Category: Newsflash

Some 150 graduates of a high school in Bucharest will be heard by the prosecutors on Monday in a file relating to the rigging of the baccalaureate. On Friday, after taking the last test of the baccalaureate, 100 other students were taken to the prosecutors’ offices for hearings. Following the scandal, the headmaster of the high school has been taken into custody for 29 days. Other high schools in Romania also raised suspicions of baccalaureate riggings in the past and the prosecutors started investigations. This year, hundreds of high school students were taken out of the examination rooms, as they were caught cheating on the exam. Over 187 thousand students took the baccalaureate. The final results will be made public on Monday, and contestations will be filed on the same day.

The first edition of the International Jazz Festival continued in Timisoara, western Romania, on Saturday with the performances of Handmade Mario/The Teachers, Manu Delago and Kurt Elling. The festival hosted by Timisoara has attracted prominent international jazz musicians, among whom, Macy Gray, David Murray, Richard Bona and Ilhan Ersahin. The event has been organized in an effort to make Timisoara better known outside the borders of the country, given that the city is running in the competition for the title of 2021 European Capital of Culture.

The 50th edition of Romania’s Cycling Tour came to a close in Bucharest on Saturday with the victory of Ukrainian Vitali Buts.Eduard Grosu has been designated the best Romanian cyclist. Over 130 cyclists from 13 countries took part in the competition. The six-stage program covered an overall distance of 1,000 kilometers and a difference in altitude of 2,000 meters. The 2013 edition included an easier route than in the previous years, because it did not include the roads situated at the highest altitude in Romania: Transfagaras and Transalpina.

103 Romanian athletes are participating in the 27th edition of the World University Summer Games in Kazan, Russia, which kick started on Saturday. The Romanian athletes will participate in the first sporting events on Sunday, when the first finals of this edition are due to take place. The Romanians will compete in athletics, basketball, figure gymnastics, chess, lifting, swimming, judo, fencing, table tennis, rugby, sambo (martial arts) and wrestling. Romania has sent to Kazan the largest delegation in the history of its participation in the world university games, with the exception of the 1981 World University Games, held in Bucharest. Participating in this year’s edition are over 10,500 athletes from 162 countries, who will be competing in 27 sporting events. The World University Summer Games come to a close on July the 17th.

The Venice Commission Secretary, Thomas Markert, has hailed a potential postponement of the referendum on the revision of Romania’s constitution, saying that thus there will be enough time for deeper talks on several important issues. On Thursday and Friday, a Venice Commission delegation held talks in Bucharest with representatives of the parliamentary parties, of the Higher Council of Magistracy and of the Commission for the Revision of Romania’s Constitution on the revision of this country’s fundamental law. The revision draft was endorsed with several observations of the Legislative Council and was submitted to the Constitutional Court. The main amendments to the constitution focus on the relations between the main institutions of the country, Parliament, Presidency, Government.

The Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean will pay a visit to Moscow, starting Friday, the first by a Romanian Foreign Minister since February 2009. According to the Radio Romania correspondent to the Russian capital, the Romanian official will discuss with his counterpart Serghel Lavrov the stage and prospects of bilateral relations in various fields, economy in particular. The foreign Ministry in Moscow has announced that inter-government agreements will be signed regarding the setting up and functioning of the Romanian cultural institute in Moscow and Russia’s science centre in Bucharest. A cooperation agreement in the field of culture, education, media, sport, youth and tourism will also be signed, as well as a collaboration protocol between the two foreign ministries.

Another Romanian special detachment is heading for Afghanistan for specific missions, which will be carried out in cooperation with the US commando troops. The announcement was made in Buzau on Friday by the Romanian Defense Minister Mircea Dusa, who participated in the departure ceremony. The Romanian soldiers will carry out military assistance and counter-terrorism missions, with US air support, and will get involved in the training of the Afghan special forces. The detachment will also collaborate with the Romanian military intelligence subunits, which have been recently equipped with 10 unmanned search aircraft from the US.

In Romania, high-school graduates took the last test of their baccalaureate, the optional one, on Friday. 21 candidates were eliminated in Constanta, for fraud and attempted fraud. During the previous tests, in Bucharest and Sibiu prosecutors started investigations on suspicion of fraud. Several candidates were eliminated, and one high-school principal was taken in preventive custody by the police, for 29 days. 187,000 students registered for this year’s baccalaureate, and the results are scheduled to be published on Monday.

The number of actions started by the European Commission against Romania has dropped, and now Romania is situated below the EU average which stands at 30 infringement procedures in the run, announced the Romanian Foreign Ministry on Friday, quoting data made public by the European Commission. Also, Romania is one of the fastest EU states with regard to the solving of these procedures, with an average of 19.1 months per case, 8 months less than the EU average.

