January 15, 2017
Events celebrating Romania's National Culture Day are held in the country and abroad./The High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini meets in Brussels the new Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu.
Newsroom, 15.01.2017, 12:05
ROMANIAs NATIONAL CULTURE DAY Events celebrating Romanias National Culture Day are held both in the country and abroad. The Culture Day is celebrated every year on January 15th, which is the birthday of the Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889), dubbed the last great representative of European Romanticism. The new building of the Romanian Literature Museum was officially inaugurated on the occasion, and the Central University Library will host the young writers gala. The initiator of the National Culture Day, the literary critic Eugen Simion, will attend the solemn session of the Romanian Academy as he does every year. As part of the Romanian Cultural Institutes strategy to celebrate the Lipatti centennial in 2017, the National Radio Orchestra will this evening give an anniversary concert, during which actor Ion Caramitru will recite poems by Mihai Eminescu. Just like every year, Romanian diplomatic and consular missions, as well as the Romanian cultural institutes abroad are hosting special events, devoted to this day. Romanias President Klaus Iohannis has posted a message on a social networking webside, reading that, in the world, the respect towards Romania is very much based on the international appreciation of its culture and artists. The National Culture Day was established by Parliament in 2010, at the proposal of the Romanian Academy.
FOREIGN POLICY The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini will receive in Brussels on Monday the new Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu. According to information posted on the European Commissions web page, the meeting of the two officials will take place on the sidelines of the General Affairs and External Relations Council, attended by EU foreign ministers. This is the first such meeting for Melescanu since he took over the foreign affairs office, an office he also held back in 1992-1996 and again for just two weeks in November 2014. He resigned then because the poor preparation of the presidential elections had prevented thousands of Romanian citizens living abroad to cast their votes.
SUMMIT Foreign ministers and diplomats from over 70 countries are today discussing in Paris the Middle East situation, at a conference organized with the aim of reasserting the support for a two-state solution. Neither Israeli nor Palestinian representatives are attending the meeting. The latter had agreed with the conference, but the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the meeting in Paris was arranged against Israel. According to the US Department of State, the US Secretary of State John Kerry is attending the summit in order to make sure that whatever happens there is constructive and balanced. The Israelis and the Palestinians will be informed about the conclusions drawn at the Paris conference.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN Six Romanian tennis players represent Romania at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, which starts in Melbourne on Monday. The best Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, ranking 4th in the WTA classification and also 40th seeded at the tournament, will play in the first round against the American Shelby Rogers, WTA number 57. Irina Camelia Begu, ranked 30t and 27th-seed will have a difficult match in the inaugural round, against Iaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan. Monica Niculescu, ranking 40th in the WTA classification, a finalist in Hobart, will play against a player from the qualifiers. Number 78 Sorana Carstea will play against the Russian Irina Kromaceva, and Patricia Tig, number 106 in the WTA rankings, will take on the Olympic champion Monica Puig of Puerto Rico. Ana Bogdan, whos made it to the main draw from the qualifiers, will play against the Russian Elena Vesnina.
