Radio România Internațional

Tag: Spain

  • April 16, 2018 UPDATE

    April 16, 2018 UPDATE

    REFUSAL Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Monday turned down a request for sacking the country’s anti-corruption chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi. In response, Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announced he would notify the Constitutional Court. Johannis, who had earlier voiced his support for the chief prosecutor, said he would take into account all the documents presented to him. The Romanian president had repeatedly said the reasons for sacking Kovesi were ungrounded. Minister Toader in February called for Kovesi’s resignation whom he accused of having failed to meet her job requirements. The Higher Council of Magistracy has also voiced support for chief prosecutor Kovesi who is presently heading the country’s main anti-corruption agency DNA.




    PROTESTS Several hundred employees from two hospitals in Bucharest and other medical units across Romania continued their protests on Monday, as they are discontented with their salaries, especially the benefits which, according to the new salary law, have been capped at 30%, which for many of them resulted in a drop in revenues. Trade unionists in the Romanian medical system will decide this week whether they resume protests, after on Friday the health minister Sorina Pintea made them promises to solve the situation. According to her, hospitals will be able to use their own funds to grant financial incentives and benefits to the employees whose salaries have dropped.




    FOREIGN AFFAIRS The Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu is participating alongside his counterparts from the other EU countries in the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council under way in Luxembourg. Dominated by the situation in Syria, the agenda of talks also includes the reports on Iran, the latest developments in the Western Balkans, the relationship between Brussels and Moscow and the EU’s external financial instruments in the context of the future Multiannual Financial Framework post 2020. The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, will brief the foreign ministers with regard to the developments in the Gaza Strip and Venezuela.




    AGREEMENT The Minister for Romanians Abroad, Natalia-Elena Intotero, proposed in Madrid the signing of a cooperation agreement between Romania and Spain regarding the possible return home of those Romanian citizens who want that. The Romanian official made the proposal during the meeting she had in Madrid with the Deputy Minister and Secretary General for Immigration and Emigration, Marina del Corral. The latter agreed with the proposal, given that Romania and Spain share common experiences regarding migration. Minister Intotero presented the campaign to be launched in May entitled “Being informed at home! Safety in the world!” as well as the programs the government is implementing to support the Romanian citizens who want to return home. During her visit to Spain, Mrs. Intotero met in Madrid with the representatives of Romanian associations. According to the Spanish Immigration Observer, the Romanian community in Spain numbers more than one million residents.



    translated by bill

  • December 25, 2017

    December 25, 2017

    NATIVITY – Most Orthodox believers, Greek Catholics, Roman-Catholics and Protestants in Romania are today celebrating one of the greatest feasts of the Christian world, Christmas, the Nativity of our Saviour Jesus Christ. In the morning, Christian believers went to the church for the Christmas mass, and children have gone carolling. In his Christmas message, Daniel, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, called on Orthodox Christians, the majority of the Romanian population, to show generosity to those in need. The patriarch has expressed his affection for the Romanian historical communities in the neighbouring countries, as well as for the Romanians living abroad. In his turn, cardinal Lucian of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church has wished “love, healing and renewal for our people everywhere. Ioan Robu, the Bucharest archbishop of the Roman-Catholic Church expressed hope in Europes chance to redress from a spiritual point of view. We recall that the Orthodox Churches which continue to use the Julian calendar, for instance the majority Orthodox believers in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia and Georgia, celebrate Christmas on January 7.



    CHRISTMAS MESSAGES – “The feast of the Nativity of Jesus is an urge for compassion and solidarity with those who need our support, says Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, in his Christmas message. In turn, PM Mihai Tudose has called on the Romanians to always think to what brings them together. This is the first Christmas without King Michael I, but the Royal House of Romania celebrates the Nativity of Jesus as well as the life and accomplishments of Romanias fourth king, says the Custodian of the Crown, Princess Margareta, in a message to the Romanians. She recalled our entire nations shared grief at the Kings funeral. Romanias sovereign between 1940 and 1947, when he was forced to abdicate and into exile by a puppet communist government installed by the Soviet troops of occupation, Michael I passed away at the age of 96, in Switzerland, on December 5. He was buried on December 16 at Curtea de Arges, the final resting place of Romanian Royals.



    POPE – During the traditional Christmas Eve mass, Pope Francis called on Catholic believers not to ignore the difficult situation of millions of migrants, driven away from they lands. Many migrants, the pope said, were forced to leave their homes because of leaders who see no problem in spilling innocent blood. According to good faith, he said, foreigners should be welcomed anywhere in the world. The number of refugees the world over exceeded 22 million people, the last cross-border flow of migrants being reported in Myanmar, where Rohingya Muslims fled their homes for fear of violence.



    TOURISTS – Thousands of Romanians spend their winter holidays in the mountains, with the resorts in Prahova Valley being the most sough-after travel destinations. Predeal, Sinaia and Buşteni are almost fully booked. At Balea Lake, in the Fagaras Mountains, the new Ice Hotel, the only of its kind in Romania, was opened on Sunday. Most tourists who have already booked an icy room, are foreigners. Music is the featured theme this year, at the 13th ice hotel built in the Fagaras Mountains, situated at over 2,000 m in altitude. Each of the fifteen rooms has been decorated with snow and ice sculptures featuring Romanian and international music stars.



    SAFETY – Some 23,000 policemen, gendarmes and fire-fighters are working on Christmas day, paying special heed to the prevention of severe public order incidents, containing anti-social behaviour, rendering traffic more easy, facilitating legal border crossing and managing emergency situations. Policemen and gendarmes will be present in crowded places, at fairs, trains stations, in resorts as well as in the proximity of the approximately 16,400 places of worship, where Christmas religious ceremonies are organised.



    OBITUARY – The President of the Romanian Academy, Ionel Valentin Vlad, has passed away, at the age of 74. An expert on lasers and holography, he furthered his studies in Paris. Ionel Valentin Vlad has been a researcher at the National Institute of Research and Development for Laser Physics in Magurele, near Bucharest, where he set up and led the Holography Laboratory. With a career spanning 50 years, Vlad was elected president of the Romanian Academy in 2014.



