Jnune 19, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 19.06.2015, 12:15
The Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, at the 2015 Global Security Forum (GLOBSEC 2015) in Bratislava, focusing on global security threats posed by Islamist groups and Russia, voiced Romania’s preoccupation with the security situation at its eastern and southern borders. Aurescu emphasised the need for a coherent answer by NATO, through the full implementation, until the NATO summit in 2016, of the Alliance’s Plan of Action for an increased reaction level and for a continuation of NATO’s strategic adjustment to the new security risks and threats in the long run. Attending the Global Security Forum are leaders of Central and Eastern Europe and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Greece and Russia signed on Friday a preliminary agreement for the building of a Russian-backed gas pipeline in Greece. The document was signed by Russian president Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Sankt Petersburg, against the backdrop of Greece’s financial difficulties, caused by disagreement with the country’s international lenders. According to the German press, Russia is willing to prepay up to 5 billion euros in transit fees to Athens. Greece needs 7.2 billion euros by the end of the month to avoid default on its debts.
Two ruling coalition parties, the Liberal Reformist Party and the Conservative Party signed a merger protocol on Friday. The new faction will be called the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. The future right-wing party will have a single parliamentary group and will have common candidates in next year’s local and legislative elections. The Liberal Reformist Party, led by Senate Speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu, and the Conservative Party, currently led by Agriculture Minister Daniel Constantin, are currently part of the ruling coalition, alongside the National Union for the Progress of Romania and the Social-Democratic Party.
US president Barack Obama has condemned the armed attack on a church in South Carolina, calling for a revision of the arms and munitions legislation. The White House leader has said guns are too easily available in the US, while shootings have multiplied in recent years. Nine people were killed on Wednesday evening in an armed attack on an African-American church in Charleston. The attacker, Dylann Roof, a white male aged 21, was taken into custody on Thursday. He confessed to having committed the crimes.
EU governments extended for a year, until June 23rd, 2016, a ban on trade and investment with Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, on Friday. This means that the European help for Russian Black Sea oil and gas exploration and visits by European cruise ships will remain outlawed. The measures include a ban on importing products made in Crimea into the EU. Investment in Crimea is also banned.
The first winners of the Radio Romania International prize-winning competition entitled “Holiday on the Black Sea”, Jaroslaw Jedrzejczak and Justyna Drgas-Jedrzejczak of Poland, have ended their trip to Romania. Accompanied by the member of the RRI’s English Section, Daniel Bilt, they spent 7 nights with full boarding at the Delta Hotel in the resort of Jupiter, Constanta county. The two Polish guests relaxed on the Black Sea coast and also visited the tourist attractions in the area. The other winner of the Grand Prize, Alexandr Getz from Kiev, Ukraine, will travel to Romania in September, together with his wife. The competition was organised with the support of the Magalia Town Hall, The Tomis Archbishopric, the Arts Museum in Constanta, The Romanian Navy Forces, the “Vice-admiral Constantin Balescu” Application School of the Navy Forces in Mangalia, The History and Archaeology Museum in Constanta, the Callatis Archaeology Museum in Mangalia, the Constanta branch of the Fine Artists’ Union, the Romanian Navy Museum in Constanta, the Great Mufti’s Office of the Muslim Community in Romania, the Mangalia Horse Herd, Adventure Park Neptun, misses Elisabeta Moraitaki, the sister of the painter Stefan Elefteriadis, born in Mangalia and now living in Brazil and other local partners.
