threatened to blow himself up. The incident takes place several days after the arrest of 12 suspects who allegedly prepared attacks similar with those of March, when more than 30 people were killed in a metro station and on the Zaventem international airport. The PM Charles Michel, who convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council, said the situation was under control for the time being.
Two new opinion surveys made public on Monday show that 53% of Britons would like to remain in the EU, 5% more than in the previous surveys. According to Reuters, the number of the Brexit supporters decreased after the assassination of the Labor MP Jo Cox by an alleged nationalist militant. However a 3rd survey shows that the Brexit supporters are 2% more than the anti-Brexit camp. The EC president, Donald Tusk, has called on the British voters urging them to vote for remaining in the EU at the June 23 referendum. In turn, the British foreign secretary Philip Hammond warned that the decision to leave the EU will be irreversible and that it was in the interest of Great Britain to stay in the EU.
Romania’s national Fed Cup team will play against Belgium in the first round of World Group II. The matches are scheduled for February 11, 12, 2017 in Romania. The 5 Romanian players are all in the world’s top 100: Simona Halep 5 WTA), Irina Begu (27 WTA), Monica Niculescu (47 WTA), Sorana Cirstea (86 WTA) and Patricia Tig (100 WTA). In the doubles Romania could count on Andreea Mitu (77 in the doubles classification) and Raluca Olaru (57). Romania dropped to World Group II after being defeated by Germany 1-4 in April.
Romania has the most modest football team from the 1970s to this day, the Gazeta Sporturilor daily writes after Romania on Sunday was ousted from the European Football Championship in France. Losing nil-1 to Albania, Romania was bottom of the table in Group A, with only 1 point in three games. In the opening match Romania lost 1-2 to France and drew in the second group fixture 1-all against Switzerland. Both goals for Romania were scored by Bogdan Stancu from penalty kicks. Voices in the football press are calling for the resignation of head coach Anghel Iordanescu, whom they see as primarily responsible for the team’s failure to qualify to the round of 16.
(news translated by Lacramioara Simion)