    SPORTS – Danish Helle Thomsen who is coaching both the Dutch national team and Romanias handball champion, CSM Bucharest, and Spanish Ambros Martin, who is coaching Romanias national team and the Hungarian team Gyor, are among the nominees for best international womens handball coach of the year 2017, in an end-of the year poll conducted by the portal Handball-Planet. Thomsen, who took over CSM Bucharest in summer and managed to bring the team to the main groups of the Champions League, got bronze medals with the Dutch team this month, at the World Championship in Germany. Martin only managed to take the national team to the eighth finals of the 2017 World Championship, the Romanian handball players sustaining a surprising defeat from the Czech Republic, but he won the Champions League in spring, with Gyor.



    MADRID – Spanish King, Felipe VI, has called on the newly elected members of the Catalan regional parliament, to avoid a new confrontation, after the secessionist attempt in autumn, which divided Catalan society and rocked Spain. In his Christmas message, the King called on the MPs in Barcelona to cope with the problems facing all Catalans, with respect for pluralism and showing responsible thinking for the good of all. The messages comes days after on Thursday, the election in Catalonia were won by pro-independence parties, even though the party which got most votes was Ciudadanos, Liberal, and opposed to Catalonias independence. Against the backdrop of the political crisis, the severest in the past 40 years in Spain, the secessionists led by Carles Puigdemont were sacked on October 27 by the head of the central government, conservative Mariano Rajoy. Earlier that month, they had organised a referendum for Catalonias independence, which was however banned by the Spanish justice.

  • October 28, 2017 UPDATE

    October 28, 2017 UPDATE

    SPAIN Romania reiterates its firm support for Spain’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, vehemently and irrevocably rejecting Catalonia’s unilateral declaration of independence, the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest says in a communiqué. Spain is Romania’s major ally and strategic partner, the communiqué also says, and the legitimacy of any process or action related to interior order should be according to the fundamental law and the legal order in that state. The Romanian Foreign Ministry reiterates Bucharest’s consistent stand in favour of complying with the international law, which rules out any territorial changes without the accord of the state involved. The main Western chancelleries have also voiced support for the authorities in Madrid. We recall that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has announced the sacking of the regional government, the dismantling of the Catalan Parliament and that regional elections are to be held on December 21st. The decisions were made on Friday evening, after the Catalan Parliament had voted in favour of a unilateral declaration of independence and the proclamation of the Catalan republic. The chief the Catalan police has been sacked and the region will be administered by Spanish vice-premier Soraya Saenz de Santamaria and controlled by 33 thousand agents, the BBC reports. The dismissed Catalan leader, Carles Puigdemont, on Saturday called for democratic opposition against Spain’s formal takeover of the region. In a televised address on Saturday, the separatist leader said that Madrid’s decision to suspend the province’s autonomy and appoint the Spanish Deputy Prime Minister as its provisionary head runs against the will of the people.



    TENNIS The world’s best tennis player Simona Halep of Romania is going to end the year in the first position of WTA rankings. Halep managed this performance after Danish Caroline Wozniacki had outperformed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the semis of the WTA Finals tournament in Singapore. Pliskova was the only one who could have outrun the Romanian player in the WTA standings had she won the Singapore tournament. In the finals on Sunday Wozniacki will be up against Venus Williams of the USA, who comes after a win against Caroline Garcia of France.



    USR MP Dan Barna is the new president of the opposition Save Romania Union (USR), the third largest political group in Parliament. With 127 votes, Barna has outrun his opponent Vlad Alexandrescu who gets only 50 votes during the party’s extraordinary session in Poiana Brasov, central Romania. We recall the former USR leader and founding father, Nicusor Dan, has left the group after it decided through an interior referendum to take a stand against a controversial initiative of the Pro-Family Coalition who campaigned for a Constitution amendment, which defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman. The initiative, which got support from 3 million Romanians, has been contested by NGOs who campaign for human rights in general and the right of sexual minorities in particular.



    DEMOTION Romania has been relegated from Group One of the Davis Cup’s Europe-Africa Zone after the Israeli pair made up of Dudi Sela and Jonathan Erlich on Saturday outperformed Romanians Vasile Antonescu and Bogdan Borza. After the first two days Israel is leading Romania 3-0 in the tie-matches hosted by Ramat Hasharon. This has been Romania’s first demotion since 1993. Sunday will see the last singles pitching Dudi Sela against Dragos Dima and Edan Leshem against Nicolae Frunza.



    WEATHER Romanian weathermen on Saturday issued a code orange alert for snowfalls and blizzard in the mountains and code yellow alert for gale-force winds and cold weather in almost all Romania until Monday night. Mixed precipitations are expected in the country’s north, centre and east. Maximum temperatures are to range between 5 and 15 degrees Celsius.


  • October 27, 2017 UPDATE

    October 27, 2017 UPDATE

    PRESIDENCY – Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, on Friday received Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, also in charge of Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. During the talks, the two officials approached issues related to the future of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), as well as about Romanias process of accession to the Euro zone. Klaus Iohannis expressed his countrys support for further consolidating the EMU and underlined that the future of the Euro zone is of special importance to Romania, considering its strategic objective to switch to the Euro as soon as possible. In turn, the European official briefed the Romanian President on the Commissions intention to come up in December with a package of proposals on the consolidation of the Economic and Monetary Union. It will also include the proposal to create a new financial assistance instrument for the member states willing to switch to the Euro.



    CATALONIA – Spains Senate on Friday approved the request of PM Mariano Rajoy to impose direct rule over secessionist Catalonia, a decision made just a couple of minutes after the Parliament in Barcelona unilaterally declared the regions independence from Spain. Rajoy will hold a cabinet meeting shortly to decide what measures to take. They could include the firing of the Catalan leaders, and the Spanish government taking control of the region’s finances, police and public media. All regional-political, economic and security structures will be directly subordinated to Madrid. Mariano Rajoy has launched an appeal for calm and warned that the Spanish state will soon restore constitutional order in Catalonia. Earlier, the Parliament in Barcelona adopted a resolution calling for “the beginning of a process of the creation of an independent Catalan state in the form of a republic. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and other members of the regional government attended the vote.



