24 April, 2015

News and current affairs from Romania

Newsroom, 24.04.2015, 11:58

Gathering in an emergency meeting in Brussels, EU heads of state and government analyzed the situation created by the waves of refugees coming by boat from North Africa. The summit was called after, one week ago, over 800 migrants, mostly illegal, from Libya and Syria, drowned when their boat capsized. The document issued at the end of the meeting specified that Frontex, the border agency of the EU, would get a boost in its budget in order to increase its presence in the Mediterranean Sea. The document also stated that the Union has to curb illegal migration and human trafficking, noting that it lacks specific asylum legislation and is seeking solutions at the level of individual states to settle the existing migrants.

The Romanian and Bulgarian governments are sitting in joint session presided over by PMs Victor Ponta and Boiko Borisov. The main objectives of the meet are consolidating bilateral dialog and coordination of European and regional positions. The meeting also analyzes joint economic projects in areas such as energy and development of tourism, as well as internal affairs and justice. On the agenda are also the EU strategy for the Danube, prospects for joining the Schengen area, as well as the Eastern Partnership. The joint session will be preceded by a trilateral meeting between Romanian PM Victor Ponta, Bulgarian PM Boiko Borisov, and Serbian PM Alexandr Vucic. In March last year, the Romanian and Bulgarian governments met in joint session in Ruse, in Bulgaria, in a session also attended by the Serbian PM.

The Romanian and Bulgarian governments are sitting in joint session presided over by PMs Victor Ponta and Boiko Borisov. The main objectives of the meet are consolidating bilateral dialog and coordination of European and regional positions. The meeting also analyzes joint economic projects in areas such as energy and development of tourism, as well as internal affairs and justice. On the agenda are also the EU strategy for the Danube, prospects for joining the Schengen area, as well as the Eastern Partnership. The joint session will be preceded by a trilateral meeting between Romanian PM Victor Ponta, Bulgarian PM Boiko Borisov, and Serbian PM Alexandr Vucic. In March last year, the Romanian and Bulgarian governments met in joint session in Ruse, in Bulgaria, in a session also attended by the Serbian PM.

Romanian tennis player Simona Halep this coming Monday will be climbing back a notch, to 2nd place according to the WTA rankings, as Russia’s Maria Sharapova conceded defeat in the eight finals of the tournament in Stuttgart and will be losing her position, according to the professional women’s tennis circuit website. 23-year old Halep, who this year has remained the main favourite for winning the Stuttgart tournament, since Sharapova was edged out of the competition, will today be fighting for a place in the semi-finals, proving her mettle against Italian Sara Errani. Winner of last year’s edition of the Stuttgart tournament, Sharapova conceded defeat to Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the eighth finals this past Thursday. For eight weeks running over August-October 2014, Halep occupied the 2nd position in the WTA rankings.

On Friday, the Romanian National Institute of Statistics published data according to which the number of Romanian citizens residing in the country was 22.279 million as of January 1, 2015, 0.3% less than a year previous. The urban and female population prevail in numbers. It was noticed that the population is predictably aging more rapidly, with people over 65 higher in number than the population below 14. The average age is 40.7 years.

Romanian Defense Minister Mircea Dusa was on a visit to Turkey to meet his Turkish counterpart, Ismet Yilmaz, to talk about the strategic partnership between the two countries, pleading for enhanced military cooperation. The other main issue on the agenda was the need to keep at bay terrorism, by strengthening NATO’s south eastern flank and enhancing Black Sea security. The two emphasized the excellent relationship the two countries enjoy in terms of common defense.