April 20, 2017

Frans Timmermans visits Romania, Cluj hosts European gymnastics championship

Newsroom, 20.04.2017, 14:14

TIMMERMANS — First Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, is today on an official visit to Romania. The European official has meetings scheduled with PM Sorin Grindeanu and with the speakers of the two chambers of Parliament, Liviu Dragnea and Calin Popescu Tariceanu. Timmermans will hold talks with the leadership of parties represented in Parliament, as well as with the partners in the Mechanism of Cooperation and Verification in the judicial system. Timmermans will also be talking to citizens about future of Europe, centering on the White Charter, about the 60 year anniversary of the Rome Treaty, and the ten year anniversary since Romania joined the EU.

GYMNASTICS — Romanian athlete Marian Dragulescu qualified in the floor event finals and the vault finals in the European Gymnastics Championships. The event is hosted by the Romanian city of Cluj, which wraps up on April 23. This edition is attended by 274 athletes from 37 countries. Romanian gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci is ambassador for the European Championships. The last edition of this event hosted by Romania took place in 1957. Stay tuned for more after the news.

WEATHER — Bad weather will continue to afflict Romania over the next couple of days. Rain, snow, gales and low temperatures have caused the authorities to extend a code yellow until Friday at noon, taking into consideration the snow in the mountains as well. A code orange alert is in place until noon on Friday in the eastern and southern Carpathians as well, with winds expected to reach speeds of up to 80 to 90 km/h. Maximums today are between 0 and 12 degrees Celsius. The worsening of the weather has affected road traffic. Several flights have been delayed by the weather on Cluj International Airport. A few localities in the north and southeast were left without power.

TENNIS — Romanias womens tennis team plays at home this weekend, taking on the UKs team, in a bid to hold on to their place in the world group in the Fed Cup. The games are scheduled for April 22 and 23, in the resort of Mamaia, on the Black Sea coast. Romanias team is made up of Simona Halep, 5th seeded, Irina Begu, 33rd seeded, Monica Niculescu, 47th seeded, and Sorana Cirstea, 61st seeded. The UK brings into play two top 100 players, Johanna Konta, 10th seeded, and Heather Watson, 72nd seeded. Romania and the UK have faced off five times so far in the Fed Cup, with the Romanians winning four times.

MILITARY — Romanian officials from the government and the armed forces joined US Embassy officials at the firing range in Smardan, for the initiation of a new stage of the Justice Eagle 17 joint US-Romanian military exercise. Yesterday, in the first live fire exercise, hundreds of Romanian and US troops responded to simulated enemy fire. The exercise, concluding on May 5th, is the most important to take place on the eastern border of Romania. The US troops are part of the American land contingent in Europe, and are part of Washingtons commitment to strengthening collective security and cooperation in Eastern Europe, as part of the Atlantic Resolve operation.

ALARMS — Romania continues its widest ranging exercise to test alarm system at a national level. Emergency sirens are being tested between 10 AM and 3 PM in 11 counties, after tests were carried out in Bucharest yesterday. The sirens are supposed to announce chemical accidents, air attacks, or severe flooding, and can be heard on a radius of around 500 meters. 7,700 such sirens are distributed around the country for civil protection. The exercise, concluding Friday, is supposed to measure speed of reaction in case of emergency, as well as coverage of alarms, in addition to response measure awareness.