January 16, 2018 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 16.01.2018, 19:54
MEETING Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said in Bucharest on Tuesday after the meeting he had with Japan’s Premier Shinzo Abe that in the ‘not so distant future’ the two countries would be running a strategic partnership. According to Iohannis, the Romanian-Japanese relations have reached a superior level of maturity, which will lead to stepped-up cooperation in all fields. On the other hand, the Romanian president has said that Romania backs the rigorous implementation of the international sanctions to North Korea by the UN and the EU and has voiced hope that concerted international efforts will eventually lead to a sustainable solution in the North Korean crisis. In turn, the Japanese official has said that Romania has a strategic geographic position in Europe and is a crucial partner to Japan, sharing the same values and principles, such as freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Shinzo Abe’s visit to Bucharest was the first paid by a Japanese Prime Minister and came against the background of celebrating five years since the 2013 agreement on the Renewed Partnership between the two countries.
DESIGNATION Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday designated the country’s Defence Minister Mihai Fifor as interim Prime Minister after Mihai Tudose stepped down. The president has also announced that on Wednesday he will launch consultations with parliamentary parties for the nomination of a new Prime Minister. Iohannis has made public his dissatisfaction and concern about the fact that only one year after the Parliamentary election, Romania has witnessed what he calls two failed Social-Democratic governments. The PSD’s National Executive Committee on Tuesday designated MEP Viorica Dancila as a possible successor to Tudose who stepped down last night. Ruling coalition partners ALDE have announced their agreement with the PSD’s proposal.
TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number one in the WTA rankings, on Tuesday qualified for the second round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, defeating the Australian Destanee Aiava 7-6, 6-1. In the second round, Halep, who is the tournament’s first seed, will play against Eugenie Bouchard of Canada. Halep is the third qualified Romanian player, after Irina Begu and Sorana Carstea. Also on Tuesday Romanian Ana Bogdan defeated in two sets Kristina Mladenovici of France.
CONFERENCE A delegation of the General Staff of the Romanian Armed Forces, headed by general Nicolae Ciuca, is attending in Brussels the NATO Military Committee Conference, attended by the NATO chiefs of staff. The agenda of the meeting includes topics such as challenges to security on NATO’s southern flank and the contribution of the Alliance to stabilizing the region, the next steps in the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, NATO’s role in providing assistance for security reform in Iraq and the training of the Iraqi forces in 2018. Also, the participants are to discuss proposals regarding means of adapting NATO’s command structure, military recommendations and ways of harmonizing them with the political recommendations of the North Atlantic Council.
Translated by Daniel Bilt