    COMMEMORATION – On October 30th Bucharest commemorates two years since the devastating fire that ripped through the Colectiv night club in the capital city where 64 people were killed and 100 wounded. The event is marked in Bucharest by the Colectiv Association through a procession called “the March of Guitars and two days of concerts. On October 30th, Radio Romania will broadcast a programme inspired from the tragedy, which is symbolically entitled ‘64. On this occasion, people are expected to voice their discontent for the belated court trial that has been postponed for the month of November, a decision that caused dissatisfaction among the victims families. We recall that the clubs owners and representatives of the company that had provided the pyrotechnic devices for the concert hosted by the club have been sent to court for manslaughter and violation of fire safety regulations. The former district mayor has also been sent to court for abuse of office along with employees from the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations for having failed to sanction the club for the absence of a fire safety certificate. We recall the tragedy sparked off large-scale anti-corruption rallies, which forced the Social-Democratic cabinet led by Victor Ponta to step down.



    DAVIS CUP – Israel has a 2-0 lead on Romania, after the first single tennis matches of the Davis Cup tie, with the winning team remaining in Europe/Africa Zone Group I. On Friday, in Ramat Hasharon, Dragos Dima (463 ATP) was defeated by Edan Leshem (285 ATP) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, and Dudi Sela (70 ATP) defeated Nicolae Frunză (600 ATP) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. In the doubles, the first match between Israels Dudi Sela/Jonathan Erlich and Romanias Vasile Antonescu /Bogdan Borza will be played on Saturday. On Sunday, in the singles, Sela faces Dima, and Leshem-Frunză. Romania lost both rounds played earlier this year 2-3 to Belarus and 1-4 to Austria, whereas Israel lost 5-0 to Portugal and 5-0 to Ukraine. Israel is trying to avoid relegation from Group I for the first time in the past 16 years, and Romania for the first time since 1993.



    TENNIS – First seeded and no.1 WTA, Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, on Friday failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the Champions Tournament in Singapore. In her last Red Group match, Halep sustained a 6-3, 6-4 defeat from Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. Also on Friday, in the other match of the Group, Frances Caroline Garcia defeated Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 0-6, 6-3, 7-5 and reached the semi-finals, where she will face American Venus Williams. In the other semi-final, the Czech Karolina Pliskova will face Caroline Wozniacki.

  • October 16, 2017 UPDATE

    October 16, 2017 UPDATE

    GOVT RESHUFFLE – The Presidential Administration Monday announced it received from PM Mihai Tudose the nominations for the new ministers, namely Paul Stănescu for the Development Ministry, Felix Stroe for the Transport Ministry and Marius Nica for the Ministry for European Funds. The nominations were made by the Social Democratic Party, the main party in the ruling coalition in Bucharest. The three are to replace the outgoing ministers Sevil Shhaideh, Rovana Plumb and Răzvan Cuc, who have decided to step down so that the activity of the Government may not be affected. Shhaideh and Plumb are prosecuted for corruption-related offences, while Cuc was criticised for the inadequate performance of his ministry. The junior partner in the ruling coalition, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, has announced the party will not withraw support for Viorel Ilie, the minister in charge with liaising with Parliament, who is probed into for influence peddling.




    SANCTIONS – The EU foreign ministers adopted, in Mondays Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg, new sanctions against North Korea in response to Pyongyangs nuclear test in early September. Among other things, the sanctions include bans on oil exports and on all EU investments in DPRK in all sectors, and lowering the remittances that the North Koreans working in the EU may transfer home, from 15,000 euros at present to 5,000 euros. Romania was represented at the meeting by Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu. The agenda of the talks also included other topics, such as the Iranian nuclear deal and the situation in Turkey.




    DEFENCE – The Romanian Defence Minister, Mihai Fifor, Monday had a meeting with the US Congressmen Steve Russell and Matt Cartwright, who are currently in Bucharest. The talks focused on security at the Black Sea and the development of the strategic partnership between Romania and the US in the defence sector. According to the Romanian Defence Ministry, Mihai Fifor emphasised the importance of a coordinated approach on the entire eastern flank of NATO, and underlying Romanias role as a predictable and solid partner in ensuring Euro-Atlantic stability and security. The participants appreciated the excellent cooperation between the Romanian and American forces in the exercises taking place as part of the Alliance and in the NATO theatres.




    VESSEL – Two Romanians onboard a vessel held in the Libyan port of Tobrouk were repatriated on Monday, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced. According to the institution, since the case was notified the Romanian Embassy to Tripoli, which has been relocated to Tunis, has made numerous efforts to clarify the situation of the two Romanian citizens, contacting both the local authorities and the ship owner. The Romanian diplomatic mission was also in permanent contact with the commander of the ship and with the Romanian citizens and their families. In order to avoid similar situations in the future, the Foreign Ministry urges the Romanian sailors interested in working on vessels belonging to foreign owners to get thoroughly informed on the status of the respective vessels and to find employers via crewing agencies accredited by the Romanian Naval Authority.





    TRADE WINDS – The largest trade promotion event organized annually by the American Department of Commerce, Trade Winds, will bring to Bucharest between October 18-20 as many as 100 American companies which will get in contact with over 50 Romanian companies. Participating in the event are big American companies such as IBM, Patriot – Raytheon, Kestral, Harris Corporation (space intelligence), SAS Institute (software), Perry Baromedical Corporation (a producer of medical equipment) as well SMEs from the US which are of interest for Romania especially in terms of know-how transfer and innovation. The event will be attended by the Romanian PM and several other ministers. According to a government news release, the initiative of the American Department of Commerce to organize the 10th edition of Trade Winds in Romania and another 4 states in South-eastern Europe, namely Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Serbia, proves the importance the US Administration attaches to this region and to Bucharest in particular.




