January 20, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 20.01.2015, 12:15
Iran and Russia signed an agreement Tuesday to expand military ties. Economic sanctions have been imposed on the two countries by the United States and the European Union, due to Teheran’s nuclear program and Russia’s involvement in the Ukrainian crisis. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, Russian experts say that in this context, the delivery of the Russian S-300 missile system to Iran might be resumed. Back in 2007, Russia signed a contract to sell S-300 air defence systems to Tehran, but following sanctions imposed on Iran by the UN, the weapon was never delivered.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday held a working meeting with Prime Minister Victor Ponta at the presidential headquarters to discuss the country’s economic situation in the context of the Swiss franc crisis, the Government’s activity and the current international situation. Also on Tuesday Victor Ponta had a meeting with the ambassadors of the EU member states in Bucharest. He challenges facing the Union and Romania’s priorities against this background, energy security and a better coordination and cooperation at European level to combat terrorism were approached by the participants in the meeting.
The Swiss Franc has registered a slight drop on the Romania currency market, at 4.4354 lei, as compared to the record 4.47 lei yesterday. That appreciation came after the central bank of Switzerland removed last week the ceiling set for the exchange rate at 1.2 Francs per Euro. Since then, the Swiss Franc has appreciated strongly against the Euro, as well as against the Romanian Leu. Romanian political parties are seeking solutions for the over 75,000 Romanians who have taken out loans in Swiss Francs. In Parliament, the leadership in the Chamber of Deputies has decided to commence debating the law on personal bankruptcy in the judicial committee.
Romanian President Kauls Iohannis will visit the neighbouring Republic of Moldova right after a new government is sworn in there, the presidency said Tuesday in a release. Iohannis held a telephone conference with his counterpart, Nicolae Timofti, agreeing that the conditions were not met for his state visit to Chisinau that had previously been scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Iohannis said once again that he hoped the Parliament in Chisinau voted as soon as possible a strong representative government, with a strong pro-European agenda. Right after he had been elected, Iohannis went to the Republic of Moldova to express his support for the three pro-European parties there, which are part of the current government. In the November 30th elections, they collectively got 55 of the 101 seats in the lower chamber of Parliament, but did not manage subsequently to agree on sharing power.
Marius Copil, the 194th seed in the WTA, the only Romanian tennis player at the singles in the Australian Open, surprisingly managed to qualify to the second round, after defeating on Tuesady in Melbourne Spanish player Pablo Andujar, seeded 40, in three sets. He is the first Romanian player to take a notable position in the first Grand Slam of the year. His next adversary is the holder of the trophy, 4th seed Swiss player Stanislas Wawrinka. Two Romanian female players have qualified for the second round, Simona Halep, 3rd seed in the world, who plays Australian Jamila Gajdosova, 62nd seed, and Irina Begu, 42nd seed, who plays Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, 81st seed.
