21 February, 2016. UPDATE

Romanian president Klaus Iohannis to address Parliament on Monday; three Iraqis and a Palestinian were caught trying to enter Romania from Serbia; Romania is the main trading partner for the Republic of Moldova.

Newsroom, 21.02.2016, 12:10

Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will speak in
Parliament on Monday. His address, the first in Parliament this year, will
focus on domestic policy issues, the senate speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu has
confirmed. This is Klaus Iohannis’ fifth address in Parliament since taking
office in December 2014.

The Romanian border police on Sunday caught three Iraqis
and one Palestinian as they were trying to enter the country illegally by
crossing the south-western border from Serbia on foot. Aged between 18 and 25,
they said they were planning to reach western Europe. The Romanian authorities
have contacted the Serbian border police to conduct a joint investigation and
implement the readmission agreement.

Romania is the
main trading partner for the ex-Soviet Republic of Moldova with a majority
Romanian-speaking population. In 2015, trade exchanges amounted to 1.35 billion
dollars. According to the Romanian embassy in Chisinau, most of Romania’s
exports to Moldova are made up of mineral products, followed by cars and
technical equipment. At the end of 2015, Moldova was Romania’s fourth largest
export and eighth largest import partner among non-EU countries, Romania’s
diplomatic representation in Chisinau also said.

Modova’s
government has nominated the former foreign minister Natalia Gherman for the
post of secretary general of the United Nations, the country’s prime minister
Pavel Filip said in a written address published on the website of the president
of the United Nations General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft. Gherman’s biggest achievements as foreign minister
were the signing of Moldova’s Association Agreement with the European Union and
the liberalisation of visas for Moldovan citizens. She joins six other
candidates to succeed Ban Ki-moon, whose term as secretary general of the
United Nations comes to an end in December this year.

Simona Halep, the
Romanian tennis player ranked third in the world, will also play in the doubles
event of the WTA Premier tournament in Doha worth over 2.5 million dollars. She
will pair with another Romanian, Raluca Olaru, the two taking a wildcard to
enter the main draw. In the first round, the pair will face a difficult match
against the all-Slovenian pair Andreja Klepac and Katarina Srebotnik,
seeded eighth. In another doubles match, Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Russia’s
Margarita Gasparian face the Slovakian-Russian pair Daniela Hantuchova and
Ekaterina Makarova. In the singles draw, Halep, who is seeded second, will go
straight into the second round, where she will await the winner between
Caroline Garcia of France and Elena Vesnina of Russia. Monica Niculescu plays
against Sabine Lisicki of Germany in the first round.

The Romanian women’s handball
champions CSM Bucharest on Sunday qualified for the Champions League
quarterfinals following an away win against the Danish side FC Midtjylland, in the last but one leg of Group 2. HCM
Baia Mare, the second Romanian team in the competition, had already booker
their place in the quaterfinals following a home win against the German side HC
Thuringer in Group 1. In men’s handball, Dinamo Bucharest narrowly lost to the German side SC Magdeburg 33:34 on Sunday at home, as part of an EHF Cup
Group A match. Magdeburg top the group with 4 points, followed by Granollers
and Dinamo, each with two points, and Aalborg, with no points.