September 16, 2016

EU informal summit in Bratislava; Timisoara is the European Capital of Culture for 2021

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Newsroom, 16.09.2016, 00:00

EU SUMMIT – European leaders convene in Bratislava today for an informal summit focusing on the future direction of the EU after the results of the UK vote to leave the European bloc. Romania, represented by President Klaus Iohannis, will make a case for consolidating those projects that unite Europe. The Romanian head of state said he would argue for internal and external security, economic growth and job creation as strategic priorities. Bucharest is also in favour of maintaining the single market, the Euro and the Schengen area, and wants enhanced transparency and legitimacy of the EU institutions. Klaus Iohannis added that in the future post-Brexit negotiations, Romania would make no compromises with respect to the freedom of movement and employment and with the rights of the Romanians living in the UK. This is the first EU informal summit in which Britain does not take part.

RRI QUIZ – The winners of the grand prize in RRIs “Holiday in Bistriţa-Năsăud quiz, Liu Fajian and his wife, Huang Lingping, from the city of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, arrived in Bucharest this morning. Over the next few days, the two will visit cultural, historical, religious and entertainment sites in the northern Romanian county of Bistriţa-Năsăud. Thirty-three listeners of the RRI Chinese-language broadcasts have provided correct answers to the quiz questions. We have received a total of 352 correct and complete answers. The two Chinese listeners will be in Romania until September 23.

ANTI-CORRUPTION – Gheorghe Benea, the former manager of the Romanian Lottery, has been taken into custody by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate under charges of bribe taking and aggravated abuse of office. In the same case, the chief of the Procurement Service at that time has also been taken into custody, two other individuals are being investigated under court supervision, while another six are subject to non-custodial investigation procedures. According to prosecutors, in May 2010, the management of the Romanian Lottery awarded a contract for the replacement of the company vehicles, which caused the company to lose over 250,000 euro.

PROTESTS – The representatives of road carriers and of the Romanian Financial Supervision Authority have reached an agreement concerning the reference figures for compulsory motor insurance policy prices. According to the new deal, the highest premium, for heavy duty trucks, will not exceed a rough 1,700 euro, as against nearly 4,500 euro at present. Road carriers gave up protests as a result of this agreement.

CAPITAL OF CULTURE – Timisoara in western Romania has been chosen
as Capital of Culture 2021. The announcement was made on Friday by an
international jury appointed by the EU. The other 3 candidates were
Cluj-Napoca, in the north-west, Baia Mare in the north-west and Bucharest. The
winner will share the title with a city from Greece and one from the EU
candidate countries, Serbia and Montenegro. Since 1985, the EU has designated
one or two cities from accession or pre-accession countries, as European
Capital of Culture. The respective cities are expected to implement, for a one-year
period, an innovating and sustained cultural program able to showcase the
richness, diversity and similarities of the European culture to an
international public. In 2007, the title of European Capital of Culture was
shared by Sibiu, in Romania, and the city of Luxemburg.

RUSSIA SANCTIONS – The EU officially announced a six-month extension of the sanctions against nearly 200 Russian and Ukrainian individuals and entities, accused of threatening the integrity of Ukraine, the French daily Le Figaro reported on its website. The sanctions include asset freezes and EU entry bans for the respective people and companies. The European Union introduced the sanctions in March 2014, after Russias annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and in the context of the separatist conflict in east Ukraine. Other sanctions include economic measures against the Russian banking, oil and defence industries.

FOOTBALL – Romanias football champions, Astra Giurgiu, lost on Thursday the game against Austria Vienna, 2-3 on home turf. This was Astras first match in the Europa League group stage. In the same group, Viktoria Plzen, from the Czech Republic, drew, 1-all, against Italys AS Rome. The Romanian vice-champions, Steaua Bucharest, were also defeated in their first game in the League group stage, outplayed by the Turkish side Osmanlispor, 0-2, away from home. In Steauas group, Villarreal of Spain beat FC Zurich of Switzerland, 2-1.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)