February 27, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of news from Romania and the world
România Internațional, 27.02.2015, 20:03
The Romanian PM Victor Ponta said Friday in Bucharest at the end of the talks with his Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, that they talked about the possibility for Albania to benefit from the energy surplus produced by Romania. On the other hand, the PM pointed out that just as Albania’s NATO integration represented an important support for the whole region, the integration of all the countries in the western Balkans into the EU will be a great support and advantage for Romania. Also on Friday the foreign ministers of Romania and Georgia, Bogdan Aurescu and Tamar Beruchaşvili signed in the presence of the prime ministers of the two countries a cooperation agreement in the fields of culture, education and science, mass media, youth and sports. The Romanian PM reiterated that Romania remained a staunch supporter of Georgia’s joining the EU and NATO. Georgia is Romania’s main trade partner in the South Caucasus.
The High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, estimated that the investiture of the new government in Chisinau was indicative of the Republic of Moldova resuming its commitments to the European principles and path. A press release made public on Friday by the Moldovan government shows that during the meeting in Brussels of the newly invested PM Chiril Gaburici with the EU foreign policy chief, the latter said the Eu would continue to help Chisinau to advance on the European path, adding that she expected Moldova to implement as soon as possible the Association Agreement concluded with the EU. In turn Chiril Gaburici said that the Moldovan government counted on the support of its foreign partners. Also in Brussels, during his first official visit abroad since taking office, PM Chiril Gaburici met Thursday with the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk. Made up of the minority coalition of the pro-western Liberal Democrats and the Democrats, the Gaburici government was instated last week with the support in Parliament of the pro-Russian communists.
The conflict in the pro-Russian, eastern separatist region of Ukraine is at a crossroads: there are encouraging signs for a ceasefire but the prospect of stability in the region is quite far- said Friday before the UN Security Council Heidi Tagliavini, special representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office to the Trilateral Contact Group with Russia and Ukraine. According to her, unless peace efforts are continued by all sides, violence risks being resumed. After two consecutive days when no victims were reported among the Ukrainian troops, which increased hopes for the observance of the Minsk ceasefire accord, violence was resumed Friday, leaving behind several Ukrainian soldiers dead. In ten months of conflict as many as 5,800 people have been killed.
On Friday the German Parliament approved with on overwhelming majority the extension of the financial rescue plan for Greece until the end of June. Before voting, the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Shauble had called on the Bundestag to approve the extension, because, he said, the worst – case scenario had to be avoided. This week, the Eurozone finance ministers have approved the continuation of this aid for Greece, on the basis of the reforms that Greece has pledged to implement. Greeces leftist government has committed, among other things, to solving the issue of tax evasion and corruption. In order for the program to come into force, it must be ratified by all Eurozone parliaments.
The Romanian- Dutch pair Horia Tecau/ Jean Julien Rojer failed on Friday to qualify in the doubles final of the Dubai tennis tournament with total prizes amounting to more than 2 million dollars, after being defeated in the semi-fianls 4-6, 7-6, 11-9 by the pair Rohan Bopanna (India)/ Daniel Nestor (Canada). The Romanian and Dutch players will receive almost 32 thousand dollars and 180 ATP points.