On Friday in Stockholm, Sweden, the Chairman of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, Octavian Morariu, aged 52, was elected president of the European Rugby Federation. Morariu, a former international player and head of the Romanian Rugby Federation, has thus replaced the French Jean Claude Baque, who resigned. Octavian had been the vice-chair of the Federation since 2004 and also its representative in the International Rugby Board. His term in office is three and a half years.

President Traian Basescu warned on Wednesday of the growing unemployment rates among young people, saying, however, that vocational education is an opportunity for the latter. He recalled that in Romania, the youth accounts for almost 24% of the total number of unemployed people, more than last year. President Basescu participated, alongside other heads of state and government, in a debate in Berlin on youth unemployment in Europe. There are over 26 million unemployed in Europe, 5.6 million of whom are under 25.

Romania’s foreign minister Titus Corlatean, who is on a visit to Skopje, expressed hope that efforts to open a Romanian Honorary Consulate in Stip would intensify. Corlatean was received on Wednesday by the president of the Republic of Macedonia, Gjorge Ivanov, and met his Macedonian counterpart Nikola Poposki. He said Romania wishes Macedonia to enter the European Union and NATO as soon as possible. Titus Corlatean, who is on a short tour of the Western Balkans, will also travel to Montenegro.

Romania’s math Olympiad team won four gold and two silver medals, ranking first in the team competition at the Balkan Mathematical Olympiad held between the 28th of June and the 2nd of July in Agros, Cyprus. Over 120 competitors from 16 different countries participated in the event. The Balkan Mathematical Olympiad is a regional competition for high school students.

The mixed doubles pair made up of Horia Tecau of Romania and Sania Mirza of India on Wednesday qualified to the mixed doubles quaterfinals at Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year. They defeated the pair Eric Butorac of the US and Alize Cornet of France in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5. Tecau is the only Romanian tennis player still in competition at Wimbledon.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry has firmly condemned the car bomb attack reported in the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday morning, in which one Romanian citizen was killed and another one wounded. Such deplorable acts of violence have no justification and must be fought against using all possible means, the Romanian Ministry stated, also saying that Romania, as an EU and NATO member, remains committed to supported the Afghan government in its efforts to eradicate all forms of terrorism and to render the country stable. At least 7 people were killed in the Taliban attack targeting a foreign transport company that works with ISAF, the NATO force in Afghanistan. The two Romanian were civilian employees of the company.

Romania wants to strike a strategic partnership with China, meant to assure better cooperation at political, economic, cultural and educational level. The statement was made by Prime Minister Victor Ponta, at the end of the talks he had in Beijing, with Chinese president Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang. Victor Ponta also expressed Romania’s readiness to become China’s best cooperation partner in Europe. In turn, the Chinese president expressed his country’s willingness to work together with Romania in order to expand exchanges and boost cooperation in all fields of activity. China was the last leg of Victor Ponta’s Asian tour, which also took him to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and was meant to attract investments.

Romania’s President, Traian Băsescu, will attend round table talks in Berlin on Wednesday, devoted to the promotion of job occupancy among young people in Europe. Attending the meeting is German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy. President Traian Basescu said last week that Romania will receive 400 million Euros in the 2014-2015 period, of the 8 billion Euro program designed by the European Council to fight unemployment among young people. There are over 26 million jobless people in Europe, 5.6 million of them being under 25 years old.

On Monday, the Secretary General of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, Javad Mottaghi, visited Radio Romania. During the talks he had with the Chairman and CEO of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation and other members of the board, Mr. Mottaghi hailed Radio Romania’s recent affiliation to this organization and stressed the basic principles of the Union, focusing on cultural diversity and the role of radio as an essential means of communication, capable of overcoming any differences. Mr. Javad Mottaghi also expressed the Union’s interest in the Radio Romania products and Radio Romania’s high potential for developing joint projects with the countries in the Asia Pacific area. Mr. Ovidiu Miculescu, Chairman and CEO of Radio Romania, also stressed the importance of this partnership for the public radio in Romania, which thus aims at taking a step forward towards overcoming distances and getting to know the cultural specific features of the countries members of the Union. Through the Asia-Pacific online platform, to which it has access as a full member, Radio Romania will capitalize on the opportunity to exchange programs with other member stations.

Romanian foreign minister, Titus Corlatean will pay visits to Macedonia and Montenegro, from Wednesday to Friday. A series of documents meant to modernize the bilateral legal framework with the two countries will be signed on this occasion. Titus Corlatean will have talks with the presidents of the two countries and with high officials.

