February 25, 2017
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 25.02.2017, 13:44
VISIT Romania’s Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu, on Monday will be paying a formal visit to Budapest for talks with his Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto and Prime Minister Viktor Orban. For the first time, the Romanian official will deliver a speech at the annual meeting of the Hungarian diplomacy. During the talks, the head of the Romanian diplomacy will be pleading for stepping up political-diplomatic dialogue and boosting economic cooperation particularly in fields as energy or infrastructure. The two sides are expected to also tackle the issue of national minorities’ rights. Melescanu is also to meet representatives of the Romanian community in Hungary with whom he will discuss their preoccupation for maintaining their ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity as well as ways through which the Romanian state can support them.
RALLY Several thousands took to the streets of Targoviste in southern Romania to participate in a support rally for the PSD-ALDE cabinet, staged by the Social Democrats. We recall that for almost 4 weeks, Romania saw large-scale anti-government protests sparked off by attempts by Sorin Grindeanu’s government to amend the penal legislation through an ordinance. Bucharest and other several cities have also seen support rallies. The ordinance had no effects because it was repealed by the government and later by Parliament.
DRILL Romanian and US troops will be attending a joint drill at the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in southeastern Romania, part of the Atlantic Resolve operation aimed at strengthening NATO’s eastern flank. According to the Defence Ministry in Bucharest, Tuesday will see operations of loading and gunships attacks involving Black Hawk helicopters belonging to the 10th US brigade, the first big army unit deployed to Eastern Europe as part of the Atlantic Resolve operation. In another move, a 20 strong Romanian infantry unit will join the international drill Dynamic Front ll due in Germany between February 26th and March 10th. The drill involves the participation of nearly 1400 military from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Great Britain, Romania, the USA and Turkey.
HANDBALL Romania’s and Europe’s champions in women’s handball, CSM Bucharest will today be playing Norwegian side Larvik in the Champions League’s group two. The first match ended in a 26-all draw and CSM is currently ranking fourth in a group dominated by Hungarian side Gyor. Danish side Midtjylland is coming second followed by Larvik. The fifth and sixth positions in the group are occupied by Krim Ljubljana of Slovenia and Team Esbjerg of Denmark respectively.
ATTACKS Over 40 people were killed on Saturday in a series of attacks targeting bases of the security forces in Homs, Syria’s third largest city, mainly controlled by troops loyal to the regime in Damascus. The attacks carried out by suicide bombers have been claimed by a former Al Qaeda cell based in Syria. An army intelligence chief is reported to have been killed in the blasts.
