July 23, 2014
A look at some of the main stories in Romania today.
România Internațional, 23.07.2014, 12:00
Clashes between the Palestinian movement Hamas and Israel continued on Wednesday morning despite calls for end to current fighting from the UN secretary general Ban ki Moon. Several American and European airways companies, including Romania’s Tarom, have cancelled their flights to Tel Aviv for 24 hours for security reasons.
Romania’s foreign minister Titus Corlatean is today attending a ministerial meeting between the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Brussels. According to the ministry in Bucharest, the meeting looks at bi-regional cooperation and future areas of development, including the possibility of signing a free trade agreement between the two regions. EU foreign ministers will also discuss with their southeast Asian counterparts topical issues on the international agenda, such as the recent developments in Ukraine, the Middle East and North Africa. Talks between the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations take place every two years.
Romania’s labour minister Rovana Plumb and the minister delegate for Romanians abroad Bogdan Stanoevici are today attending an international employment forum in Madrid. The two Romanian officials are also due to meet representatives of the Romanian community in Spain. Estimated at over 700,000 people, this is one of the largest communities of Romanians abroad.
Talks continue in Bucharest between finance ministry officials and a team of experts from the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission on the first state budget adjustment in 2014. At the end of the week, the finance ministry is due to make public its data on the execution of the consolidated budget in the first half of the year. Experts say the adjustment may be postponed as budget returns, though on the rise in the first 5 months of the year, are lower than estimated when the budget was first drafted. Moreover, the government must also find a solution for the decrease in budget returns as a result of a 5% cut in social security contributions for employers as of October.
8 Romanian nationals from a single family died on Tuesday in a car crash in Alicante, south-eastern Spain. According to radio Romania’s correspondent in Madrid, their bus was hit by a truck, caught fire and burnt. Three women, three men and two children were killed. The driver of the truck was seriously injured.
Romania’s football champions Steaua Bucharest today meet the Norwegian side Stroemsgodset IF in the final leg of the Champions League second preliminary round. Steaua, who won the first leg in Norway, 1-nil, are favourites for tonight’s game. If they qualify to the third preliminary round, Steaua will meet the winner between the Kazakh side Aktobe and the Georgian side Dinamo Tbilisi. On Thursday, in the final leg of the Europa League second preliminary round, Petrolul Ploiesti meet the Albanian side Flamurtari Vlora, which they defeated 2-nil at home, while CFR Cluj are taking on the Serbian side Jagodina. The vice-champions Astra Giurgiu, the winner of the Romanian Cup and Supercup, go straight into the third preliminary round.