Romania welcomes investment by companies from Shenzen, a booming economic region in China, where telecommunication giants, like Huawei and ZTE are based, and the economic relations can develop very well. The statement was made today by Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta upon his meeting with Shenzen mayor Tang Jie. On Tuesday, Ponta will be having talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping and the Prime Minister Li Keqiang. China is the last leg of the Romanian Prime Minister’s Asian tour, which also took him to Azerbaijan, Kazahstan and Uzbekistan.

On Monday Croatia became the 28th member of the European Union, following a decade of negotiations. With a population of 4.4 million people, Croatia is the second ex-Yugoslav state to become an EU member. With a high unemployment rate, Croatia had to implement a series of reforms in order to be able to join the bloc. The ceremony, which marked the country’s EU entry, has been attended by leaders of the European institutions and of several member states. Also today, Lithuania has taken over the EU rotating presidency, announcing as its top priorities for the next 6 months a series of measures aimed at resuming economic growth and fiscal discipline.

The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate adopted on Monday in Bucharest the Constitutional Court’s recommendations regarding the parliamentarians’ statute, with 391 votes in favour and 1 vote against. Previously, in the legal committees, senators and deputies removed from the statute two articles deemed unconstitutional.

The Romanian-German-French production “Matei, Child Miner” directed by the Romanian Alexandra Gulea won the Grand Prize and the Young Audience’s Prize at the Pesaro Film Festival held between June 24 and 30 in Italy. The title character is a child whose parents are working in Italy and who remains in Romania with his grandfather, a retired miner. The film is set against a sensitive social backdrop: thousands of Romanians who are working abroad leave their children home to be taken care of by relatives.

Household consumers will pay 8% more for natural gas in Romania, whereas gas prices for industrial consumers have gone up 3%. Food producers have warned that the latest hikes are likely to lead to 15% increases in food prices. Water prices are also to go up to 10% according to decisions by local authorities. But there is also good news: prices for roaming services in EU countries are going to drop under the new regulations adopted last year by the European Parliament. The minimum gross wages in Romania are also going to increase from 750 to 800 lei.

On July the 17th Romanian president Traian Basescu will be paying a formal visit to Chishinau, capital of the Republic of Moldova, an ex-soviet country with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population at the invitation of his Moldovan counterpart Nicolae Timofti, sources in Bucharest have today announced. Traian Basescu will be holding talks with the speaker of Parliament Igor Corman, with Prime Minister Iurie Leanca and other political leaders. The head of the Romanian state was invited in the Republic of Moldova by his counterpart, during the latter’s visit to Bucharest in April last year.

Romanian President, Traian Basescu, has announced that Monday the line-authorities will make public the National Strategy for Agriculture, valid until 2030. The document has been drafted by the presidential commission for agriculture, set up in 2009. In another move, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Dacian Ciolos, said in Bucharest that Romania will receive for agriculture some 20 billion Euros from the EU, in the 2014-2020 period. He underlined that the funds will be used for subsidies, rural development and investments in the field.

Romania’s legislature will meet on Monday, in an extraordinary session, to adopt the new statute of parliamentarians. Last week, the document was rejected for the third time by the Constitutional Court, this time upon a notification by Romania’s President, Traian Basescu. The objections made by the head of state were mainly related to an article according to which the Prosecutor’s Office had to produce concrete and grounded evidence in case MPs are taken into custody, arrested or have their houses searched. Because the new statute, which also provides for a cut in spending, hasn’t taken effect yet, the financial situation of the Romanian Parliament is a delicate one. Thus, the cumulated losses already exceed 20 million lei, that is some 4.5 million Euros.

As of Monday, domestic consumers in Romania will pay 8% more for natural gas, and the industrial ones some 3% more. Producers in the food industry have already announced price-hikes, of up to 15%, because of higher gas prices. Consumers will also pay up to 10% more for water in several cities and towns across the country, depending on the decisions to be made by the local authorities.

Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean on Sunday attended “The EU-Gulf Cooperation Council” Ministerial Meeting held in Manama, Bahrain. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Titus Corlatean made public Romania’s official stand on the Middle East peace process. “The EU-Gulf Cooperation Council” Ministerial Meeting, now at its 23^rd edition, has been devoted to the new Joint Action Program for the 2013-2016 period. The Gulf Cooperation Council is made up of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar.

On July the 1st, Croatia officially becomes the 28th member of the European Union. It is the second of the six former Yugoslav republics to join the EU, after Slovenia, in 2004. Facing a high unemployment rate, Croatia had to implement several reform packages to be able to join the community block, which is-in its turn- going through a deep economic and financial crisis.

130 cyclists from 13 countries are participating, as of Sunday, in the 50th edition of Romania’s Cycling Tour, which will come to an end on July the 6th. According to the organisers, the itinerary is 1,050 km long, with a difference of altitude of 2,000 meters between the lowest and highest points of the cycling route.