    SPAIN – Catalonias regional president Carles Puigdemont, has announced in a letter to Madrid that his government was seeking a two-month respite, for further talks with Spains central government. PM Mariano Rajoy had given the secessionist authorities of Catalonia until Monday to confirm whether the region had declared its independence from Spain, and until Thursday to abandon its secession plans altogether. Reuters says that without a clear answer on Monday, Madrid may impose direct control on Catalonia. In the octombrie 1 referendum, ruled illegal by the Spanish national court and marred by police violence, nearly 2 million out of Catalonias 5.3 million voters, with 90% of the votes in favour of secession.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • October 12, 2017

    October 12, 2017

    GOVT RESHUFFLE – The National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party, the main party in the coalition in power in Romania, convenes today to discuss the government reshuffle requested by PM Mihai Tudose. During the same meeting, the relations between the government and the party are to be clarified. Over the past few days the PM has discussed the reshuffle both with President Klaus Iohannis, and with the Social Democratic leader, Liviu Dragnea. The names the most frequently mentioned in the media in relation to the reshuffle are Sevil Shhaideh, deputy PM and Minister for Regional Development, and Rovana Plumb, minister delegate for European funds, both of them members of the Social Democratic Party and prosecuted for corruption offences. The minister in charge with liaising with Parliament, Viorel Ilie, a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, is also in a similar situation. Other ministers with image problems may also be replaced.




    PACE – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is discussing in an emergency meeting in Strasbourg today Ukraines new and controversial education law. The talk, proposed by the Romanian delegation with support from 5 other national delegations, comes after Ukraine enacted a law that severely restricts access to mother tongue education for ethnic minorities in that country. Senator Titus Corlăţean, the head of the Romanian delegation and also a vice-president of PACE, told Radio Romanias correspondent in Strasbourg that he was hoping for a fair debate, able to persuade the Ukrainian authorities to amend the law. Under the new legislation, ethnic minority children will be able to study in their respective mother tongues only in kindergarten and primary schools, and then they will have to study in Ukrainian exclusively. On Wednesday, the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, promised PACE that Kiev would bring the new act in line with all the conclusions of the Venice Commission and would comply with the European Charter for regional or minority languages. Nearly half a million ethnic Romanians live in the neighbouring country, most of them in the Romanian territories annexed by the USSR in 1940, further to an ultimatum, and taken over by Ukraine as a successor state in 1991.




    AUTOMOTIVE – President Klaus Iohannis and PM Mihai Tudose took part on Thursday in the launch of the new Ford Ecosport model, at the Ford plant in Craiova, southern Romania. The head of state said that, by attending the event, he intends to convey a strong message of support for the automotive industry in Romania, which is growing increasingly competitive and has a better and better image in the European market. Since it took over the plant in 2008, Ford has invested over one billion euros in the production unit in Romania. More than 2,800 people are employed by Ford Craiova. The biggest carmaker in Romania is Automobile Dacia, based in Pitesti, in the south, taken over by the French group Renault in 1999. Over 13,500 people are working for this company, which has a turnover of over 4.3 billion euros.




    SPAIN – Spain is celebrating its National Day today, amid tensions between the separatist authorities of Catalonia and the central government in Madrid. PM Mariano Rajoy gave the regional Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont until Monday to give up plans to declare the regions independence, otherwise Catalonia would see its local autonomy suspended. Rajoy accused the Catalan government of having generated one of the most difficult times in Spains democracy and of having staged a very dangerous attack against the Constitution, the unity of Spain, the Catalan state and, most importantly, against Spains people living together.




    MOLDOVA – The European Union announced it would not grant the Republic of Moldova the remaining 28 million euros under the reform programme, intended for changes in the field of the judiciary. The Union believes the Government in Chisinau has failed to meet the conditions requested by Brussels. The EU delegation in Moldova mentions in a news release that the authorities in Moldova have shown poor commitment for reform, have not allotted enough funding and staff and, as a result, progress in terms of judicial reforms has been insufficient. Last week, PM Pavel Filip announced Moldova would no longer receive this years instalment of the 100 million euro aid programme provided by the EU. He admitted that the measure had been prompted by Chisinaus decision to change the election system for the forthcoming parliamentary elections, in such a manner as to favour the major parties.




    HANDBALL – The Romanian womens handball champions CSM Bucharest Wednesday night outplayed the Polish side Vistal Gdynia, 34-23, in an away game in Champions League Group A. This is the second win for CSM, after on Saturday night they defeated the Slovenians Krim Mercator Ljubljana, 30-18 at home. The Romanian side are next to play Nykoebing Falster Handboldklub of Denmark, on October 22. CSM Bucharest won the Champions League in 2016, when it first took part in the competition, and is one of the favourites to win this inter-club competition.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • October 8, 2017 UPDATE

    October 8, 2017 UPDATE

    NATO — The NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, is coming to Bucharest on Monday, when he is to discuss with President Klaus Iohannis about the forthcoming NATO summit and the status of its eastern flank. The two officials will take part together in the opening of the plenary meeting of the 63rd session of NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly. More than 50 delegations from NATO member or partner countries are taking part in the session hosted by the Romanian capital city. Members of the Romanian Government have already addressed the participants, pleading for closer cooperation between the Allies. Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu warned that the buildup of Russian forces at the Black Sea does not target this region alone, but also the Mediterranean and the Middle East, while the Defence Minister Mihai Fifor argued that simplified procedures and legislation in European countries would facilitate the movement of NATO troops from one country to another, allowing for easier participation in exercises involving large numbers of troops and equipment.



    LEGISLATION — The leaders of the Social Democratic Party and Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, the two parties in the ruling coalition, will discuss next week the final texts of the laws on the judiciary. After that, according to the Social Democratic president Liviu Dragnea, the new legislation will be discussed in Parliament. Dragnea says the justice minister Tudorel Toader is drawing closer to finalising the new legislative package. Heavily criticised by the Opposition, civil society and the mass media, and disapproved of by the Higher Council of Magistrates, Toader’s draft laws stipulate, among other things, that the president of the country will no longer be involved in the appointment of the Prosecutor General and the chiefs of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism. The bills also make the judicial inspection corps subordinated to the Justice Ministry, and increase the length in office required for the promotion of magistrates.



    SPAIN — Hundreds of thousands once again took to the streets on Sunday in Barcelona, to call for unity and protest the planned secession of Catalonia. The Nobel-winning Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who is a Spanish citizen as well, was among the protesters. Employers organisations in Catalonia have also voiced concerns over the separatist intentions of the regional government, announced after last week’s referendum. Rulled illegal by the Spanish constitutional court, and marred by police violence, the referendum brough 2 million out of Catalonia’s 5.3 million people to polls, and 90% of the votes were in favour of secession.



