August 21, 2013
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Valentin Țigău, 21.08.2013, 13:00
Romanian foreign minister, Titus Corlatean, has said that during Wednesday’s special meeting of the EU foreign ministers, Romania pleaded for the condemnation of all acts of violence in Egypt. In another move, Romania stood for the need to capitalise on the role played by the EU in Egypt, which continues to be a key-partner in the region. The Romanian foreign minister hailed the fact that the EU goes ahead with its component of granting assistance and support to Egypt in the economic and social field, a stand supported by Romania.
An Egyptian court on Wednesday ordered the release on bail of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, tried in a corruption file. His attorney said he might be released on Thursday. Hosni Mubarak is accused of having received gifts from a state-owned newspaper. He is also tried for complicity in the killing of protesters during the revolution of 2011, that forced him from power. The former Egyptian president has already been sentenced to life in jail in that file, but a retrial was later ordered by the Court of Cassation.
Problems related to the anti-missile defence shield and ways to support strategic stability have been approached by the deputy Russian foreign minister, Serghei Riabkov and US under-secretary of state, Rose Gottemoeller. “Issues relating to the further cooperation between Russia and the US in the field of arms control and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction have been tackled. Problems regarding the anti-missile defence shield are analysed in detail”- reads an official communiqué issued by the Russian side.
The US National Security Agency (NSA) can monitor up to 75% of the total internet traffic in the country, Wall Street Journal reports in a story quoting former and current officials of the agency. Wall Street Journal emphasises that this figure is a lot higher than previously communicated by the authorities in Washington, after the data revealed by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden regarding the American surveillance programmes. The Agency announced at that stage that it was only interested in 1.6% of the total data traffic, and that only a very small part of the data is actually selected for examination. Edward Snowden, who was given asylum in Russia for one year, was the first to reveal that NSA is monitoring the American citizens’ telephone and internet traffic.
Holland’s Ministry for Social Affairs has reconfirmed its decision to lift restrictions concerning Romanian and Bulgarian citizens starting on January 1, 2014. The confirmation came at the request of the Embassy of Romania, after the Dutch minister for Social Affairs Lodewijk Asscher had recently suggested an orange-code warning should be in place as regards the increase of the movement of labour within the EU. He said the migration of Romanians and Bulgarians will have negative effects for the citizens of the destination countries.
The beatification of monsignor Vladimir Ghika, on August the 31st in Bucharest will be the most important event for the Catholic believers here and not only, after the visit paid to Romania by Pope John Paul II, the spokesperson for the Roman-Catholic Archbishopric in Bucharest announced on Wednesday. The beatification is the last stage before holiness. Vladimir Ghika was born in 1873 and received the Orthodox baptism. Later on he embraced Catholicism and attended theology courses in Rome. With the Pope’s special approval, he became the first priest to give masses both in the Latin and Byzantine rites. After 1939, he returned to Romania and gave masses in Bucharest. He was arrested by the communists in 1952 and died in prison, at 82 years of age.
The Diaspora Festival continues in the southeastern Romanian town of Mangalia, until Sunday. The project is aimed at strengthening the ties between the Romanians abroad and their home country, and brings together Romanian authorities and Romanians living abroad, who have a chance to discuss and solve the problems they are facing. They say they have difficulties in terms of access to education and mass media in their mother tongue.
Romania’s former international football player Costica Stefanescu, 62, died on Tuesday after jumping from the fifth floor of the hospital he was in. He suffered from an incurable disease. Costica Stefanescu was the captain of the great team Universitatea Craiova, which dominated the Romanian football in the early ‘80s, and was the first Romanian football team to qualify into the UEFA semi-finals in 1983. Dubbed “the defence minister”, Stefanescu was also a captain of the national football team, with which he played 66 games.
Romania’s football champions, Steaua Bucharest, ended in a draw (1-1) the match played on home turf on Wednesday evening against the Polish side Legia from Warsaw, in the Champions League group playoffs. In Europa League, three other Romanian teams, Astra Giurgiu, Pandurii Târgu Jiu and Petrolul Ploiesti, are trying to get into the groups stage, and will play on Thursday against Maccabi Haifa (Israel), Sporting Braga (Portugal), and Swansea City (Wales) respectively. The second leg is scheduled for next week.
