February 17, 2014 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 17.02.2014, 12:02
Romania’s Social Democrat PM Victor Ponta said disagreements continued with their Liberal partner in the ruling Social Liberal Union over the way in which to reshuffle the government. PM Ponta resumed negotiations on the issue with the liberal leader Crin Antonescu on Monday. The latter had been authorized by the Liberal leadership to ask for the observance of the Social Liberal Union protocol and to reject the creation of a new vice-premier position, to be granted to the Conservative Party. Tension occurred in the ruling coalition after the Liberal Party decided to change 4 Liberal ministers ahead of the elections for the European Parliament. In these elections the Liberals will run independently while the Social Democratic Party will run on common lists with the Conservative Party and the National Union for the Progress of Romania, junior partners in the ruling coalition, as part of the newly created Social Democratic Union. Analysts believe that the Liberal leader’s chances in the November presidential election, who is actually the official candidate of the Social Liberal Union, depend on maintaining the alliance with the Social Democratic Party.
The chairman of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Hannes Swoboda, said Monday in Bucharest, that political stability was extremely important for Romania to continue to report economic growth. On the occasion of his official visit to Romania, Swoboda visited the research platform of micro and nanomaterials within the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, the Horia Hulubei National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Energy as well as the research center in Magurele, which is carrying out the biggest pan-European laser research project called Extreme Light Infrastructure — Nuclear Physics. Hannes Swoboda also met with Romanian officials and representatives of Romania research and higher education.
Romania’s foreign minister Titus Corlatean said he wished Romania to become a point of contact for NATO in Montenegro, given that Bucharest supports this country’s European and Euro-Atlantic future. He had talks in Bucharest with the Montenegrin minister of foreign affairs and European integration, Igor Lukšići, who is on a visit to Romania. Corlatean hailed Montenegro’s progress on the path to European integration, in particular in the fields of justice, the fight against corruption and organised crime. The two officials also signed two agreements in the areas of education and culture.
The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep went up one place in the WTA standings to reach the 9th position, the highest ranking in her career. On Sunday, Halep won the tournament in Doha, Qatar, her 7th title so far. Other Romanian players in the WTA rankings are Sorana Cirstea, at number 27, and Monica Niculescu, currently ranked 53rd.
The EU announced Monday the disbursement of financial aid worth 12 million euros to finance the destruction of chemicals from Syria’s chemical weapons programme, an operation that is being supervised by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. In another development, the American secretary of state John Kerry called on Russia to cut the support for the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, after the failure of the negotiations in Geneva, meant to put an end to the bloody conflict that killed more than 140 thousand in almost 3 years. 15 days after the first failed negotiations, the second round of negotiations between the Syrian regime and the opposition, also held in Geneva, ended on Saturday with no progress.
President’s Day was celebrated Monday in the US. Originally held on February 22nd in honour of George Washington, the first president of the United States of America, it was marked this year on February 17th, the 3rd Monday of February, being viewed as a day to celebrate and remember the US presidents.