    TENNIS — The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep Sunday lost the Beijing tournament final to Caroline Garcia (France), 6-4, 7-6. On Saturday, in the semi-finals, Halep had defeated Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, a victory thanks to which as of Monday Halep is the new WTA no 1. Her performance was hailed by top personalities in Romanian and world sports, Romanian politicians and tennis fans. Simona Halep’s coach, the Australian Darren Cahill, the great gymnast Nadia Comăneci and former tennis player Boris Becker of Germany were among those who congratulated Simona Halep. According to Romanian tennis player Ilie Năstase, WTA no 1 in the ‘70s, the hardest is yet to come for Simona Halep, the first Romanian tennis player to have won the top world position in the women’s singles.



    HANDBALL — Romania’s women’s handball champions CSM Bucharest started the 2017-2018 Champions League season with a clear home win against Slovenians Krim Ljubljana, 30-18. In the other Group A game, the Danish side Nykobing Falster outplayed the Polish Vistal Gdynia, 27-21. In the next match in the group, CSM will play in Gdynia, on October 11. In the men’s competition, CSM Bucharest lost at home, 26-30, against SKA Minsk, of Belarus, in the first leg of the second round of the EHF Cup. The decisive leg will be played on October 15, in Minsk.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • October 8, 2017

    October 8, 2017

    NATO – The current session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly continues in Bucharest today, with works in the organisations five committees, covering democratic governance, defence and security, science and technology, and the civil and economic dimensions of security. Among other things, participants will adopt a document on stability and security at the Black Sea, another one on strengthening the NATO – EU cooperation and a report on maintaining the Alliances technological lead. Yesterday in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting, the Romanian Defence Minister, Mihai Fifor, said Romania should be a Schengen country in order for the Allied troops to be more easily deployed in Europe in case of conflict. In turn, the Romanian chief of staff, General Nicolae Ciucă, said Russias moves, the crisis in Ukraine and the trans-national threats posed by terrorism and migration undermine the stability of the region and that all NATO member countries must stay alert.




    ROMANIA-USA – Carrying on the strategic partnership with the USA was one of the topics discussed in Bucharest yesterday by PM Mihai Tudose with members of the US Congress. Tudose said Romania would remain a reliable partner for the US and NATO. The head of the Romanian Government also emphasised that Romania was a pillar of regional stability and security, and mentioned the contribution of the Romanian Army in NATOs missions. In turn, the US Congress members offered support for the energy security projects that Bucharest intends to implement. The Chamber of Deputies Speaker Liviu Dragnea also talked with the American delegation. He discussed the importance of including Romania in the Visa Waiver programme and the means to broaden the excellent political and military cooperation into the economic sector as well.




    SPAIN – Large-scale rallies against Catalan independence are scheduled to take place today in Barcelona. The well-known writer Mario Vargas Llosa announced he would take part in the protest, and called Catalan separatism a ‘disease. Yesterday, tens of thousands protested across Spain, calling for unity and dialogue, against the background of Catalan separatist plans to unilaterally declare the regions independence in the coming days. The secession plan comes after a referendum, ruled illegal by Spains supreme court, was held last Sunday, amid violent police actions that left behind some 900 people injured. In spite of Madrids efforts to block the referendum, over 2.2 million out of the regions 5.3 million citizens went to polls, and 90% of them voted for Catalonia to break away from Spain. According to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, quoted by Reuters and AFP, PM Mariano Rajoy said the Government might use its constitutional powers to suspend Catalonias autonomy and prevent it from declaring its independence.





    TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep was defeated today by Caroline Garcia (France), 6-4, 7-6, in the Beijing tournament final. Yesterday, in the semi-finals, Halep beat Latvias Jelena Ostapenko, a victory thanks to which as of Monday Halep is the new WTA no 1. Her performance was hailed by top personalities in Romanian and world sports, Romanian politicians and tennis fans. Simona Haleps coach, the Australian Darren Cahill, the great gymnast Nadia Comăneci and former tennis player Boris Becker of Germany were among those who congratulated Simona Halep. According to Romanian tennis player Ilie Năstase, WTA no 1 in the ‘70s, the hardest is yet to come for Simona Halep, the first Romanian tennis player to have won the top world position in the womens singles.




    WEATHER – Temperatures remain low today in Romania, with substantial rainfalls expected until tonight in the south and south-east, which are under a code yellow alert for bad weather. A code yellow alert for floods is in place for the rivers in this part of the country, where experts warn local flooding, flash floods and landslides may occur. Snowfalls are reported in the mountains. The highs of the day range between 7 and 19 degrees Celsius.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • October 6, 2017 UPDATE

    October 6, 2017 UPDATE

    UNIONS – Trade unions Friday failed to reach an agreement with the Government in Bucharest over demands to give up the planned transfer of social security payment obligations from employers to employees. The head of the Cartel Alfa trade union confederation, Bogdan Hossu, said the Government was not interested in finding another solution and insisted instead on keeping this measure in place, which, Hossu argued, would lead to a fall in salaries. Taking part in the talks were also the trade unions in the healthcare sector, which demand, among other things, changes in the law on public sector salaries and the reintroduction of meal vouchers as of January 1.



    NATO – Romania will remain a responsible and active member of the North-Atlantic Alliance, the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu said on Friday during a meeting with the head of NATOs Parliamentary Assembly, Paolo Alli. Romania is one of the most important partners of NATO and Euro-Atlantic security, Alli said on the other hand, at the opening conference of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting held for 4 days in Bucharest. Not only has Romania managed to invest 2% of its GDP into defence, but it also contributes to the missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and has implemented ballistic missile defence systems, the NATO official mentioned. Taking part in the 63rd annual meeting of the NATO PA are more than 50 delegations from NATO member or partner countries. The main topics approached are the Alliances operations in Afghanistan, the NATO — EU relations, security at the Black Sea, the situation in East Asia and the humanitarian crisis in Syria and Iraq.



