July 15, 2018

A roundup of domestic and international news.

Newsroom, 15.07.2018, 13:33

EU COUNCIL PRESIDENCY – Getting young people involved in the process of preparing for and holding the EU Council Presidency is vital, Romanian Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Victor Negrescu said on Saturday at a news conference about the young people’s participation in public policies. The conference, that focused on drawing up Romania’s agenda at the helm of the EU Council, highlighted topics such as consolidating European instruments for the improvement of the education and training system, equal opportunities for the young people and increasing their capacity to adjust to labor market challenges.

BREXIT – British Prime Minister Theresa May warned her divided party on Sunday that there may be “no Brexit at all” if they undermine her plan to forge a close relationship with the European Union after leaving the world’s biggest trading bloc. “My message to the country this weekend is simple: we need to keep our eyes on the prize,” May wrote in the Mail on Sunday newspaper. “If we don’t, we risk ending up with no Brexit at all.” Two senior ministers resigned last week in protest at Mays plans for trade with the EU after Britain leaves the bloc next March. May also wrote in the Mail on Sunday article that Britain would take a tough stance in its next round of negotiations with the EU.

PROJECTS — The Agency for the Financing of Rural Investment will open between July and September this year several sessions for project applications, worth a total of 846 million euros, the Romanian Agriculture Ministry reports. The Agency has so far received, for the 2014-2020 timeframe, applications for financing worth more than 7.20 billion euros and signed over 49 thousand financing contracts for which 3.85 billion euros have been allocated. Under the 2014-2020 National Programme for Rural Development, non-repayable funds from the EU and the Romanian Government are being granted, for the economic and social development of Romania’s rural area. The financial allocation exceeds 9 billion euros.

MEETING – French president Emmanuel Macron is today holding talks in Moscow with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, ahead of their attending the World Cup final in Moscow, pitting France against Croatia. The meeting takes place a day before the Summit in Helsinki. Macron and Putin will discuss topics related to Iran, Syria and Ukraine, BBC reports.

ABDUCTION — A Romanian engineer is believed to have been abducted on Saturday from one of Libya’s largest oilfields, local media reports. The Romanian is believed to have been taken hostage alongside another three people, by an armed group. Two of the hostages are said to have been released, but it’s uncertain whether the Romanian is among them. The Romanian Foreign Ministry on Saturday activated a crisis cell to deal with the situation. The Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu said that the top priority was to verify whether a Romanian citizen was indeed taken hostage, what his situation was and what group is involved in the kidnapping. The case is being managed by the Romanian Embassy to Libya relocated in Tunis.

FOOTBALL — CFR Cluj, Romania’s football champion, won the Super Cup following Saturday’s win over FC U Craiova 1948, 1-nil, away from home. This is CFR’s third Super Cup title. They will be representing Romania in the Champions League preliminaries. As many as three Romanian teams are playing in the Champions League preliminaries, namely, U Craiova, FCSB and FC Viitorul.

WORLD CUP – France is playing the World Cup final today, against Croatia. For the latter, qualification to the final is a premier. France won the world title in 1998, when it organized the final tournament, and Croatia won the bronze. On Saturday, Belgium defeated England, 2-0, in the third-place playoff of the World Football Championship hosted by Russia, thus obtaining bronze. Belgium already played in a third-place playoff at the 1986 World Cup, when it was defeated by France. A world champion in 1966, England fought for bronze in 1990 but it was defeated by Italy.

(Translated by Elena Enache)