Radio România Internațional

Tag: Brussels summit

  • March 23, 2018

    March 23, 2018

    Weather — Snow and blizzard have wreaked havoc on transports in the southern half of Romania, which is under code yellow and code orange alerts for bad weather. Some segments of highways and national roads have been closed and tens of trains canceled and planes have reported delays on take off. Schools and kindergartens in Bucharest and several counties in the south were closed on Friday. Meteorologists announced that temperatures would remain low, even 10 degrees lower than normal for this time of the year. The highs will range from minus 4 to plus 6 degrees C.



    Blast — 5 of the 6 people killed in an explosion at a chemical plant in the north of the Czech Republic are Romanian citizens, according to the Romanian Foreign Ministry. The Czech authorities have started an investigation into the blast and are also considering the possibility of irregularities in terms of labor safety norms observance. A mobile consular team with the Romanian embassy in Prague went to the hospitals where the wounded people were taken to identify other Romanian citizens among the victims. The Foreign Ministry officials have expressed compassion for the loss of human lives and have conveyed condolences to the families of the people killed. The Romanian Embassy in the Czech Republic is monitoring the situation and is ready to provide consular assistance, also for the repatriation of the victims’ bodies.



    Brussels — The EU leaders are today discussing in Brussels the trade relations with the US, while waiting for Washington’s clear, official message related to suspending taxes on steel and aluminum imports. The US announced that the EU and another 6 allies would be exempted for the time being from paying these taxes, which took effect on Friday. Romania is among the European countries that have a direct interest in the issue, as its exports to the US last year amounted to 175 million Euros. The EU hopes to negotiate a permanent tax exemption, otherwise it will activate trade retaliatory measures on several staple American products. Attending the meeting in Brussels, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis pointed out the importance of free trade and underlined that protectionist measures could not support economic development at global level. The heads of state and government attending the Brussels summit will look into the Brexit process as well, and are going to adopt the new guidelines that will define the framework of future relations with the EU.



    Damen — The Romanian state and the Dutch company Damen have reached an agreement regarding the take-over from the current owner, the South Korean group Daewoo, of the shipyard in the Black Sea port of Mangalia. According to the Romanian authorities a joint venture will be set up, within which the Economy Ministry will become a majority shareholder. It is for the first time after the December 1989 anti-Communist uprising that the Romanian state takes control again over a privatized strategic industrial objective. Damen is the biggest shipbuilding company in the Netherlands and has the capacity to bring new commissions for building ships to the Mangalia shipyard, which has been facing difficulties since 2016 when the Daewoo group decided to sell its shares as part of a process of restructuring of its international operations.



    Tennis — Romanian tennis players Simona Halep, world’s no. 1, and Monica Niculescu (70 WTA) qualified to the 3rd round of the Miami tournament in the US, which has total prizes worth 8 million dollars. Halep obtained a difficult victory, in 3 sets, against the French Oceane Dodin and in the next match she will be up against Polish player Agnieszka Radwanska. Monica Niculescu defeated Magdalenei Rybarikova of Slovakia and will take on the American Sloane Stephens, 13th seeded in the competition. Another Romanian player, Sorana Cîrstea, did no manage to go past the 2nd round of the Miami tournament as she was defeated by Taiwanese Su-Wei Hsieh. In the men’s competition, Romanian Marius Copil reached the 2nd round after defeating Mihail Kukuşkin of Kazakhstan. In the next match Marius Copil, 87th in the ATP classification will play against Russian Karen Hacianov (41 ATP).