    SPAIN – The Government of Spain Friday asked Catalonia to dissolve its parliament and to hold regional elections in order to overcome the crisis dividing the country. Previously, the Catalan Foreign Minister, Raul Romeva, had said the Parliament of Catalonia would convene on Monday to decide on the unilateral proclamation of the regions independence. On Thursday the Constitutional Court of Spain suspended a session of the regional legislative body. Meanwhile on Thursday the PM of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, said the only solution to resolve the conflict was for Catalonia to give up its plan to declare its independence, and return to what he called “legality. In turn, the European Commission senior vice-president Frans Timmermans called for dialogue and reiterated that the dispute was a matter of Spanish domestic politics.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • The Challenges of Migration and Violence against Women

    The Challenges of Migration and Violence against Women

    A signatory of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women, Romania has also had, since 2012, a law against domestic violence, which, among other things, enables women to get restraining orders against their abusers. Still, statistics are not at all encouraging: 30% of the Romanian women have experienced a form of physical and/or sexual violence, but only 23% of them have reported the more serious incidents to the police. In fact, unfortunately, violence against women is a lot more common in Europe than one might think.



    With the women who leave Romania for better-paid jobs or better living standards in other EU countries, violence takes specific forms, says Silvia Dumitrache, president of the Association of Romanian Women in Italy: “Many of the women who reach Italy have already been the victims of domestic violence in their home country, and this is in fact one of the reasons why many of them leave Romania. A first form of violence experienced by the women who emigrate has to do with the separation from their family and children. Not all women are aware of this, more often than not they are willing to sacrifice, and many times they don’t have a choice. Another form of violence is that they have to live isolated, secluded in their houses, they have no social life and no privacy. This is the case with the women who work as residential housekeepers in Italy. They have one day a week off, but no private life whatsoever. Sometimes they have no official employment contracts, which is another form of abuse.”



    Many Romanian women working in Italy are the victims of a very special form of violence: human trafficking for labour purposes. Some of these cases, which can easily be described as cases of modern slavery, have been covered by international media, as is the case of the women working in the province of Ragusa, in Sicily.



    Silvia Dumitrache is back at the microphone with details: “In that area in particular most of them are women. Unfortunately, most of these women are Romanian. They live in terrible conditions, in improvised homes with cardboard walls, sometimes together with their children. There, in Sicily, they hardly have access to drinking water or Internet connection to communicate, get information and seek help. They live isolated, kilometers away from the nearest locality. They don’t even have access to medical units. Children do not go to school. Moreover, given that this way of living is not recognized as such in Italy, these people do not even have documents for legal stay in this country. In fact, they don’t even exist as far as Italian authorities are concerned.”



    Sabina left Romania in 2003, when she quit her job as a geography teacher and moved with her husband to Spain. After 14 years spent in that country she started working at a center for the victims of domestic violence in the capital Madrid. It was there that she came to truly understand the traumas of women that fell victim to domestic violence and, thanks to the director of that center, she even came to understand her own traumas.



    Sabina: “I found myself in a rather difficult situation once, but I did not go to any shelter or recuperation center, although I could have. This is how we, the Romanian women, have been educated, not to go to the police, not to make any denouncement or tell anyone what’s happening to us. Still, I got myself to telling my story. I’ve been subjected to psychological domestic violence. I graduated from a Romanian university. The fact that I could no longer practice my profession while in Spain kind of depressed me a little bit. I came to Spain against my will, as I am and have been alone here, without my relatives. I had to do only what I was ordered, there were always arguments.“



    Her life was fully dominated by her ex husband, Sabina says. How did she manage to escape this domination? First of all she received psychological help, as she confesses: “My boss sent me to therapy. I had to discuss with a psychologist who was specialized in domestic violence. This is how I realized that I did have a problem, something that I had been unaware of. I initially thought that the problems related to money, kids, the daily stress and additional problems such as the fact that we did not live in that apartment by ourselves, prevented me from understanding what I was going through. I somehow had to keep things to myself, because had I started telling my parents, sister or in-laws about what I was going through I would have been the one to blame for being crazy or mean. I’ve seen many cases of abuse and in the five years that I’ve been working at the center I heard many stories of traumatized women. When you depend on another person emotionally, in my case my ex husband, and when you do your best to make things work and prevent bad things from happening, being convinced that if they happened, it would be your fault — all these things make you forget about yourself and lose your self-esteem.”



    Alongside emotional and psychological effects, violence against women also has economic consequences. According to the European Institute for Gender Equality, the cost of domestic violence alone stands at 109 billion euros per year, including the cost of medical assistance, specialized services for the protection of women and also the economic costs caused by their absence from work.

  • October 4, 2017

    October 4, 2017

    UNIONS – One of Romanias largest trade union confederations, Cartel Alfa, is holding in Bucharest today a protest rally in front of the Government headquarters in Bucharest. The unionists main reason for discontent has to do with the transfer of social security payments from employers to employees. On the other hand, they demand a restart of negotiations and the closing of collective bargaining agreements at all levels. Unionists are also unhappy with the Law on public sector salaries and the Social Dialogue Act. According to Cartel Alfa, some 10,000 people are to take part in the rally. During September 25 to 29, similar protests were held in several other Romanian cities.




    PARLIAMENT – The Chamber of Deputies in the Parliament of Romania is discussing and voting today on a simple motion tabled by the National Liberal Party and Save Romania Union, in the Opposition, on the subject of transport infrastructure. The debate had been scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed at the request of PM Mihai Tudose, who announced Parliament that the Transport Minister Razvan Cuc was taking part in a joint meeting of the Governments of Romania and Bulgaria. Entitled ‘Romanias transport infrastructure is controlled by Social Democratic Party interests. Disillusion, demagogy and discouragement, the motion is aimed at dismissing Minister Razvan Cuc, accused of faulty management and lack of professionalism, as well as of blocking several major infrastructure projects.




    BANKS – The National Bank of Romania moved in the interbank market and lent a rough 2 billion euros to commercial banks, at 1.75% interest. The central bank did this after on Tuesday the 3-month Robor index, based on which most interest rates on loans in the national currency are calculated, had gone up for the 15th consecutive day, to 1.8%, the highest level since November 2014. We have more on this after the news.




