August 22, 2013
For a roundup of news from Romania, click here.
Leyla Cheamil, 22.08.2013, 12:04
Romanian foreign minister, Titus Corlatean, announced on Thursday that a joint government session Romania-Bulgaria will be held in Sofia this autumn. He made this statement fresh from a meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart, Kristian Vigenin, who is currently on a visit to Romania. Titus Corlatean underlined the need to develop cross border projects, such as building other bridges over the Danube, apart from the already existing ones, and to boost two-way trade exchanges, which exceeded 3 billion Euros in 2012. In another move, the two foreign ministers also expressed confidence that a decision on the two countries’ Schengen accession, in two stages, starting with the air borders in a first stage, will be made at the Justice and Home Affairs Council by the end of the year. In March, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland stood against Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession, evoking the insufficient steps taken in the effort to reform the judiciary.
Romanian foreign minister, Titus Corlatean, underlined in a phone conversation he had on Thursday with his Egyptian counterpart Nabil Fahmy, that the only real option for solving the crisis in Egypt is starting a process of national reconciliation and inviting all political forces in Egypt to the negotiation table. The phone talk was occasioned by the special meeting of the EU foreign ministers, held in Brussels on August the 21st, and devoted to the recent events in Egypt. That country has been going through a deep crisis, which deepened even more on July the 3rd, when the army ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. In another move, former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak got transferred on Thursday from jail to a military hospital in Cairo, where he will undergo medical treatment, after a court ordered his being released on bail. Hosni Mubarak, aged 85, having a fragile health condition, is to be retried, as the prosecutors have appealed. He is tried for the crimes committed during the reprisal of the 2011 revolution and, in a first stage, for two corruption cases.
European Energy Giant CEZ, currently the largest investor in renewable energy resources in Romania, has filed an official complaint with the European Commission whereby it deplores Romania’s decision to postpone the granting of green certificates, which causes CEZ to suffer an annual loss of 66 million euros, Reuters reports. CEZ, which currently runs the largest onshore wind farm in Europe located in Romania, claims that the new regulations introduced by Romanian authorities and applied retroactively go against EU fundamental principals. In June, the Government in Bucharest decided to postpone until March 2017 the granting of green certificates for hydroelectric and solar power plants and for January 2018 all certificates for wind-powered plants. Moreover, by this date the value of certificates is estimated to go down, while Romania might still operate further adjustments to the support programme.
Terrorism and cyber-crime are the most salient threats confronting mankind, which is why NATO and the UE must take urgent measures to build defence systems, Romanian Defence Minister Mircea Dusa told Agerpres. The Romanian official argued that against the backdrop of the ongoing economic crisis, each country has been cutting back on their defence budget. Every state and organization, whether it’s NATO or the EU we’re talking about, is now trying to rethink its military capabilities. Dusa also said that the UE is due to clearly define its military capabilities for the next period at the European Council meeting of December.
Romanian tennis player Simona Help, currently ranked 23rd in WTA standings, has advanced to the quarterfinals of the New Haven tournament in the US, totalling 690,000 dollars in prize money, the official website of the event reports. In the second round Halep outperformed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, currently ranking 20th in world standings. In the quarterfinals Halep will go up against Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, ranked 26th in WTA standings. Halep has had an excellent run this season, so far winning three WTA tournaments.
