February 17, 2019
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 17.02.2019, 14:00
FAC – On Monday, the Romanian
Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu will attend the Foreign Affairs Council in
Brussels. The agenda of the EU foreign ministers’ meeting will include current
issues such as Ukraine, Syria, the Horn of Africa and Venezuela, according to a
release issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry in Bucharest. On the sidelines
of the meeting, the Romanian foreign minister will attend a working brunch on
Ukraine, organized by his Danish counterpart Anders Samuelsen, with the
Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin as the main guest .
EMPLOYMENT – More than 10,000 notices of employment or posting were
issued last year for foreigners coming to Romania to work, mostly from Vietnam,
Turkey, Sri Lanka and China. According to the General Inspectorate for
Immigration, more than 120,000 foreign citizens were registered in Romania at
the end of last year, more than half of them from non-EU countries. For this
year, the Romanian Government has approved a contingent of 20,000 workers newly
admitted on the Romanian labour market. According to authorities, the decision
was made taking into consideration Romania’s economic development potential and
the need to provide the necessary workforce for certain sectors of the economy
and also to prevent illegal labour.
BREXIT – British Prime Minister Theresa May has decided to speak to
every EU member state leader over the coming days and she has written a letter
to the Conservative MPs to appeal for unity over Brexit, France Presse reports.
In this letter, excerpts of which have been made public by Downing Street,
Theresa May calls on her party to act for the benefit of the national interest.
On Monday, Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay will meet EU chief negotiator Michel
Barnier to discuss proposals put forward by a new working group of British
lawmakers, exploring alternatives to the backstop in Ireland. Great Britain is
due to leave the EU on March 29th, but its parliament last month
rejected a draft divorce deal that Theresa May had negotiated with the EU,
raising the risk of a no-deal Brexit.
ISIS – US President Donald Trump has urged Great Britain, France and
other European allies to take back their 800 Isis fighters captured in Syria
and put them on trial. If this does not happen, the alternative is not a good
one, in that we will be forced to release them, Trump said. In a message
posted on a social network, Trump says that the entire Caliphate claimed by
Isis in Syria and Iraq is ready to fall, and the US will pull out after
declaring victory.
TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player
Monica Niculescu was defeated by Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan on Sunday, in the
last round of qualifications for the singles of the WTA tournament in Dubai,
the United Arab Emirates, with 2.828.000 dollars in prize money. Simona Halep
is third seed at the tournament and will go straight into the second round.
Also from Romania, Mihaela Buzarnescu will take on in the first round the
American Sofia Kenin. Four Romanian players will compete in the doubles:
Buzarnescu will pair up with the Polish Alicja Rosolska, Irina Bara will play
together with Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia, Monica Niculescu will play
alongside the Chinese Xinyun Han, and Raluca Olaru will pair up with the Croat
Darija Jurak. On Saturday night, in the final of the Doha tournament, Simona
Halep, no.2 in the WTA rankings as of Monday, was defeated by the Belgian Elise
Mertens 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. This is the first match against Halep won by Mertens (21
WTA). Halep’s record includes 18 titles, including the Roland Garros. So far,
she has lost 16 finals.