The pair made up of Romanian tennis player Horia Tecau and Belorusian Max Mirnyi has qualified for the third round at Wimbledon. In the second round, Tecau and Mirnyi defeated the Australian pair Samuel Groth/Chris Guccione 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/2), 7-5.

Almost 20 billion euros will be earmarked for the Romanian agriculture under the next community budget for 2014-2020. The statement was made in Bucharest by the European Commissioner for Agriculture Dacian Ciolos, who also pointed out that the funds would be used for subsidies, rural development and investment. In another development, Romanian President Traian Basescu announced that the National Strategy for Agriculture, valid until 2030, would be made public on Monday.

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Saturday paid a visit to China, the last leg of his Asian tour that also included Azerbaijan, Kazahstan and Uzbekistan. Previously, in Taskent, Prime Minister Ponta and his Uzbeki counterpart Shavkat Mirziyayev decided to boost economic ties between Romania and Uzbekistan and to set up an joint intergovernmental commission. Energy, transports and health are the main fileds of interest for both sides. Authorities in Taskent see Romania as a potential display market for some of their products, such as cotton.

Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean will attend on Sunday in Bahrain’s capital city Manama, the joint EU – Gulf Cooperation Council Ministerial Meeting. On this occasion, Minister Corlatean will present Romania’s stand as regards the Syrian crisis and the peace process in the Middle East. During this 23rd session, Ministers will review the state of play of the EU-GCC relationship. Their discussions will focus on the strategic importance of strengthening ties between the EU and Gulf countries. The two sides will exchange views on the situation in the region. The catastrophic situation in Syria and the increased sectarian tensions in Lebanon and Iraq as a spill-over of the Syrian crisis will feature prominently in the discussions.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry warns the Romanian citizens who plan to travel to Egypt or are already in this country, over the protests in Cairo and several other Egyptian cities. Tension is mounting in Egypt where protests against the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi will be staged on Sunday. Several people were reported dead, an American citizen included, in the clashes between President Morsi’s supporters and opponents.

As many as 130 athletes from 13 countries will take part, as of Sunday, in the 50^th edition of Romania’s Cycling Tour that ends on July 6^th. According to organisers, the route will be 1,050-kilometer long. Romania will be represented in the competition by 7 cyclists. On the other hand, Tour de France, the biggest such event in the world, started on Saturday. Almost 200 athletes from over 30 countries are taking part in the French competition.

Christians around the world on Saturday celebrated Saints Peter and Paul. Apostle Peter is considered the founder of the Christian Church in Rome while Apostle Paul is known to have preached the Bible to pagans. Historically, the reason why the Church celebrates both apostles on the same day is that they were both martyred in Rome on the same day, during Emperor Neros reign around year 68AD. As many as 500 thousand Romanians celebrate their name day today.

The International Danube Day, which is marked every year on June 29, has been celebrated ever since 2004 by all countries bordering the European river. It is a popular event and the opportunity for many official gatherings and festive events. The Danube is the second largest river in Europe and this celebration day was created for an environmental purpose, to motivate people to protect the Danube River Basin ecosystems. The Danube crosses the territory of ten countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

Romania will redefine its energy policy, starting from its own resources and without waiting for external approvals, after the Nabucco project ended in a failure. The statement was made on Friday by Romania’s President, Traian Basescu, who attended the European Council meeting held in Brussels. He underlined that his country has the duty to step up assessment processes and start exploiting the gas and crude oil deposits identified in the Black Sea as well as shale gas. Traian Basescu also said that Romania will receive 400 million Euros in the 2014-2015 period, of the 6 billion Euro program drafted by the European Council in order to reduce unemployment among young people, in the 15- 24 year age bracket. In another move, the EU heads of state and government decided in Brussels to start accession talks with Serbia, in recognition of Belgrade’s efforts to improve its relations with the former province of Kosovo.

The Shah Deniz consortium has chosen the Trans Adriatic Pipeline to carry Azeri natural gas to Europe, according to press agencies. Nabucco West and the Trans Adriatic were the only two projects competing for the delivery of Azerbaijan’s natural gas to Europe. The Trans Adriatic will carry 10 billion cubic metres of Azeri gas per year across an 870 km long pipeline across Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before reaching Italy. The cancellation of the Nabucco project, which implied the construction of a pipeline to transit Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria, leads to significant losses for the countries involved. In Bucharest, the authorities say the failure of the project was partly also due to the lack of a coherent and long-term energy policy in Romania.

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziioev have decided in Tashkent to set up a joint intergovernmental commission for economic, industrial and technical cooperation. The Uzbek official underlined that the Romanian Prime minister’s visit had been preceded by the visit of a Romanian business delegation to Tashkent. In turn, Victor Ponta hailed the agreement signed by the Romanian medicine producers who will distribute pharmaceutical products on the Uzbek market. Victor Ponta’s visit to Uzbekistan is part of an Asian tour which also takes him to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and China.

