May 25, 2018 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

România Internațional, 25.05.2018, 20:04

COOPERATION
– The first Romanian – Polish intergovernmental meeting was held in Warsaw on
Friday. On the occasion, the parties agreed to boost political dialogue at all
levels in preparation for Romania’s taking over the Presidency of the Council
of the European Union. Consultations were held against the background of both
countries celebrating their centennial this year. The Romanian Prime Minister
Viorica Dancila had a meeting with her Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki.
The Romanian head of government stressed the excellent level of bilateral
cooperation and Romania’s interest in boosting it, in fields such as
investments and energy in particular. In turn, the Polish Prime Minister too
highlighted the excellent cooperation between the two countries, spanning 99
years of diplomatic ties, in the political, economic and cultural fields.
Mateusz Morawiecki also stressed the good cooperation within NATO and the EU.
Also on Friday, the Romanian Defence Minister Mihai Fifor and the Polish Deputy
Prime Minister Piotr Glinski signed a bilateral agreement concerning the tombs of the
Romanian and Polish soldiers buried in Polish and Romanian soil respectively.
The visit to Poland ended with a meeting of the Romanian Minister for Romanians
Abroad Natalia Intotero with Romanian military and representatives of the
Romanian community in Poland.

US
PARTNERSHIP – The Presidential Foreign Policy Adviser Bogdan Aurescu has held
talks at the White House with the US National Security Adviser John Bolton,
focusing on the cooperation between Romania and the US. On the occasion,
Aurescu reiterated Bucharest’s commitment to enhancing the bilateral Strategic
Partnership. In turn, Bolton expressed the US’s appreciation for all that
Romania is doing as part of NATO. Among other things, the two officials
discussed the relations between the EU and the US, considering Romania’s taking
over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU in early 2019, the NATO
summit due in Brussels in July and the developments in the Republic of Moldova
and Ukraine, which are both Romania’s neighbours.

VISIT
– The Minister Delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu paid a visit to
Paris on Thursday and Friday. The visit included meetings with the French
Minister for European Affairs Nathalie Loiseau and other French officials.
According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the officials tackled issues such
as the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, Brexit, the EU internal
security and the functioning of the Schengen area, Romania’s joining Schengen
and the EU enlargement policy. Also, Victor Negrescu attended a meeting with
representatives of the Romanian community in France and held a dialogue on
European issues with students and teachers from the ‘Victor Duruy’ High-School in Paris.

INFRINGEMENT
– The European Commission has started the infringement procedure against
Romania, for the latter’s failure to observe the European Directive on the
presumption of innocence and the right to be present at the trial in criminal
proceedings. The directive should have been implemented by April 2018.
According to the European Directive, people who are being prosecuted are
presumed innocent until a final sentence is ruled, and the authorities have no
right to make statements that contradict this state of facts. Action in court
and means of appeal or remedy which can be used only after the ruling in case
remains final, including actions before the European Court of Human Rights,
should not fall within the scope of this Directive.

PROTEST
– Taxi drivers in Bucharest have suspended their protest temporarily, after
negotiations at the Ministry of Development on Friday. They are unhappy with
the recent proposals announced by the Ministry, relating to the emergency ordinance
amending the law that regulates their activity. Taxi drivers claim the banning
of the Uber type applications and have announced they will use all legal forms
of protest until the elimination of all unauthorized forms of transportation.

CULTURE
– The heir apparent to the British throne Charles, Prince of Wales, visited the
Romanian Cultural Institute in London on Thursday. He watched the exhibition
associated to the bibliophile volume ‘Transylvania Florilegium’, which
celebrates the uniqueness and extraordinary diversity of the Romanian natural
heritage, reads a communiqué issued by the Cultural Institute. Prince Charles
also attended the launch of the album of the same name, issued by Addison
Publications. According to the Romanian Cultural Institute in London, the
guests included part of the 36 artists from across the world that signed the
124 aquarelles of the exhibition, cultural personalities in London and leaders
of the Romanian community in Great Britain. This is Prince Charles’s second
visit to the Cultural Institute, after the one in 2014, when he attended the
opening of an exhibition of Transylvanian landscapes, compiled, just like
‘Transylvania Florilegium’, at his proposal and with his support. ‘Transylvania
Florilegium’ album, with a foreword signed by the Prince of Wales, will be
printed in two volumes and will include 124 pictures made over a period of 7
years, the institute’s communiqué also reads.

TIFF
– The city of Cluj-Napoca, in north-western Romania, is hosting, until June 3rd,
the 17th Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF). This
year’s edition includes no less than 227 productions: 178 feature films and 49
short reels from all over the world. ‘The Romanian Film Days’,
a section of the festival devoted to Romanian directors, comprises 35
productions, including ‘Touch Me Not’, director Adina Pintilie’s debut film,
which reaped the Golden Bear Award in Berlin this year, as well as Andrei Cretulescu’s production
‘Charleston’. The French actress Fanny Ardant has been chosen to award the
Transylvania trophy and the honorary guest to this festival is the Romanian opera singer Angela Gheorghiu.

TENNIS
– WTA no.1 player Simona Halep is up against 105th-placed Alison Riske, of the
USA, in a match counting towards the second round of the Roland Garros
tournament, the year’s second Grand Slam Event, due to kick-off of Sunday.
Simona Halep, who has conceded defeat twice
in the final, in 2014 and 2017, respectively, is the top-seed at Roland Garros this year. Four other Romanians
are included in the main draw at Rolland Garros. The first one is WTA
32nd-placed Mihaela Buzarnescu, who is also among the top seeded players this
year, as an absolute first. Buzarnescu takes on the American Vania King. Also,
Irina Begu, ranking 41 in the WTA classification, plays against Slovakia’s WTA
78th-ranked Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. WTA 45th-ranked Sorana Carstea faces
Australian contender, WTA 24th-placed Daria Gavrilova and 65th-ranked Ana
Bogdan takes on Czech opponent, WTA 90th-placed Marketa Vondrousova. Another
Romanian, Alexandra Dulgheru, won in the qualifier matches on Friday, but Irina
Bara failed. Only one Romanian is included in the main draw of the men’ s
version at Roland Garros , 97th-ranked Marius Copil, who faces WTA 72nd-placed
Marco Cecchinato, in the inaugural round of the tournament. (translated by Mihaela Ignatescu)