Romania needs a new country project that should establish its place within the EU on medium and long term – said Monday the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis fresh from a second round of talks in Bucharest with the PM Dacian Cioloş, the governor of the national bank, Mugur Isărescu, and the leaders of the parliamentary parties. According to President Iohannis, all the leaders of the parliamentary parties invited at the talks agreed to draft this project, which can become functional if and only if it had political consensus. This was the second round of talks initiated by the Romanian President. The first took place on June 24, one day after the Brexit referendum.
The Government of Romania is working on a strategy for the development of the country, PM Dacian Cioloş announced on Monday. Attending the Forum of Local Public Administration, held in Bucharest, he said he would like this strategy, entitled “Polycentric Romania 2035”, to be a framework for regional development. Cioloş added that clearer legislation is needed in terms of the resources allotted to local authorities, given that squander, incompetence and corruption make the spending of these funds rather inefficient. De-centralizing certain fields, like agriculture, tourism, youth and sports and encouraging inter-community associations are among the priorities of the Government, Cioloş said.
The Romanian Defense minister, Mihnea Motoc, on Monday met in Belgium with General Curtis Scaparrotti, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe. The talks focused on recent developments regarding regional and international security. In the run up to the NATO summit to be held in Warsaw on July 8th and 9th, minister Motoc pointed to the need for a consistent, coherent and proportional approach for the entire eastern flank of the Alliance, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. The issue of strengthening the military presence in the East, started by NATO in 2014, will be one of the central topics of the upcoming summit, which will be followed by a new NATO-Russia meeting meant to improve dialogue and avoid military incidents. The announcement was made Monday by NATO’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg. The latest NATO-Russia Council took place on April 20.
Nigel Farage, the leader of the Eurosceptic and anti-immigration UK Independence Party announced on Monday that he was standing down as leader of this party. He has said he has never been and has never wanted to be a professional politician, his purpose in politics being to take Great Britain out of the EU. It is not the first time Farage gives up the UKIP leadership. He resigned in 2009 and 2015, but later he changed his mind. Aged 52, Nigel Farage has been a member of UKIP since the setting up of the party in 1993 and an MP since 1999. Following his resignation, the Brexit camp losses another big supporter. Last week the former London mayor, Boris Johnson, withdrew from race to become Britain’s PM, after David Cameron’s resignation.
The best ranking Romanian woman tennis player Simona Halep (5 WTA) on Monday qualified for the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament. She defeated in three sets 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 the American Madison Keys, world’s no. 9 player. In the quarterfinals, Simona Halep will play against the German Angelique Kerber, (4 WTA). Also on Monday the pair made up of Romanian Florin Mergea and Indian Rohan Bopanna was eliminated in the eighth finals of the men’s doubles by the pair Henri Kontinen (Finland)/John Peers (Australia).
(news translated by Lacramioara Simion)