September 11, 2016 UPDATE

Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu has sent a message to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, commemorating the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks/ French President François Hollande pays a two-day official visit to Romania as of Monday

Newsroom, 11.09.2016, 12:20

REMEMBERING 9/11 – Romanian foreign minister, Lazar Comanescu, has sent a message to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to honour the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. The Romanian foreign minister reiterated, in his message, solidarity with the victims of the attacks, their families and with all those affected by the tragic events of 2001. Ceremonies started in the US to commemorate 15 years since the attacks of September 11, 2001, when some 3,000 people lost their lives and thousands others got injured. 75,000 people are still coping with psychological and physical effects of the 9/11 attacks, including members of the emergency teams, who breathed in toxic dust, in an effort to save lives. Many of those directly affected are monitored for lung diseases and cancers. The authorities have organised a march to the monument erected on the site of the twin towers in New York, reduced to rubble by the terrorists. Hundreds of people took part in this memorial walk. In his weekly address on the national public radio, President Barack Obama launched an appeal for upholding democratic values and avoiding simplistic answers to the challenge of terrorism. In response to the attacks 15 years ago, the US started a global war on terrorism, which continues as we speak. An exhibition entitled Rendering the Unthinkable: Artists Respond to 9/11 will be opened on Monday at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York. The exhibition is a collection of artwork by 13 artists and their reactions to the terror attacks, “ranging in media from paintings and sculpture to works on paper and video. Some of the artists have incorporated in their works ashes found at Ground Zero, on the site of the twin towers destroyed by terrorists.

ROMANIAN-FRENCH TIES – French President, François Hollande, will pay a two-day official visit to Romania as of Monday, alongside a delegation of ministers, businesspeople and MPs. The visiting French President is also due to meet his Romanian counterpart, Klaus Iohannis, together with whom he will approach, among other issues, the future of the EU, ahead of the Bratislava Summit, due on September 16. During the visit, President Francois Hollande will attend together with Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos the inauguration of the Airbus helicopter factory in Ghimbav, near Brasov (central Romania). The investment stands at 40 million Euro, and the first civil helicopter will get out in the field in 2017, whereas the first military one is due in 2018. We recall that Klaus Iohannis paid his first bilateral visit abroad, in his capacity as Romanias president, to France, in February 2015.

A NEW SCHOOL YEAR – In Romania, over 3 million pupils will start a new school year on Monday. The 2016-2017 school year includes 35 weeks of classes, divided into two semesters: September 12, 2016 – February 3, 2017, and February 13, 2017 – June 16, 2017, respectively. One of the novelties of the new school year is that pupils will have their own statute. The pupils’ rights fall into 5 categories: educational rights, association and expression rights, social rights, rewards and other rights. Also, the Education Ministry has decided a change in the grading system for high school admission: the GPA obtained by a pupil, from the fifth to the eight form, will account for 20% of the final high school admission average, and not for 25% as has been the case so far. In another move, high school admission will be a one stage computerised process, followed by an analysis of special cases and will come to a close in July. At present, high school admission is a three-stage process which comes to a close in September.

PLANNED NATIONWIDE CEASEFIRE IN SYRIA – In the Syrian capital city of Damascus, the government has expressed support for the envisaged agreement between the US and Russia, which is designed to ensure a nationwide ceasefire in Syria. A spokesperson for the Syrian opposition has said the plan offers room for hope, but underlined that more details are necessary on the way this agreement will be implemented. Washington and Moscow have announced the agreement is meant to re-launch the peace process in Syria and includes a nationwide ceasefire, as of Monday evening, improved humanitarian access and joint military actions against Islamist groups, that is the Islamic State and the former Al-Nusrah Front, affiliated to Al Qaida. The ceasefire should be used by the Syrian government and opposition to reach a political agreement, to put an end to the civil war that has already entered its sixth year. Over 250,000 people lost their lives so far, and millions of Syrian nationals were forced into fleeing their homes. The EU has hailed the agreement and called on the UNO to make ready negotiation proposals for political transition in Syria.

BLACK SEA TALL SHIPS REGATTA – The second edition of an international regatta of large sailboats began in the Romanian port of Constanta. 13 tall ships from six different countries will be racing up to Novorossiysk, in Russia. Afterwards, they will be heading for Sochi and then for Varna, in Bulgaria. During the race, the sailboats will be powered exclusively by wind. The use of engines is allowed only in emergency situations. (Translated by Diana Vijeu)