July 13, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 13.07.2015, 12:15
Eurozone leaders have reached a historic accord with Greece on bailing that country out, against fears that the EU country would abandon the single currency. It came after a marathon 16 hours of negotiations, the longest summit meeting in the history of the Eurozone. In exchange for financial rescue, Greece committed to reforms that may lead to economic growth and job creation. The measures have to be passed by the Greek Parliament by Wednesday. European Union leaders have saluted the accord, calling on Greece to observe its commitments. This meeting was preceded by a meeting of finance ministers, who issued a document for a possible new bailout package between 82 and 86 billion Euro. The Greek state now has debts amounting to over 320 billion Euro.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis who is on a two-day official visit to Spain, met on Monday with King Felipe VI, with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and with representatives of the Romanian community in Spain. Statistics indicate that Spain is home to over 900,000 Romanians, the largest minority in that country. Among the topics approached were the Romanian-Spanish ties, collaboration within the EU and NATO and topical foreign policy issues. President Iohannis extended his thanks for the openness that Spain shows to Romanian citizens. On Tuesday, President Iohannis will meet with the Spanish Senate Speaker, Pio Garcia-Escudero.
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has been named as a defendant in a criminal investigation into forgery, tax evasion and money laundering. Assets belonging to him have been temporarily seized. He allegedly committed these crimes while a lawyer, as part of another case, against his party colleague, Social Democratic Senator Dan Sova. On Sunday, the Prime Minister, who is also head of the ruling Social Democratic Party, said he would resign his position within the party until he has proven his innocence. The Social Democratic leadership meets this week to analyse the situation created by the announcement. The opposition has once again called on the premier to step down.
Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu on Tuesday saluted the accord reached by the EU with Greece on the bailout, on the occasion of Luxembourgs takeover of the EU presidency. The top Romanian diplomat said that the EU has proven on this occasion that it is able to find solutions for the most difficult crises.
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep is still number three in the world in the WTA standings, issued after the end of the Grand Slam in Wimbledon. Another star Romanian player, Alexandra Dulgheru, winner of the ITF competition in France, jumped 14 places, and is now 46th seeded, while Monica Niculescu, who reached the eighth finals, is now placed 41st, jumping 7 places. The fourth WTA top 100 Romanian player is Andreea Mitu, seeded 78th. Horia Tecau, who has just won the mens doubles at Wimbledon alongside Jean-Julien Rojer, is up two places in the standings, to reach 5th place. Florin Mergea, semi-finalist in the same competition, where he played alongside Rohan Bopanna, went up seven places, reaching 7th seed.
Romanias football champions, Steaua Bucharest, play on Tuesday away from home against AS Trencin of Slovakia in the second preliminary round of the Champions League. A young club, founded in 1992, AS Trencin played its way to the top in Slovakia lately. In the Europa League, in the second preliminary round on Thursday, two other Romanian teams are present, Astra Giurgiu and ASA Tg. Mures, who play against Scottish side Inverness CT and Polish side Legia Warsaw respectively.
