September 24, 2017 UPDATE

The George Enescu International Festival ended on Sunday.

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Newsroom, 24.09.2017, 19:14

MEETINGS – Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu continued meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York, with counterparts from Argentina, Columbia, the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia. Minister Melescanu signed with the Argentinean Foreign Minister Jorge Marcelo Faurie the Extradition Treaty between the governments of Argentina and Romania, which will contribute to consolidating cooperation in the field of the judiciary. Also in New York, at Romania’s initiative, Minister Melescanu organised a working meeting with counterparts from Bulgaria, Croatia and Greece to discuss, among other things, the future of the EU’s common foreign policy.

INVICTUS GAMES — Romania is for the first time taking part in the Invictus Games in Toronto, Canada. The Invictus Games is the only sporting event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women. Invictus Team Romania is made up of 15 soldiers wounded in theatres of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. They will take part in six individual events: archery, athletics, indoor rowing, power lifting, cycling and swimming. Also, the Romanian team will compete in the sitting volleyball competition. The Romanian Invictus team met with Prince Harry of Britain, the one who established the competition in 2014 in London. Since then a number of cities have been selected to host future Games.

TRADE – Romania’s deficit in the farm and food products sector stood at 916 million euros at the end of May, up by 60% as against the same period in 2016. Official data show that exports went up in the first five month of the year by almost 7%, while imports increased by more than 19%. Wheat remains the most exported product followed by sunflower and corn. In terms of imports, an important increase was reported in the January-May period. The EU has been Romania’s biggest trade partner in the farm and food sector.

VISIT — Romanian Defense Minister Mihai Fifor met with his Canadian counterpart Harjit Singh Sajjan on the sidelines of his official visit to Canada on the occasion of the Invictus Games Toronto. Emphasised during the talks was the consolidation of bilateral ties, with Canada being an active supporter of Romania’s initiatives within NATO. Minister Fifor thanked the Canadian official for the support that Canada granted to Romania by taking part in joint air police missions within NATO, and by participating in the Multinational Division South-East and the Multinational Brigade, and also in multinational drills held in Romania and the Black Sea. Minister Fifor underlined Canada’s significant contribution to the implementation of the decisions taken at the NATO Summit in Warsaw.

GEORGE ENESCU FESTIVAL — As many as six special events were held on Sunday, on the last day of the George Enescu International Festival, held every two years in Romania. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam conducted by Daniele Gatti closed the Enescu festival. Some three thousand artists have been invited to participate in this years edition of the festival held over September 2nd – 24th. The first edition of the George Enescu Festival was held in 1958. In 1971, the communist regime decided to put an end to it, and the festival was only resumed after the fall of the regime in 1989.

TENNIS — Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea, no. 52 WTA qualified on Sunday to the second round of the WTA tournament in Wuhan, China, with 2,300,000 dollars in prize money. Cirstea defeated Chinese Yafang Wang in two sets, 6-3, 6-3. Simona Halep, no.2 in the WTA rankings, is second seed at the tournament and she will go straight to the second round. Laste year Halep reached the semi-finals. Another Romanian, Raluca Olaru who paired up with Ukrainian Ludmila Kicenok lost to Raquel Atawo/Darija Juraq, in the first round of the women’s doubles.

(Translated by Elena Enache)