April 18, 2015
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Roxana Vasile, 18.04.2015, 13:45
The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis will make an official visit to Italy on April the 27th. Italy hosts the largest community of Romanians living abroad, according to official sources. The agenda of the visit includes talks with the Italian president Sergio Mattarella, with the Italian PM, Matteo Renzi, as well as a meeting with Romanians living in that country. Since taking over the office in December, President Iohannis has made official visits to France, Germany, Poland, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
Celebrating the 25 years since establishment and amending the party statute and platform were the main topics on the second and last day of the Convention of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, held in the city of Cluj-Napoca in the north-west. On Friday, Kelemen Hunor was re-elected party president. According to the secretary general Péter Kovács, the Union intends to strengthen its relationship with the ethnic Hungarians in Romania and to restructure its message towards the young generation. On this occasion, the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis said the domestic politics must be based on professionalism and good governance, which should benefit all Romanian citizens, regardless of their ethnic background. In turn, PM Victor Ponta called on the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania to continue to promote political and inter-ethnic dialogue.
In Bucharest the official opening of the Great Hall of the National Theatre is scheduled for Saturday night. The event marks the completion of revamping works and the complete opening of the building for the general public. This summer the seventh performance area of the modernised building, an outdoor amphitheatre, is also to be inaugurated. The revamping works on the National Theatre took four years and were funded by the Government and the Council of Europe Development Bank, with costs totalling around 65 million euros. More than 150 years old, the National Theatre in Bucharest is one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in Romania.
Two major international military exercises take place in Romania, under NATO command. In the south-east of the country Wind Spring 2015 is under way, which brings together over 2200 troops from Romania, the US, UK and the Republic of Moldova. Until April the 30th, they will be practicing operational planning, live fire and complex tactical situation solving. Câmpia Turzii, in the north-west, is also hosting joint military exercises involving over 350 American troops and nearly 300 Romanian military. The goal is to ensure regional stability and security, in the current security context in NATO’s eastern flank.
Today and tomorrow the city of Montreal, in Canada, is hosting the World Group playoffs of the Fed Cup women’s competition, between the teams of Canada and Romania. The Romanian players are Irina-Camelia Begu, Alexandra Dulgheru, Andreea Mitu and Raluca Olaru. The best Romanian tennis player at the moment, world no. 3 Simona Halep, will not be part of the team. Canada’s team on the other hand includes world no. 7 Eugenie Bouchard, alongside Sharon Fichmann, Gabriela Dabrowski and Françoise Abanda. Romania and Canada played against each other in the Fed Cup only once before, in 1983, in Zurich, Switzerland.
The European Gymnastics Championships continue in Montpellier, France. The Romanians Marius Berbecar and Andrei Muntean will take part in the parallel bars final of the men’s competition, whereas in the women’s competition Romania will be represented by Andreea Munteanu in the beam and floor events. On Friday in the all-around finals, the Romanian gymnasts Laura Jurca and Diana Bulimar ranked 7th and 10th respectively. The gold medallist was Swiss Giulia Steingruber, who outperformed Russian Maria Harenkova and British Elissa Downie. At the end of the championships the president of the European Gymnastics Union, Georges Guelzec, will hand over the union’s colours to the 2017 host of the championships, Bucharest.
