February 4, 2014
A roundup of domestic and international news.
România Internațional, 04.02.2014, 13:20
The High EU Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton is today expected to arrive in Ukraine, in another attempt to find a solution to the political crisis in this country. On the other hand, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich might agree to early legislative and parliamentary elections, in order to end the unrest in the country, the president’s representative in the single chamber parliament, Iuri Mirosnicenk has announced. Ukraine has been faced, since November 2013, with a wave of protests triggered by the decision of the power in Kiev to suspend the country’s EU accession process.
The Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean and his Slovakian counterpart Miroslav Lajcak, took part on Monday in the opening of two consulates of Romania in Slovakia, in the cities of Banska Bystrica and Stara Lubovna. Also on Monday, on the first day of his visit to Slovakia, Minister Corlatean had a meeting with the mayor of Bratislava, Milan Ftacnik.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, the specialized agency of the World Health Organization for cancer, has launched the “World cancer report 2014”. The report reveals how the cancer burden is growing at an alarming pace and emphasizes the need for urgent implementation of efficient prevention strategies to curb the disease. In 2012, the global burden of cancer rose to an estimated 14 million new cases per year, a figure expected to rise to 22 million annually within the next 2 decades. Most types of cancer could be avoided if the information we have so far on the disease, were used correctly, the WHO says. In Romania over 78,000 new cases of cancer are being reported every year and 50,000 people die because of this disease.
Romania has access to little European money under the 2014-2020 finanial framework, so it should spend these funds wisely, Prime Minister Victor Ponta has today said at a meeting of the Inter-Institutional Committee for the 2014-2020 Partnership Agreement. The Minister for European Funds, Eugen Teodorovici, has announced that Romania will send send to the European Commission the draft partnership agreement, by the end of the month. The operatonal programs that are to be financed will also be submitted to the European Commission by the end of March.
