April 29, 2014
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Roxana Vasile, 29.04.2014, 12:00
Romania’s crown princess Margareta and prince Radu are paying a formal visit to Israel, the first by members of Romania’s royal family since the foundation of the Jewish state. High on their agenda are meetings with health minister Yael German, with president of the Knesset, Ruth Calderon and with the Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, Teofilos the third. During their visit princess Margareta and prince Radu will be visiting Yad Vashem Memorial for a commemoration ceremony as well as the Romanian church in Jerusalem. Prince Radu is expected to deliver speeches at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at the University of Tel Aviv. The visit, which is to end on Friday, comes in response to an invitation by Knesset officials.
The Republic of Moldova, an ex-soviet Romanian-speaking country intends to become a fully-fledged EU member in 2019, when Romania will be holding the EU rotating presidency, Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca has today said. In turn Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has given assurances that Romania will unconditionally support the European integration of the neighboring country. The two officials have met today in a town close to the Romanian-Moldovan border, a day after the visa waiver for the Moldovan citizens came into effect. Ponta and Leanca talked to the Moldovan tourists who were crossing the border between the two states. As of April 28th, citizens of the Republic of Moldova, owners of biometric passports, are able to travel as tourists around the EU visa-free.
Romanian women’s table tennis side has today been outperformed by North Korea in a game counting towards the World Championships underway in Tokyo. Also today, Romania will be playing world defending champions, China. In their first match, Romanian players have defeated Slovakia and will be up against Austria on Wednesday and Poland on Thursday. The first three sides in the group will advance farther in the competition. Romania came in the eighth position of the World Table Tennis Championships.
Last night the city of Cluj Napoca in central Romania saw the Theatre Union Gala Award for the best theatre shows and actors in 2013. ‘Victor, or Power to the Children’, a play staged at the Hungarian State Theatre in Cluj-Napoca by Silviu Purcarete, was designated the best theatre show. Cornel Raileanu walked away with the best actor award, while Alexandra Fasola was designated the best lead actress.
The situation remains tense in eastern Ukraine, which has lately seen fresh violent actions initiated by pro-Russian separatists, who are at present controling 13 towns and cities. Armed separatists have attacked a pro-Western rally in Donetsk wounding scores. In another development, Russian Defence Minister Serghei Shoygu has given assurnaces the Russian army will not invade Ukraine. In a phone call he had with his American counterpart, Chuck Hagel, the Russian official has voiced concern about what he called an unprecedented increase in US and NATO activity close to Russian borders and called on the United States to renounce the rethoric on Ukraine. We recall that on Monday Washington and the EU imposed fresh sanctions against Russia targeting mainly politicians and businesspeople from the entourage of president Vladimir Putin.
Over Tuesday and Wednesday Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean will be paying a visit to Washington to participate in a conference on European issues. The event will also bring together US officials as well as Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers and Defence Ministers from several European countries. According to Romanian Foreign Ministry, high on the agenda are major events that led to the building of a strong and prosperous Trans-Atlantic community as well as strategic prospects for Eastern and Southern Europe. During the conference, the Romanian diplomacy chief will hold talks with high US officials, representatives of US Congress and members of the Romanian community.
