September 16, 2016 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 16.09.2016, 12:15

SUMMIT – Romania wants a more comprehensive integration in the EU,
Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said in Bratislava on Friday. The president
said Bucharest authorities want the country to be part of the EU core. The head
of state also underlined that over the last few months, European partners have
realized Romania is a country only geographically on the EU borders. Romania
has proved it can very well cope with migration waves, can protect its borders
and has succeeded in integrating a number of refugees on its territory. At the
same time Romania is well-prepared from an economic point of view. The fight
against corruption is also gaining momentum, the president argued. President
Iohannis has joined other EU leaders to discuss the future of the EU in Bratislava
after the UK voted to opt out of the Union. Iohannis said that the EU is not
interested in what the UK does, but in what the 27 member states must do to
ensure a stronger and more performing union.

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.

AGREEMENT – 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.

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.

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 defense industries.

RRI CONTEST – 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.

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 AM Popescu and V. Palcu)