The European Commissioner for Agriculture, Dacian Ciolos, said in Bucharest on Friday that the new Common Agricultural Policy is the first to be decided upon together with the European Parliament and the Council of Agriculture Ministers of the 27 EU countries. According to the reform, many of the big European farms, especially those in France, Spain, and Italy will lose up to 30% of the subsidies, to allow for a most equitable and just allocation within the EU. Agriculture continues to be the EU’s first spending chapter, accounting for 38% of the overall budget for the next 7 years. Romania will receive larger amounts of European money for agriculture and will enjoy programs adjusted to its own priorities

Investigations continue in Bucharest into the causes of the bus accident in Montenegro in which 18 Romanian nationals were killed. From the investigations carried out by the authorities in Montenegro so far it appears that when the bus exited a high-speed tunnel, the road was humid and the driver may have been inconvenienced by the bright sun, leading him to lose control of the bus while taking a turn.

Romanian President Traian Basescu is attending the European Council in Brussels. The agenda of talks includes, among other things, topics such as boosting youth employment, the economic policies of the member states and joint EU actions aimed at fulfilling economic objectives. The European leaders will also analyze the consolidation policy of the Economic and Monetary Union, relations with strategic partners and enlargement towards the Western Balkans, including the start of negotiations with Serbia. The German Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle said on Tuesday that the decision regarding the start of accession negotiations with Serbia will be made at the EU summit this week.

The IMF board has endorsed the latest two assessments of the precautionary agreement signed with Romania and has approved the letter of intent submitted by the Bucharest authorities. So far, Bucharest has not used any of the 5 billion Euros granted under the precautionary agreement. For a successful conclusion of the agreement, the IMF approved three derogations for Romania, concerning the National Bank’s external assets, the old debts to the state budget and the general balance. More on this after the news.

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Thursday paid a visit to Kazakhstan, the second leg of his Asian tour that also includes Uzbekistan and China. In Astana he met with his Kazach counterpart, Serik Ahmetov. High on the meeting’s agenda was the bilateral cooperation in the field of economy and investment. Kazakhstan is Romania’s biggest economic partner in Central Asia. Previously, the Romanian PM visited Azerbaijan, where he met with the countrys President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Yagub Eyyubov. Also approached at the meeting was the recent decision of the Azeri consortium Sah Deniz, which opted for a different transport route of the Caspian gas towards Europe than Nabucco.

Bucharest prosecutors have started hearing the wounded who can give details about the circumstance of the tragic accident in Montenegro, in which 18 people were killed and 29 wounded, all of them Romanian. The deceased have been all identified and the wounded are being treated in Bucharest hospitals. In Montenegro a team of investigators has discovered the tachograph of the bus, which will indicate the speed of the vehicle and other data needed to establish the causes of the accident. Wednesday was a day of national mourning in both Romania and Montenegro.

Wednesday was a day of national mourning in Romania, in memory of the 18 Romanians who died in Sunday’s road accident in Montenegro. The authorities in the former Yougoslav republic have also called for a day of national mourning in token of respect for the victims. The wounded, initially hospitalized in Podogorica on Tuesday were taken by two Romanian military aircraft to hospitals in Bucharest. The third plane carried the deceased to Romania. Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said that the government was preparing measures to support the latter’s families.

Romania’s Parliament on Wednesday postponed the debate and vote of the amendments to the MP statute, in keeping with the rulings of the Constitutional Court. Following the presidency’s intimation, the Court has rejected as unconstitutional the articles on the immunity of MPs, who cannot be searched, detained or arrested without the Prosecutor’s office providing “concrete and thorough reasons”. The Court believes that those articles violate the principle of the separation of state powers and the independence of the judiciary.

Austrian energy company OMV has announced that the consortium developing Azerbaijans Shah Deniz-2 natural-gas and oil field has rejected using the proposed multibillion-dollar Nabucco West pipeline. The project, which is backed by the EU, was designed to link Turkey’s gas network to Austria via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean has recently said that in the case of an unfavourable decision, Bucharest should be looking for alternative options, such as exploiting gas and shale gas deposits in the Black Sea. The shorter and cheaper Trans-Adriatic Pipeline will be used to carry gas extracted in Turkey to Italy via Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea. Both pipelines have been designed to reduce the EU’s dependency on Russian gas imports.

One hundred and thirty athletes from 13 countries will be competing in the 50th edition of the Tour of Romania cycling tour, running from June 30th through July 6th, the organisers of the event announced on Wednesday. Officials say the full route will cover some 1,050 kilometres and will take bikers on altitudes ranging from low plains to alpine roads. Seven bikers will be representing Romania at the start of the race.