    GERMANY – The reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990, paved the way for the unification of Europe as a whole, the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday night, at a dinner given by the Embassy of Germany in Bucharest. Himself a member of the German ethnic community in Romania, the President emphasised that the bilateral relation was a solid, strategic one, based on concrete achievements and on the will to build together a better European future. Iohannis also said that Romania, a Francophone country with a substantial German cultural heritage, must stand united with the French-German engine of the European Union.




    SPAIN – The European Parliament is discussing today, in an emergency session, the crisis in Spain further to Sundays Catalan independence referendum. The European Commission said repeatedly that this was a Spanish domestic politics issue, but Catalan officials insisted for EU mediation in the matter. The head of Catalonias Government, the secessionist Carles Puigdemont, said the region would proclaim its independence within days. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in Spain, King Felipe has given the okay for suspending Catalan autonomy. He accused the authorities in Barcelona of lack of loyalty, and reiterated that Sundays vote was illegal.




    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep (2 WTA) has today managed a major victory against the Russian Maria Sharapova (104 WTA), 6-2, 6-2, in the eighth-finals of the Beijing tournament, which has 6.4 million US dollars in total prize money. This is Simonas first win against Sharapova in 8 matches. Now, Simona Halep has a new chance to become no 1 in the world, overtaking Spains Garbiñe Muguruza, who withdrew from the tournament in the first round. Also today, in the 16th-finals, another Romanian player, Monica Niculescu (65 WTA) has been defeated by the Chinese Shuai Peng (25 WTA), 6-3, 6-2. The third Romanian player in this tournament, Sorana Cirstea (44 WTA), is playing on Thursday, also in the eighth-finals, against the Czech player Karolina Pliskova (4 WTA).


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • September 30, 2017 UPDATE

    September 30, 2017 UPDATE

    VISIT – The United States is probing North Korea to see whether it is interested in dialogue and has multiple direct channels of communication with Pyongyang, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Saturday. Tillerson met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his counterpart Wang Yi. In China, the US official also prepares President Trump’s planned visit to the region. In the last few months the Trump administration has publicly accused China, Pyongyang’s main ally, of not putting enough pressure on its North-Korean neighbour to give up its nuclear ambitions. On Thursday, the Chinese minister of trade announced that China ordered North Korean companies in the country to shut down by January as it applies UN sanctions imposed following Pyongyangs sixth nuclear test. The announcement came days after China confirmed that it would apply another major part of the sanctions – a limit on exports of refined petroleum products to North Korea starting October 1 and a ban on textiles from its neighbour.




    ENERGY – Electricity prices in Romania will increase by an average of 0.75 Euros/ 100 kilowatts as of October 1st, the National Energy Regulatory Authority, ANRE, has announced. ANRE also says that natural gas prices for domestic consumers may increase by 6%, also as of October 1st. Fuel excise will also go up starting October 1st for the second time in two weeks. Consequently, most services and products, food in particular, will become more expensive.




    SUMMIT — The European Council President Donald Tusk will hold consultations over the next two weeks with all member states on initiatives to reform the European Union after Brexit. The announcement was made after the summit in Tallinn, Estonia, where the heads of state and government voiced disappointment with the slow pace of the Brexit negotiations. Talks were held on the sidelines of the Digital Summit focusing on digital economy and society, attended by EU heads of state and government. Leaders discussed the Commissions recent proposals for strengthening the EU’s cybersecurity and setting out measures towards a fair taxation of the digital economy. The latest cyber attacks on Europe have triggered economic problems, which have in turn led to significant financial losses, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said during his speech at the informal European Council digital summit. The president said that, without a common and fast intervention at European level, cyber attacks might severely affect the Unions economy and security.




    GOVERNMENT – Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose discussed on Sunday with a delegation headed by Karl-Heinz Lambertz, the president of the European Committee of the Regions. According to a government release, the meeting’s agenda included topics such as the importance of the European cohesion policy for Romania and drawing funds through financing programmes for regional development and cohesion. Also discussed were the major challenges facing Europe, such as migration, security issues and the need to put in line the stipulations of the Stability Pact with the regions’ needs for development and investment.




    INVICTUS GAMES — Romania, having taken part for first time in the Invictus Games in Toronto, Canada, scooped a number of medals and prizes. Thus, two Romanians, major Laurentiu Serban and lieutenant Ciprian Iriciuc won bronze in the indoor rowing competition, while the team made up of Ionut Butoi, Dorin Petru and Nicusor Pegulescu won gold in the archery final. Ionut Butoi also won silver in the individual archery final. The Invictus Games is the only sporting event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women. Invictus Team Romania is made up of 15 soldiers wounded in theatres of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.




    GOLD MEDAL – The Romanian lightweight women’s double-sculls crew, made up of Ionela Livia Lehaci and Gianina Elena Beleaga won gold on Sunday at the World Rowing Championships, hosted by Sarasota — Brandenton, the United States. Romania has a total of six crews enrolled in the competition. (Translated by Elena Enache)


  • September 30, 2017

    September 30, 2017

    REFERENDUM – Tens of thousands of Catalan separatists have taken part in a final rally ahead of Sundays planned referendum on independence from Spain. Catalonias pro-independence government is planning to hold the referendum despite Spain deeming it illegal. Masses of referendum materials have been confiscated by police in recent weeks and officials involved in running the campaign face prosecution. Police across Catalonia have been ordered to prevent public buildings being used as polling stations on Sunday. However, the Catalan government said on Friday it planned to open more than 2,000 polling stations. Catalonia, a wealthy region of 7.5 million people in north-eastern Spain has its own language and culture, and a high degree of autonomy, but is not recognised as a separate nation under the Spanish constitution.





