February 20, 2015 UPDATE
A look at some of the main stories in Romania today.
Newsroom, 20.02.2015, 12:15
Bulgaria’s president Rosen Plevneliev said his country wished to expand cooperation with Romania in all possible areas and that, together, the two states may become an engine for European integration. Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis said that better political, geo-strategic and economic cooperation between Romania and Bulgaria would boost the two countries’ economies. Referring to the security challenges facing the region, Iohannis said Romania and Bulgaria shared the same goal, namely the consolidation of collective defence within NATO. The two leaders agreed to support active and constructive dialogue with their European partners with regard to their countries’ Schengen accession. Romania is Bulgaria’s third largest trade partner in the European Union and the fourth in the world. Rosen Plevneliev is the first head of state to visit Romania after president Iohannis took office on December 21, 2014.
The parties in the ruling coalition in Romania are considering the proposal made by president Klaus Iohannis, who nominated Eduard Hellvig, the vice-president of the National Liberal Party, in opposition, as the head of country’s Intelligence Service. The Social Democrat Prime Minister Victor Ponta says the proposal will be discussed by his party’s parliamentary groups. The Conservative Party is yet to make a decision, but the National Union for the Progress of Romania, also in the ruling coalition, and the National Liberal Party have announced their support for the president’s nomination. The leader of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, Kelemen Hunor, has also said his party sees no problem in supporting Eduard Hellvig. Parliament is to vote on the president’s proposal next week.
Romania is the third most energy independent state in Europe, although its energy system is one of the most inefficient on the continent. According to the participants in an energy forum held in Bucharest, another problem facing the Romanian energy system is the poor effectiveness of its central heating systems, which are yet to be modernised in many cities across the country. The representatives of the National Energy Regulatory Authority say the government must take into account the specific needs of each municipality when drafting the national energy strategy.
Trade unions in the public administration went on a half-hour token strike on Friday. They demand a salary increase and food coupons or a food quota. Union leaders pointed out that public administration employees have the lowest salaries in the public sector, and warned that unless their demands are met, they will call an all-out strike.
World no. 4 Simona Halep of Romania qualified to the finals of the Dubai tennis tournament worth 2.5 million dollars after defeating world no. 5 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the semifinals, in three sets. Halep will next face the Czech player Karolina Pliskova. Also on Friday, another Romanian player, Irina Begu, eased past Julia Glushko of Isreal in straight sets to qualify into the semifinals of the Rio de Janeiro tournament worth 250,000 dollars. In the doubles, Begu and her Argentinean teammate Maria Irigoyen are in the semifinals, where they face the Taiwanese-Bulgarian pair Chieh-Yu Hsu and Elisa Kostova of Bulgaria.
