EU meeting. The Romanian foreign minister Lazar Comanescu
attended on Friday and Saturday an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in
the Gymnich format held in Bratislava. Talks looked at the recent developments
in Turkey, the situation in Ukraine, with emphasis on the implementation of the
Minsk agreements, and the global strategy for the EU’s external and security
policy. The EU foreign ministers also held talks with their counterparts from
the EU candidate countries about counter-terrorism and ways to prevent and
combat radicalisation.
Paris climate pact. The United States and China,
two of the world’s biggest polluters, ratified the Paris climate agreement
ahead of the start of the G20 summit on Sunday. In a press conference held
jointly with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, US president Barack Obama
said that despite the differences between Washington and Beijing on other
issues, the willingness of the two sides to work together on reducing climate
change may inspire other countries around the world. Together, the US and China
are responsible for around 40% of global emissions. The G20 summit, which comes
to an end on Monday, is the last meeting of this kind attended by Obama as
president of the United States.
Migration. Seven migrants from Kosovo, Ethiopia and
Eritrea have been found by the Romanian border police as they were trying to
illegally cross the south-western border from Serbia. The migrants, who did not
carry passports, said they wished to reach a state in western Europe. On
Thursday, 13 Afghan citizens, including 8 minors, and a Pakistani national were
caught by the border police trying to cross the same border into Romania. The
Romanian authorities have tightened security measures on the border with Serbia
after many small groups of migrants tried to cross illegally in August.
George Enescu
competition. 196 young
musicians from 38 different countries are taking part in the George Enescu
international competition, under way in Bucharest until the 25th of September.
Held in a new format, the competition also features concerts and recitals from
members of the jury, previous winners who have built an international career and
the winners of the 2014 competition. As a first, this year’s edition also
features live broadcasts abroad. The four sections of the competition are
violin, cello, piano and composition.
World Cup preliminaries. Romania’s football side
face Montenegro on Sunday in their first match as part of the 2018 World Cup
preliminaries. Group E also includes Poland, Denmark, Armenia and Kazakhstan.
The match on Sunday is Romania’s first with the German coach Cristoph Daum at the helm, the first foreign
national to hold this position. He was appointed coach of the national team
after the European Championships this summer, when Romania, coached at the time
by Anghel Iordanescu, finished last in their group, with only one point, having
drawn against Switzerland and lost to France and Albania. (Translated by: C. Mateescu)