March 16, 2019

Tennis player Bianca Andreescu, a Canadian of Romanian origin, to play the final at Indian Wells

Newsroom, 16.03.2019, 14:20

EPP SUMMIT – The elections for the European Parliament in May are held in a symbolic year that marks 30 years since the fall of the totalitarian regimes, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has said today in Bucharest at the summit of the European People’s Party (EPP). Europe cannot go back in time and voting remains the best way of sanctioning the populistic and demagogical discourse that has become so virulent, the Romanian President went on to say. Iohannis resumed criticism levelled at the Social Democratic Party, the main party in the government coalition, which he says displays a false patriotism by trying to induce people the idea that Europe is a threat, which is a cynical and irresponsible way of making politics, President Iohannis has pointed out. According to the National Liberal Party, a member of the European People’s Party (PPE) and the main opposition party in Romania, the summit in Bucharest enjoys the participation of over 150 mayors and regional leaders from the EU as well as of 3,000 mayors from Romania. The EPP candidate for the presidency of the European Commission, Manfred Weber, will present his vision on the future of the EU and the structure of the EPP program for the EC’s presidency.

ATTACK – The 28-yer old Australian Brenton Turrant, the main suspect of the attack on two mosks in Christchurch, New Zealand, that left 49 people dead, appeared in Court on Saturday morning on a single murder charge. Further charges are expected to be made against him. Tarrant was described by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison as an “extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist”. New Zealand’s PM Jacinda Ardern said the suspect had a firearms licence and owned five guns. Ms Ardern said the guns used by the attacker appeared to have been modified, and that the suspects car was full of weapons, suggesting “his intention to continue with his attack”. Speaking at a news conference on Saturday, she said the suspect had obtained a gun licence in November 2017 that allowed him to buy the weapons used in the attack.

ELECTION — Slovaks are electing their president today, an election seen as a test for the populist party in power, a year after large-scale anti-government protests and the political crisis triggered by the killing of an investigation journalist. Zuzana Caputova, an anti-corruption campaigner with no previous experience of public office is favorite to winning Slovakia’s presidential election, as voters spurn the ruling Smer party one year after the murder of Jan Kuciak, a journalist who reported on fraud cases involving politically connected businessmen, triggered the biggest anti-government protests in Slovakia since communism ended 30 years before. On the first anniversary of Kuciak’s murder, thousands of Slovaks rallied to protest against what they see as a lack of government action on the corruption he uncovered, Reuters reports. Polls show the Smer-backed candidate, EU commissioner Maros Sefcovic, trailing far behind Zuzana Caputova, whose endorsement by the protest movement has put her to frontrunner position.

S&P – Standard & Poors (S&P) has reconfirmed Romania’s rating at BBB-/A-3 for the long and short-term debt in domestic and foreign currency, and also the stable outlook. S&P forecasts, on the other hand, that Romania’s economy will slow down even more in 2019, to 3.5%, due to reduced foreign demand and less private investment. Improving the country rating, S&P says, depends on the progress made in adopting the institutional reforms and the degree to which Romania manages to increase domestic investment, by absorbing European funds for example.

TENNIS – The extraordinary run of teenager Bianca Andreescu, a Canadian of Romanian origin, continues at the BNP Paribas Open, as she knocked off No.6 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, to advance to the second final of her season and career at Indian Wells. In the first meeting between the two players, 18-year-old Andreescu survived two hours and 12 minutes of momentum shifts before claiming her second Top 10 win and increasing her outstanding win-loss record for the year to 27-3 across all levels. “Im actually shaking right now,” said an emotional Andreescu, to open her post-match press conference. “Its just so incredible. Im honestly speechless,” Andreescu has said. (Translated by Elena Enache)