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Wednesday paid a visit to Baku as part of his Asian tour, which includes official visits to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and China. In Baku the Romanian official met with head of state Ilham Aliyev and his counterpart Yagub Eyybov. Ponta had previously said his Asian tour revolves around an economic interest in the area, given that Romania wants to attract foreign investments from non-EU countries.

The Constitutional Court of Romania on Wednesday ruled against a notification filed by the opposition regarding the amendment of the referendum law. The minimum voter turnout required to validate a referendum is decreased from 50% to 30% of the overall amount of citizens on electoral lists. The Constitutional Court has further ruled that the law will not apply to any referendums held within a year of its enactment.

Three military aircraft of the Romanian army, made available to the Romanian authorities, repatriate the bodies of the 18 Romanians who lost their lives in the road accident in Montenegro and bring back to Bucharest 29 people who sustained injuries. On Tuesday, the Romanian deputies kept a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the road accident. Also, the government decreed a day of national mourning on Wednesday. A bus with 47 Romanian tourists on board tumbled off a mountain road about 30 km north of Podgorica on Sunday.

Romania’s President, Traian Basescu, on Tuesday received in audience HRH the Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex. On that occasion, President Basescu underlined the importance played by the British Council for the young generation, before 1989. The British Council opened its center in Romania back in 1938. In 2013, it celebrates 75 years of existence in this country. The Earl and Countess of Wessex are on a visit to Romania, as of Monday. Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, the third son (fourth child) of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, said on Tuesday, upon launching a portal of the British business community that Romania’s economy has a huge potential and Romania is a friendly country, which is geographically close to Great Britain, in terms of British investments. Since the start of 2013, the investments made by British companies in Romania account for over 27% of the total volume of foreign investments in this country.

Romania’s President, Traian Basescu, on Tuesday signed a decree on awarding the National Order “For Merit”, in rank of knight, to US Maj. Gen. Mark O. Schissler, Strategy and Policy Director of the U.S. Command in Europe and co-chair of the Romanian-US Joint Committee. The award is offered in token of high appreciation for the substantial contribution to the process of implementing the Agreement between Romania and the US on the installation in Romania of the anti-ballistic missile system. The distinction is offered at the proposal of Romanian Defense minister, Mircea Dusa.

Romania’s Senate on Tuesday validated Lilian Zamfiroiu with 104 “yeas” and 24 “nays” for the position of President of the Romanian Cultural Institute, ICR. Lilian Zamfiroiu, who has been Romania’s deputy ambassador to UNESCO will replace Andrei Marga, who tendered his resignation last week. A candidate backed by the ruling Social Liberal Union for the top position of the Romanian Cultural Institute, Lilian Zamfiroiu said during the hearings with the line committees in the Senate that he intends to bring representatives of all cultural trends in Romania at the same table.

25 Romanian and foreign designers are taking part in the largest fashion festival in the country, which opens on Tuesday in Sibiu. Among the domestic designers invited to this sixth edition of the Feeric Fashion Days festival are Adina Buzatu, Ana Maria Galan and Bianca Popp. According to the organizers, many of the presentations will be hosted in unconventional spaces.

A recent poll in Bucharest shows that if Romania held parliamentary elections this week, 58% of Romanians would vote the candidates of the center-left coalition currently in power, the Social Liberal Union. They would be followed by the center-right Liberal Democratic Party, with less than 16%, followed by other parties with less than 8%. This poll largely confirms the results of the elections held last year. The research was commissioned by the Romanian central daily Adevarul.

On Tuesday, almost 200,000 eighth grade graduates in Romania are taking the Romanian language written exam as part of their national high school selection exam. On Wednesday, minority students will take exams in their native language. The last exam of this test is in mathematics, scheduled for Thursday the 27th. In 2012, about 25% of students could not manage a passing grade in this national examination.

Romanian tennis players Simona Halep and Alexandra Cadantu on Tuesday qualified for the second round in Wimbledon. Halep defeated Olga Govortzova of Belarus in three sets and Cadantzu won to Austrian Tamira Paszek in two sets. In the second round, Cadantzu will meet Japanese Kimiko Date Krumm and Halep will play against Chinese Na Li. The first Romanian tennis player to qualify for the second round in Wimbledon was Sorana Carstea, 22^nd seed, who defeated Swiss player Stefanie Voegele, on Monday. Carstea will compete against Italian Camila Giorgi.

