May 1, 2014 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Bogdan Matei, 01.05.2014, 19:52
NATO will certainly beef up its military presence in Romania — president Traian Basescu said on Thursday explaining that Romania will for quite some time remain a NATO and EU border country and for this reason it has to be strong, a fact that was clearly understood by the US and the European powers. President Basescu added that Russia through its behaviour could be perceived as a threat to the democratic countries in the European and Euro-Atlantic communities. Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean has recently paid a visit to Washington where he has pleaded for a more substantial US and NATO presence in the allied countries of the southern flank, including Romania. The Romanian official has reiterated Bucharest’s concern about what is currently happening in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region, particularly about the situation in neighboring Ukraine.
Princess Margareta of Romania and her husband Prince Radu on Thursday visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. The two members of the Romanian royal family participated in a ceremony held in the honour of princess Margareta’s grandmother, Queen Elena, who in 1993 was granted the ”Righteous Among the Nations” title for saving Jewish lives back in World War Two, when Romania was under a military regime allied to Nazi Germany. Princess Margareta is the eldest daughter of Romania’s last sovereign Mihai 1st who was forced to abdicate and to leave the country in 1947, after Romania had been occupied by Soviet troops. The royal family came back to Romania after the anti-communist revolution of 1989.
Tension mounted in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, after pro-Russian secessionist protesters had stormed more administrative buildings. The policemen guarding the Prosecutor’s Office in Donetsk were beaten and disarmed by a mob, while in a town nearby protesters occupied the building of the local council and forced the mayor to step down. On Wednesday, Ukraine’s interim president Oleksandr Turchynov admitted the central government in Kiev could not handle the situation in the east of the country. Turchynov voiced concern that the separatists would try to expand the conflict to all the regions with a Russian-speaking population in the east and south of Ukraine. Former deputy chief of the Ukrainian intelligence service Oleksandr Skypalsky says the Russian Defence Ministry and its special services have been involved in the operations of occupying administrative buildings in Ukraine. Russian president Vladimir Putin has again called for the pullout of the Ukrainian troops from the southeast of the country and the beginning of what he called ‘a national dialogue’ between the pro-Western government in Kiev and the secessionists.
The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has recommended that Romanian citizens who travel to Istanbul be careful and avoid areas where anti-government protests are taking place. The Ministry has cautioned against clashes that still can take place in the city centre between protesters and riot police, advising the Romanian travelers to learn more on the situation in Turkey before their departure and stay in touch with the Ministry’s site for up-to-date information. The warning comes after police had used water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters trying to demonstrate in the Taksim Square, an emblem place in the anti-government fight. The first day of May also saw protests in other cities around the world. 100 thousand people took to the Red Square in Moscow in a show of support for Vladimir Putin’s muscular policy on Ukraine. In Paris, trade unions have called for their supporters and members to protest the austerity measures imposed by the new government led by Manuel Valls. Large-scale protests against austerity measures were also staged in Spain, Italy and Greece.
