April 24, 2016

NATO deputy Secretary General, Alexander Vershbow, will be received on Monday by President Iohannis

Newsroom, 24.04.2016, 12:00

LEGISLATION – The Romanian Labour Ministry will initiate tomorrow talks with its social partners on a new emergency order aimed at doing away with inequities in public sector salaries. The new legislation is scheduled to be finalised within three weeks. In an interview to Radio Romania, the Finance Minister Anca Dragu said the Government intended to increase the lower salaries in the public administration, because the budget resources were limited. She also explained that according to data available to the Finance Ministry, in the first months of the year revenues to the state budget were higher than estimated.

DIPLOMACY – The Romanian Foreign Ministry hails the celebration, on April 24, of 85 years since diplomatic relations were established between Romania and Argentina. According to a news release, these relations are expressed in a constant political dialogue, including as members of international organisations, as well as in mutual economic and trade interests. Grassroots contacts, the old Romanian community in Argentina and the Latin origin of the two languages are also key elements that define bilateral relations. The first official contacts between Romania and Argentina were reported in 1880. Diplomatic relations were established on April 24, 1931, at legation level, and on March 29, 1964, the diplomatic offices were upgraded to embassy.

NATO – The deputy Secretary General of NATO, Alexander Vershbow, will be received on Monday by President Klaus Iohannis, and will also have a meeting with the Romanian Defence Minister, Mihnea Motoc. According to the Defence Ministry, the NATO official is in Romania between April 24 and 26 to take part in a meeting of of political leaders in the defence ministries of NATO member states. Meanwhile, the US President, Barack Obama, who is to have a meeting tomorrow with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, will call on Germany to get more involved in the defence of eastern NATO member countries. German governmental sources quoted by Der Spiegel magazine said additional NATO troops might be deployed to Romania, Poland and the Baltic States. An official decision on increasing the NATO military presence in the east is to be made at the Alliance Summit due in Warsaw. The Pentagon has already announced in late March that the US will send more troops to Eastern Europe, Romania included, as of 2017, as part of the measures to guarantee security against the backdrop of Russias recent actions.

PALM SUNDAY – Romanian Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians celebrate Palm Sunday today, which is a commemoration of Jesus Christs entry in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The previous day, thousands of believers and hundreds of priests took part in processions, in the country and abroad, in a symbolic reconstruction of Christs journey to Jerusalem. Palm Sunday opens the last week of Lent, also known as Passion Week, which commemorates the most dramatic days in the life of Jesus Christ. On Palm Sunday, nearly 1.4 million Romanians named after flower names celebrate their name day.

FESTIVALS – The feature film “Soy Nero, directed by the Iranian Rafi Pitts, last night won the Grand Prize of the 12th Bucharest International Film Festival (BIFF). “Soy Nero tells the story of a Mexican who gets deported and returns to the US illegally in search of his own identity. The award for the best director went to Mia Hansen-Love (France) for “L’avenir. “Death in Sarajevo by Danis Tranovic won the award for best script. Meanwhile, in the southern Romanian city of Craiova, the 10th Shakespeare International Theatre Festival came to an end last night. This latest edition commemorated 400 years since the death of the great British playwright.

TENNIS – The Romanians Florin Mergea and Horia Tecău are playing today, in the doubles final of the BRD Năstase – Ţiriac Trophy in Bucharest, with 460,000 Euros in prize money, against Chris Guccione (Australia) and Andre Sa (Brazil). Yesterday, in the semi-finals, the Romanians outplayed the Dutch Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop, 3-6, 6-2, 10-8. Meanwhile, the Romanian Andreea Mitu and Turkeys Ipek Soylu, are playing today in the doubles final of the Istanbul tournament, against Xenia Knoll (Switzerland)/Danka Kovinic (Montenegro).