UEFA disciplinary committee did not suspend the Romanian football champions, Steaua Bucharest, from European competitions, after the team was involved in a corruption file. Steaua’s owner, George Becali, was recently prosecuted and sentenced to prison for bribe giving in a case dating back to 2008, which prompted the investigation of his club by the European authority. However, the Romanian team will be on a five-year probation. In case of any mistake, the one-year ban from European competitions will be applied automatically. Steaua is at this point scheduled to play their next match against Macedonian champions FK Vardar Skopje, a game counting towards the second preliminary round of the Champions League.

18 Romanian nationals were killed and 29 injured in Montenegro, when their bus left the road and fell into a precipice on Sunday night some 30 km north of Podgorica. The wounded persons, 7 of whom are in critical state, have been taken to a hospital in Montenegro’s capital. Romanian foreign minister Titus Corlatean has cancelled his trip to Luxembourg to attend a meeting of the EU External and General Affairs Council and has travelled instead to Montenegro, where he was received by president Filip Vujanović. The Montenegrin president has reiterated the support of the authorities in his country in the case of the tragic accident. The secretary of state with the Romanian health ministry Raed Arafat has also travelled to Montenegro. A crisis cell was set up in Bucharest led by prime minister Victor Ponta, who has declared a day of national mourning on Wednesday in memory of the victims. Mr Ponta said an airplane would carry the bodies of the 18 Romanians to Romania. Also, two other planes carrying medical equipment will repatriate the wounded.

Prince Edward of Great Britain and his consort, the Countess of Wessex are attending the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the British Council in Romania. Part of the British Embassy in Bucharest during the communist regime, the British Council became an independent institution after the fall of communism in 1989. It currently occupies a building in the centre of the Romanian capital and also opened local centres in Romania’s biggest cities, including Brasov, Cluj Napoca, Constanta, Iasi, Sibiu and Timisoara. According to a release from the British Embassy in Bucharest, prince Edward and the countess of Wessex are on their first official visit to Romania.

Romania’s football champion Steaua Bucharest will play against the Macedonian team FK Vardar Skopje in the Champions League second preliminary round following a draw held on Monday in Nyon. Steaua are to play their first game at home. However, Steaua are awaiting the decision of the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body after the club’s owner George Becali was sentenced to three years in prison for bribe giving. In 2008, Becali tried to give 1.7 million euros to the Universitatea Cluj players to defeat Steaua’s rival, CFR Cluj, in the last leg of the domestic championship.

Romania’s foreign minister, Titus Corlăţean, is taking part on Monday and Tuesday in Luxembourg in the meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council and General Affairs Council. The new European budget framework for 2014-2020, the preparations for the European Council due late this month and the situation in Syria are some of the topics to be approached in these meetings. The EU foreign ministers will also discuss with NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rassmusen about the situation in Afghanistan, in the context of the foreign troop pullout in 2014. Romania has some 1,600 troops deployed in Afghanistan.

Starting on Monday the Romanian economy minister, Varujan Vosganian, is on a two-day visit to Austria, one of Romania’s key trade partners. The main important stages of the visit are the meetings with the Austrian minister of economy, family and youth, Reinhold Mitterlehner, and with Franz Hochstrasser, deputy CEO of Erste Group Bank, which has a substantial presence in Romania. Vosganian will also take part in a forum organised by the Austrian Economic Chamber and devoted to, and in a roundtable organised by the Federal Association of Austrian Industry. According to official data, in 2012 the Romanian-Austrian trade amounted to nearly 3.5 billion euro.

The United States National Security Agency announced on Sunday the introduction of new IT security procedures designed to prevent further leaks. The measure was taken after former CIA analyst Edward Snowden has recently disclosed secret intelligence on a large-scale electronic surveillance operation conducted by the US services. Snowden, who is already searched by the American justice, is seeking asylum in a country that does not have an extradition treaty with the US. The most likely destinations, according to France Presse, are Iceland, Ecuador or Venezuela.

Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians from around the world, Romania included, Sunday celebrated the Pentecost, 50 days after Easter. Pentecost Sunday is the annual celebration of the Holy Spirit descending on the Apostles, who then were able to preach the word of God in languages they had never spoken before. On the same day, further to a sermon by Apostle Peter, some 3,000 people embraced the Christian faith, thus laying the foundations of the first Christian community in Jerusalem. This was the beginning of the Christian Church.

Seven Romanians will play, in different pairs, in the doubles event of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. Among them is Simona Halep, who won the s-Hertogenbosch tournament in the Netherlands, after defeating 6-4, 6-2, the Belgian Kirsten Flipkens. Halep, 21, has the best season in her career, as last week she won her first WTA title in Nurnberg (Germany). Horia Tecau is also playing in the Wimbledon tournament. Together with Belarus Max Mirnyi, Tecau won the doubles event in s-Hertogenbosch. In the final they defeated the German couple Andre Begemann/Martin Emmrich 6-3, 7-6. This was the second victory for the Tecău/Mirnyi pair, which was set up this year, after the success in Bucharest at the BRD Năstase Ţiriac Trophy.

