April 16, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Bogdan Matei, 16.04.2015, 12:05
We must ensure that the new Parliament will fully cooperate with the Judiciary, the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday. The head of state, who announced a new round of talks with the parliamentary parties on Monday, has repeatedly criticised the attitude of MPs, who dismissed several requests by anti-corruption prosecutors concerning the prosecution, arrest or detention of Senators and Deputies. This will be the third round of consultations between the President and the Parliamentary parties since he took over the office on December the 21st.
The Romanian PM Victor Ponta Thursday categorically dismissed what he called “threats” and “criticism” from some Russian officials, and warned that this will not intimidate or prompt strategy changes in Bucharest. The statement comes after the chief of staff of the Russian army, Valery Gherasimov, said the states hosting components of the American missile defence system, like Romania and Poland, become primary targets for Russia’s military actions. Meanwhile, the former chief of the Romanian Intelligence Service, George Cristian Maior, denounced what he called “Russia’s silent war” against the West. Maior, who headed the Intelligence Service for 8 years, until January 2015, said Romania was one of the targets of Russian cyber-attacks, alongside the US, Germany, Estonia, Ukraine and Georgia. They were part of a wider range of operations against Western states, which also includes the funding of political parties, the opening of pro-Russian blogs and websites, the manipulation of social networks and the use of influence agents. All these serve the goal of getting Russia’s presumed enemies out of the game through misinformation and dissension, Maior also said.
The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, had a working meeting on Thursday with the group of Latin American and Carribean ambassadors to Bucharest. During the talks with diplomats from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, the participants looked at bilateral relations, regional developments and the relations between the EU and the countries in Latin America and the Carribean. The meeting occasioned a useful exchange of opinions on the means to diversify Romania’s cooperation with the countries in that region, says a news release issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry.
The members of Romania’s Fed Cup team urged the Romanians living in Canada to come to Montreal to support them in the game against the Canadian team, due on Saturday and Sunday. Romania will be represented in Montreal by Irina-Camelia Begu, Alexandra Dulgheru, Andreea Mitu and Raluca Olaru. The best Romanian player at the moment, world no. 3 Simona Halep, decided not to play this weekend, because of her busy schedule in individual tournaments in Europe.
