21 February, 2016

Romanian president Klaus Iohannis to address Parliament on Monday; Romania is the main trading partner for the Republic of Moldova.

Newsroom, 21.02.2016, 12:00

Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will speak in
Parliament on Monday. His address, the first in Parliament this year, will
focus on domestic policy issues, the senate speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu has
confirmed. This is Klaus Iohannis’ fifth address in Parliament since taking
office in December 2014.

Romania is the
main trading partner for the ex-Soviet Republic of Moldova with a majority
Romanian-speaking population. In 2015, trade exchanges amounted to 1.35 billion
dollars. According to the Romanian embassy in Chisinau, most of Romania’s
exports to Moldova are made up of mineral products, followed by cars and
technical equipment. At the end of 2015, Moldova was Romania’s fourth largest
export and eighth largest import partner among non-EU countries, Romania’s
diplomatic representation in Chisinau also said.

Modova’s
government has nominated the former foreign minister Natalia Gherman for the
post of secretary general of the United Nations, the country’s prime minister
Pavel Filip said in a written address published on the website of the president
of the United Nations General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft. Gherman’s biggest achievements as foreign
minister were the signing of Moldova’s Association Agreement with the European
Union and the liberalisation of visas for Moldovan citizens. She joins six
other candidates to succeed Ban Ki-moon, whose term as secretary general of the
United Nations comes to an end in December this year.

Gianfranco
Rosi’s refugee crisis documentary Fire at Sea won the top prize at the
66th Berlin International Film Festival. The Romanian production Illegitimate
by Adrian Sitaru won the award of the International Confederation of Art
House Cinemas in the Forum section. Another Romanian title, Roxana Stroe’s
short film A Night in Tokoriki won the special prize in the Generation
14plus programme dedicated to young film-makers.

The Romanian
women’s handball champions CSM Bucharest today face the Danish side FC
Midtjylland away as part of a Champions League Group 2 match. CSM need a win in
order to reach the competition’s quarterfinals. Also in the Champions League,
the Romanian vice-champions HCM Baia Mare have already secured a place in the
quarterfinals after Friday’s home win against the German side HC
Thuringer 38:27, in a Group 1 match. This is the fifth win in a row for HCM,
who have won all their group matches despite coming into the group stage with
zero points.

(Translated by: C. Mateescu)