    SUMMIT — The European Council President Donald Tusk will hold consultations over the next two weeks with all member states on initiatives to reform the European Union after Brexit. The announcement was made after the summit in Tallinn, Estonia, where the heads of state and government voiced disappointment with the slow pace of the Brexit negotiations. Talks were held on the sidelines of the Digital Summit focusing on digital economy and society, attended by EU heads of state and government. Leaders discussed the Commissions recent proposals for strengthening the EU’s cybersecurity and setting out measures towards a fair taxation of the digital economy. The latest cyber attacks on Europe have triggered economic problems, which have in turn led to significant financial losses, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said during his speech at the informal European Council digital summit. The president said that, without a common and fast intervention at European level, cyber attacks might severely affect the Unions economy and security.





    VISIT – The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Beijing over September 28 — October 1 to meet with senior Chinese leaders. Tillerson will discuss a range of issues, including President Trumps planned travel to the region, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and trade and investment. Secretary Tillerson’s visit to China reaffirms the US Administration’s commitment to further broaden and enhance economic and security interests in the Asia-Pacific region. Over the past few months the Trump administration has publicly accused China, Pyongyang’s main ally, of not putting enough pressure on its North-Korean neighbour to give up its nuclear ambitions. On Thursday, the Chinese minister of trade announced that China ordered North Korean companies in the country to shut down by January as it applies UN sanctions imposed following Pyongyangs sixth nuclear test. The announcement came days after China confirmed that it would apply another major part of the sanctions – a limit on exports of refined petroleum products to North Korea starting October 1 and a ban on textiles from its neighbour.





    INVICTUS GAMES — Romania, having taken part for first time in the Invictus Games in Toronto, Canada, scooped a number of medals and prizes. Thus, two Romanians, major Laurentiu Serban and lieutenant Ciprian Iriciuc won bronze in the indoor rowing competition, while the team made up of Ionut Butoi, Dorin Petru and Nicusor Pegulescu won gold in the archery final. Ionut Butoi also won silver in the individual archery final. The Invictus Games is the only sporting event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women. Invictus Team Romania is made up of 15 soldiers wounded in theatres of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.





    ROBOR – The Romanian Interbank Offer Rate, on the basis of which interests for loans in the Romanian currency are calculated, has reached the level of 1.58%. According to the National Bank of Romania, this is the highest level registered since January 2015. This rate, known as ROBOR, started to grow rapidly in mid September, which, specialists say, will in turn trigger a growth in interest rates. In another development, the Central Bank has announced that the net foreign direct investment flow last year exceeded 4.5 billion Euros, and the final balance on December 31st 2016 stood at 70.1 billion. (Translated by Elena Enache)





  • Romanian rugby, an unprecedented success

    Romanian rugby, an unprecedented success

    It may not have the status and reputation of the team that caused a great furor in the 1980s, when it used to play memorable games against the then great European teams, yet the national rugby team has recently registered a most notable success.



    This past Sunday, following the narrow, 8-7 win against Georgia in Bucharest, Romania emerged as winner of this year’s Rugby Europe Championship, the second-tier European inter-nations competitions. However, the competition stands way below the Six Nations Championship.



    Following the 38-41 defeat they sustained against Germany in the debut fixture, which acted as a wake-up call for the Romanians to regain their poise and resolve for their remaining fixtures in the aforementioned event, the national squad beat Spain, 13-3, then they thrashed Russia, 31-10, and went on to crush Belgium, 33-17.



    According to the final rankings, the Romanian national rugby team ended the competition on a par with Georgia, as each team had 19 points on their record sheet. However, the Oaks, as they are also known, won the tournament, thanks to their direct confrontation win.



    Romania also took an important step forward ahead of their participation in the 2019 edition of the World Cup, which is held every four years and which the Oaks have never missed out on, so far.



    In another move, thanks to the success in the match against Georgia, an all-time as well as a regional rival, the Romanians have also won the Antim Ivireanu Cup, a trophy that goes to the winning side in direct confrontations, on a yearly basis. No less than seven years have the Oaks been waiting to grab a win against Georgia, a team pundits describe as having made a tremendous progress in the last decade and which is highly likely to gain a place among the Six Nations Championship hopefuls.



    Although is suffers from chronic under-financing, just like many other sports disciplines, Romanian rugby is alive and kicking; our players were able to put on remarkable shows thus compelling recognition at European level. Furthermore, the 4,000 fans attending the match against Georgia stand proof of the fact that rugby can still stir an interest in its fans and not only. And all that, in a country where football remains the unchallenged king of sports and where stands are empty even for first league rugby games. Even under such circumstances, and deprived of a level of financing capable of providing a safe future, Romanian rugby continues to churn out players who are held in high esteem in strong European championships across Europe.



    For instance, as early as the 1990s, the French domestic championship, described as a first-rate one, has signed up Romanian rugby players on a regular basis. To date, there are a few Oaks playing in France, while other Romanian rugby players have been included in the line-ups of Italian or English sides.



  • October 20, 2016 UPDATE

    October 20, 2016 UPDATE

    OFFICIAL TALKS – The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, had talks with the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, on Thursday, on the sidelines of the European Council meeting in Brussels. After the meeting, the President of Romania said that Bucharest was interested in the future of the Romanian citizens living in the UK, particularly after that country leaves the Union. Iohannis added that the Romanians living in Britain must not be subject to pressure. In turn, the British PM assured the Romanian official that she would be personally involved in making sure that there would be no incidents involving Romanian citizens. The European leaders attending the Council meeting, which is due to end on Friday, will discuss, among others, means to manage the migration and the Unions foreign relations, particularly the one with Russia.




    SPAIN – Spain marked five years on Thursday since the separatist group ETA, which had waged a violent campaign for Basque independence for decades, announced the “definitive cessation of its armed campaign. More than 800 people were killed over the years in ETA attacks. Three hundred members of the group, which is yet to decommission its weapons, are still detained in Spanish prisons.




    TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu (51 WTA), Thursday qualified into the semi-finals of the tournament in Luxembourg, with 250,000 USD in prize money, after Danish Caroline Wozniacki (17 WTA) withdrew from the match. On Friday, Niculescu is to play the Dutch Kiki Bertens (22 WTA). Meanwhile, also on Thursday, the Romanian Marius Copil, no 198 in the world, defeated the Belgian Steve Darcis (120 ATP), 2-0, in the second round of the competition in Antwerp (Belgium), with nearly 600,000 euros in total prize money.