January 24, 2015 UPDATE
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România Internațional, 24.01.2015, 12:15
Ceremonies were held Saturday in Romania to mark 156 years since the Union of the Romanian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia. Participating in the manifestations held in the northeastern Romanian city of Iasi, which was the capital of the former Romanian Principality of Moldavia, were the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and the PM Victor Ponta. On January 24th 1859 Alexandru Ioan Cuza, who had been elected one week before ruler of Moldavia, was unanimously voted by the Elective Assembly in Bucharest ruler of Wallachia as well and proclaimed prince of the United Principalities. Cuza’s reign between 1859 and 1866 set the institutional foundation of the modern state of Romania through the radical reforms promoted. In 1918 the formation of the Romanian nation state was completed through the union of the Romanian Kingdom with the historical provinces with a majority speaking Romanian population that had been until then under the administration of the neighboring multinational empires. The Union Day was also marked Saturday in the Republic of Moldova.
The Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu expressed his deep concern with the bombings in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol and the victims among the civilians. The permanent infringement of the Minsk agreement should stop, the Romanian foreign minister also added. At least 20 people were killed Saturday in the rebels’ bombings on the city of Mariupol, a strategic port and the last big city in the separatist eastern part of Ukraine controlled by Kiev. Violence flared up again in Ukraine where many civilians and soldiers have been killed in the past days. According to the OSCE, as of April 2014 more than 5 thousand people have lost their lives in the clashes between the Ukrainian army and the pro-Russian separatists.
The economic developments following the monetary measures announced by the European Central Bank are to be discussed by the Romanian authorities with the representatives of the IMF. The IMF communiqué points out that the mission of international lenders will come to Romania early next week and that by February 10th they will look into the government’s priorities for the continuation of economic reforms. The law on the insolvency of natural persons and the crisis of loans in the Swiss franc, which affects around 75 thousand Romanians, will be high on the agenda of talks between the IMF representatives and the Romanian authorities.
The authorities of the northeastern Romanian city of Iasi, of Chisinau, the capital of the Republic of Moldova and of Cernauti, a city in Ukraine on Saturday signed a cooperation agreement in the fields of education, culture and public administration. The document was signed in Iasi, in the context in which this city wants to become a European Capital of Culture in 2021. We recall that in 2007 another Romanian city, namely Sibiu, in the centre, was designated European Capital of Culture.
The pair made up of Romanian Florin Mergea and the Dutch lady tennis player Michaella Krajicek qualified Saturday for the eighth finals of the mixed doubles event at the Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam tournament after defeating the pair Elina Svitolina from Ukraine/ Raven Klaasen from South Africa. Mergea has also qualified for the eighth finals of the men’s doubles together with Dominic Inglot from Great Britain. Horia Tecau has also made headway into the eights finals of the mens doubles together with the Dutch Jean Julien Rojer. Two Romanian women players, Simona Halep, WTA 3-rd seed and number 3 favorite to winning the Australian Open, and Irina Begu have also qualified for the eighth finals of the Australian Opens womens singles. Halep will play Sunday for qualification in the quarter finals against Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, while Begu will take on WTA 7th-seed Eugenie Bouchard (Canada).
