1 July, 2016, UPDATE

A round-up of local and international news

Newsroom, 01.07.2016, 12:15

Slovakia
on Friday took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union
from the Netherlands, against fears sparked by the Brexit vote. Prime Minister
Robert Fico has warned that the future of a Union with 27 member states cannot
be decided by the few, referring to meetings of some Western officials
immediately after the referendum in the United Kingdom. The Slovakian official
said the EU would have to redefine its underperforming policies, especially
those referring to migration. Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen
Area is one of the priorities of Slovakia’s term in office, according to Radio
Romania’s Brussels correspondent. Slovakia will host an informal EU summit in
September, the first to be organised outside Brussels since 2000.

Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis has invited Prime
Minister Dacian Ciolos and National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu, as well as
the leaders of parliamentary parties, to a new round of talks on Monday in the
wake of the Brexit vote. Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has had
less influence on financial markets in Romania than on those in other states in
the region, but this doesn’t mean the impact won’t be more serious in the
future, National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu has said. The Romanian official
pointed out that the result of the referendum has fuelled uncertainty on
international markets.

Romania
is a trusted ally of NATO and remains a pillar of security and stability in the
region, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has said while attending the
inauguration ceremony for NATO’s two command centres in Bucharest. Klaus
Iohannis explained that NATO’s command structures in Romania have a major role
as part of collective efforts to improve the Alliance’s capability of
successfully responding to current and future threats. The president also
referred to the recent inauguration of the anti-ballistic defence facility in
Deveselu, recalling that Romania has increased its defence budget and will do
so up to 2% of its GDP by 2017. The Multinational South-East Division Command
in Bucharest has joined other five NATO units on its eastern flank in Bulgaria,
Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. At the 2014 NATO Summit in Wales NATO
decided to set up these command centres as a response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. The event in Bucharest is held one week ahead of the NATO Summit in
Warsaw.

The association agreement between the
European Union and the Republic of Moldova, aimed at consolidating political
and economic ties between the two parties, entered into force on Friday. EU
foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that together with the implementation of reforms in the country,
the agreement has the potential to bring new jobs, economic growth and
stability for Moldovans. A similar agreement between the European Union and
Georgia also came into force on Friday.

A record high
quantity of 2.5 tonnes of cocaine, worth an estimated 625 million euros, was
seized by the border police from a container in the port of Constanta,
south-eastern Romania. The ship carrying the cocaine was coming from South
America. The drugs were supposed to reach European markets. Investigators have
detained five people, all foreign nationals, in this case. This record catch
was one of the topics of a meeting held by Romania’s interior minister Petre
Toba with Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock in Bucharest on Friday.

The European
Union has extended its sanctions against Russia until the 31st of
January 2017. The sanctions were first imposed in July 2014 in response to
Moscow’s actions to destabilise neighbouring Ukraine. They target mainly banks
and oil and defence companies and have a strong effect on the Russian economy.
Moscow, which denies any involvement in the break-away conflict in Ukraine, has
itself imposed a ban on imports of agricultural products from the European
Union.

Austria’s
Constitutional Court has overturned the result of the presidential elections of
the 22nd of May saying there were irregularities in the handling of
the postal votes and ruled that the election will be re-run. The result was
challenged by the far-right Freedom Party whose candidate, Norbert Hofer, lost
by under 1% to the independent candidate Alexander Van der Beller, who was due
to begin his term on the 8th of July.

The Romanian women’s handball team on Friday defeated
Russia 21:18 to reach the finals of the World University Championship in
Malaga, Spain. In the finals on Saturday, Romania face host country Spain, who
have defeated Poland in the semifinals. Romania already defeated Spain in the
group matches 20:19. (Translated by: V. Palcu & C. Mateescu)