6 July, 2015
News and Current Affairs
Ştefan Stoica, 06.07.2015, 11:59
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned today after Greeks voted down the reform demands of international lenders in a referendum introduced by the left wing government. Varoufakis said his was an attempt to ease the way for his country to reach a new agreement. Press agencies recall that he angered European partners after accusing international financial agencies of terrorism to intimidate the Greek people and force them into further austerity. Official figures indicate that over 61% of Greek voters said no to demands tabled by international lenders. Greek PM Alexis Tsipras said that this vote was not a break with Europe, and promised he would get back to the negotiation table, at the same time calling for a credible and just plan for reform. According to Tsipras, the top priority is getting the banking system back on track and achieving economic stability. Eurozone leaders are scheduled to meet on Tuesday night. In the meantime, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will continue discussions started Sunday with heads of European institutions and single currency leaders.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said in a Facebook message that he hoped solutions would be found for the European future of Greece. As he said in the message, ‘Even though Greece has voted No in yesterdays referendum, I hope that political and economic wisdom will prevail, and solutions will be found to express a Yes for Greeces European future. It is very important for all EU member states to continue to seek avenues to come out of the crisis. At the same time, the Romanian central bank said firmly that, irrespective of events in Greece, people in Romania who have money in Greek owned banks have no reason to worry, since branches throughout the country are in compliance with domestic regulations.
A major naval military exercise with Romanian participation is being held off the coast of Bulgaria. These NATO maneuvers, scheduled to end on July 12, involve over 30 ships, 10 aircraft and 1,700 military personnel from Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, the US and Turkey. This exercise, Breeze 2015, aims to improve interoperability in crisis situations under NATO standards. The US Navy announced at the same time that they deployed the missile destroyer the USS Porter to the Black Sea with the aim of consolidating partnership and operational capability within NATO, in partnership with regional allies.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Russia was not threatening NATO member countries yet, but could use force against Moldova and Georgia, speaking in an interview with the Russian section of Deutsche Welle. He went on to say that Russian countries bordering Russia who are not NATO members have reason to worry after Moscow announced it would upgrade its arsenal. He added that attempting to guess what the intentions of the Russian leadership are was a difficult task, adding that the Alliance has bolstered presence on its eastern flank, showing that, in his words, NATO never sleeps.
Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu, seeded 48th in the WTA, faces off against Swiss player Timea Bacsinszky, ranked 15th, in the eighth finals at Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the year. Monicas best personal achievement was this edition of the competition, which she has attended the eighth time. Also in the eighth finals, in the mens doubles, the Romanian-Indian pair Florin Mergea/ Rohan Bopanna, ninth favorite, plays against Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Max Mirnyi of Belarus. One other Romanian plays in the eighth finals in the doubles competition, Horia Tecau, who pairs with Jean-Julien Rojer to face the Australian double Lleyton Hewitt/ Thanasi Kokkinakis.
