September 13, 2022 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 13.09.2022, 19:48
Funeral. The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, signed, on Tuesday, the book of condolences opened at the UK Embassy in Bucharest. The head of the Romanian state will participate in the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. The Custodian of the Crown of Romania, HRH Margareta, and Prince Consort Radu will also attend the funeral service which will be held at Westminster Abbey in London, on September 19th, Buckingham Palace announced on Saturday. The day will be a bank holiday in Britain, as the new monarch, Charles III, authorized on Saturday in one of his first orders. World leaders, including the president of the United States, Joe Biden, and representatives of the royal houses are expected to attend the funeral of Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. Meanwhile, the new king – Charles III – continues his tour around the kingdom with visits to each of the four nations that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Forum. Romania and the Republic of Moldova plan to intensify joint efforts to mitigate the negative effects of the current context generated by the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, the lack of material and human resources, the disruptions in the functioning of international trade chains and galloping inflation worldwide. The statement was made, in Bucharest, by the Prime Minister of Romania, Nicolae Ciucă, during the forum “Moldova – Romania: Capital Bridges” – the first high-level forum dedicated to the promotion of the capital markets on the two banks of the Prut. Romania will continue its support, including the technical and financial assistance program, based on the non-reimbursable aid of 100,000,000 euros made available to the Republic of Moldova, assured the Prime Minister, in the context of the visit to Bucharest of his counterpart from Chisinau, Natalia Gavriliţa. Nicolae Ciucă also said that Bucharest wants to contribute, in the future, to the implementation of projects that can help Chisinau join the European Union family more quickly.
Visit. Romanian Defense Minister Vasile Dincu is paying a formal visit to Israel until Friday. According to a communiqué issued by the Defense Ministry, the Ministers agenda includes talks with his Israeli counterpart, formal ceremonies at the Yad Vashem memorial, the Holocaust Museum and the Childrens Memorial as well as visits to companies in the defense industry. The two ministers will be tackling topical issues such as security in the Middle East and the Black Sea, as well as the stage and prospects of bilateral cooperation in the field of defense.
Pope. On Tuesday, on the first day of his apostolic journey to Kazakhstan, Pope Francis urged dialogue and multilateralism in the face of Russias “senseless and tragic war” in Ukraine. “I have come here as a pilgrim of peace, seeking dialogue and unity. Our world urgently needs peace: it needs to recover harmony”, Pope Francis said from the stage of the Qazaq Concert Hall in capital Nur-Sultan. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who supports the war in Ukraine, was expected to attend the Seventh Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, held in Kazakhstan, and Pope Francis had stated, several times, that he was willing to talk to him. The two met in 2016 in Cuba, the first meeting between a pope and a Russian Orthodox patriarch. At the meeting in Nur-Sultan, 100 delegates from 50 countries are present.
Research. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă had, on Tuesday, in Bucharest, a meeting with the delegation of the Lockheed Martin company, led by the vice-president for international affairs, Ray Piselli. At the meeting, it was announced the launch in Romania of the American companys investment in AI R&D. According to a Government release, the results of the research, which will be carried out in the framework of the collaboration between Lockheed Martin and the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, will be applied in the field of national security and environmental sciences. The Prime Minister welcomed the decision of the global aerospace and security company to start research and development activities in Romania, appreciating that it is a new proof of the strengthening of the Romania-USA Strategic Partnership. “The government supports investments, and the economic component comes to strengthen our partnership in the military field”, Nicolae Ciuca also said.
Tennis. Romanian tennis player Ana Bogdan (65 WTA) qualified, on Tuesday, for the second round of the WTA 250 tournament in Portoroz, Slovenia, with over 200 thousand euros in prize money. In the first round, she defeated the Australian player Ajla Tomljanovich. Also on Tuesday, the Romanian player Gabriela Ruse (96 WTA) was defeated by the Ukrainian Lesia Ţurenko (92 WTA), 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, in the first round of the tournament. Ruse and Bogdan will be partners in the doubles event. (MI)