European Parliament president German Martin Schulz has been designated as the official candidate of the Party of European Socialists for the position of European Commission president after the legislative elections of 2014, Sergei Stanishev, the president of the Party of European Socialists, said on Saturday. The announcement was made at the Party of European Socialists Council, also attended by Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta. The agenda of the meeting focused on defining the main priorities for the months ahead and to kick off the election campaign in the run-up to the European legislative elections of next year.

Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, currently ranking 45th in world standings, continued her good run in 2013 by winning her second consecutive title this year. On Saturday the Romanian player defeated Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium in the final match of the s’Hertogenbosch tournament in the Netherlands. Her good trim helped her overcome her superior, more experienced and better ranked opponent. Aged 21, Halep is at her best season of her career, after winning last week the final of the Nurnberg tournament, her first WTA title, against Bosnian-born Andrea Petkovic of Germany. With this win Halep has secured qualification to the Wimbledon tournament due to kick off on Sunday, where she will go up against Olga Govorteva of Belarus in the first round.

Romania and Bulgaria are discussing the possibility of building a hydroelectric power plant on the Danube River, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced on Saturday after meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart Plamen Oresharski. The location of the power plant is yet to be established. We recall that Romania and Bulgaria have recently inaugurated the second bridge over the Danube River, linking Calafat in Romania to Vidin in Bulgaria. The two officials also discussed the two countries’ Schengen aspirations and prospects brought by the Nabucco gas pipeline project.

The main sates opposing Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad on Saturday announced their decision to dispatch “urgent aid” to the Syrian opposition on the ground in order to allow them to counter the “brutal attacks by the regime” in Damascus, France Press and Reuters news agencies report. Eleven states, including the United States, the United Kingdom and France have argued that “all military aid will be channeled” via the High Military Council of the Syrian Free Army. Each state is to send war material and equipment “in their own way”, reads the same press release.

The EU Council abrogated on Friday the excessive deficit procedure for Romania, as the excessive deficit has been corrected and will continue to go down in 2013 and 2014, after falling below the reference value of 3% of the GDP, recommended by the European Union. A similar measure was taken for Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Hungary. At the moment there is an Excessive Deficit Procedure ongoing for 16 out of the 27 member states. Most procedures have been opened following the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. The European Union estimates that Romania’s GDP will go down to 2.6% this year and will stand at 2.4% in 2014.

In Romania, in the first quarter of the year the unemployment rate was 7.5%, with a 58% employment rate among people between 15 and 64 years of age, the National Statistics Institute announced on Friday. For the 20 to 64 age bracket, the employment rate was little over 62%, below the national target of 70% defined in the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy. Unemployment rates were higher among women and among the rural population.

China and the European Union have agreed to resolve their dispute over solar panels with talks concerning price guarantees. The Chinese Trade Minister, Gao Hucheng announced. The statement was made after a ministerial level meeting of the two parties. The European Commission announced in early June that it would levy provisional taxes on the Chinese solar panels, and Beijing responded with an antidumping inquiry into the wines imported from the European Union.

The George Enescu Square in central Bucharest venues, until June the 30th, the 8th edition of the Bucharest Music Film Festival. For 10 days music lovers can attend, free of charge, recitals and classical music concerts under the batons of renowned conductors, screenings of documentaries, opera shows and ballet. The Radio Romania Orchestra will give a concert on Saturday.

The Romanian Irina Begu and the Spanish Anabel Medina won the women’s doubles of the WTA tour in s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. In the same competition another Romanian, Simona Halep, made it to the women’s singles after defeating the Spanish Carla Suarez-Navarro on Friday , 6-3, 6-2. On Saturday, Simona Halep will play against Kirten Flikpens of Belgium. In another move, Romania’s representatives in the European Fencing Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, athlets Ana Maria Branza, Simona Pop Deac and Maria Udrea won the silver medal on Friday.

Head of the Romanian Football Federation, Mircea Sandu, on Friday said that Steaua Bucharest stands 50% chances not to receive sanctions imposed by UEFA. An disciplinary commission of the European body convened on Friday to look into the corruption suspicions concerning Romania’s football champions Steaua Bucharest. UEFA opened an investigation after Steaua’s owner, George Becali, was sentenced to prison for bribe-giving in a case dating back to 2008. At that time Becali tried to give 1.7 million euros to a team from Cluj, in exchange for their defeating Steaua’s challengers in the championship. UEFA has no tolerance for corruption cases and if found guilty the Romanian football club risks being excluded from European competitions for one or several years. A decision in this respect is expected on June 24th at the soonest.