    Attack — A gunman claiming to belong to the Islamic State terrorist organization took several hostages on Friday in a supermarket in Trebes, near Carcassone, in the south of France. Shots have been fired and the police are currently dealing with the situation. One policeman has alleged been wounded. In the past years, France has been the target of several Islamist attacks. (news translated by Lacramioara Simion)

  • October 21, 2016 UPDATE

    October 21, 2016 UPDATE

    BRUSSELS – The proposal regarding the visa waiver for the Romanian and Bulgarian citizens who want to travel to Canada will take effect if the EU-Canada Trade Agreement is signed, said Friday the European Commission president, Jean Claude Juncker, at the end of the European Council meeting in Brussels. Ottawa announced that the negotiations between EU and Canada on the CETA Agreement (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) have failed due to opposition by the Belgian region Wallonia. Previously, the Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, had announced in Brussels that Romania reached an agreement with Canada as regards the visa waiver for the Romanian citizens. The agreement has several stages: as of May 1, 2017 visas will be eliminated for those Romanians who already had a visa for Canada in the past, and as of December 1, 2017 visas will be lifted for all the Romanian citizens. President Iohannis announced Bucharest was no longer opposed to the EU-Canada trade agreement. On the other hand, the EU leaders had talks on the last day of the Brussels summit on the Union’s foreign relations, with a focus on the relations with Russia, on the way in which the countries of origin can limit migration as well as on the strengthening of control on the EU’s external borders. As regards Syria, the Romanian President Iohannis said the member states agreed to get more involved in promoting diplomatic solutions in order to bring peace to that country. On the sidelines of the Council meeting, Iohannis had talks with the British Prime Minister, Theresa May. According to the Romanian official, the British PM guaranteed that she would be personally involved in making sure there would be no additional pressure on the Romanians working in the UK.



    BOSNIA – The Romanian PM Dacian Cioloş and the Defense Minister Mihnea Motoc on Friday paid a visit to Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Sarajevo the two officials had talks with the commanders of the NATO missions (KFOR and NATO Sarajevo) and of the EU mission (EUFOR) and met with the 40-strong Romanian troops taking part in missions in the Western Balkans. They also laid flowers at the monument erected in honor of sub lieutenant Remus Brânzan, who died during a mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Kosovo the Romanian officials held official talks with the commander of the KFOR NATO mission and met with the 56 Romanian soldiers deployed at the base in Pristina.



    RALLY BUCHAREST – At least 10,000 people are expected to participate, on Saturday, in downtown Bucharest, in a rally promoting the union of the Republic of Moldova with Romania, with many of the participants coming from neighbouring Moldova. They believe that, in the current geopolitical context, the union of the two countries is the only solution for the ethnic Romanians, who make up the majority population of Moldova, not to be the victims of a Russian campaign similar to the one against Ukraine and for Moldova to reach the European democracy, lawfulness and prosperity standards. Already a tradition in Bucharest, the pro-Bessarabia rallies started in 2012, with the commemoration of 200 years since this province was first annexed by Tsarist Russia. Today’s Republic of Moldova has been established on part of the territory of Bessarabia, which had re-joined Romania after WWI and was re-annexed by the USSR in 1940.



    TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu (world’s no. 51 ) on Friday qualified to the final of the Luxembourg tournament, with prizes of 250 thousand dollars. She defeated in the semifinals the Dutch Kiki Bertens (22 WTA). In another development, the Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, on Friday found out her adversaries in the group stage of the Singapore Champions Tournament, which has prizes up for grabs worth 7 million dollars. Halep will play in the Red Group alongside world leader Angelique Kerber of Germany, Madison Keys of the USA, 7th in the WTA ranking and Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, ranked 8th in the WTA classification. Playing in the White Group will be Polish Agnieszka Radwanska, (3rd WTA), Karolina Pliskova (the Czech Republic, 5th WTA), the Spanish Garbine Muguruza (6 WTA), and the last player to qualify from among Russian Svetlana Kuzneţova (world’s no. 9 player) and British Johanna Konta (WTA 10th). Halep participates in the Champions Tournament for the 3rd time after in 2014 she played in the final against Serena Williams. In 2015 she did not manage to go past the group stage. The Singapore tournament will take place from October 23 to 30. (translation by L. Simion)