July 4, 2015 UPDATE

A roundup of news from Romania and the world

România Internațional, 04.07.2015, 12:15

A referendum will be held on Sunday in Greece asking Greek citizens whether to accept or reject the austerity measures imposed by international creditors in order to obtain a new financial aid agreement. The PM Alexis Tsipras told his supporters that he would vote for dignity, and a “NO” to the austerity measures proposed by creditors would allow him to negotiate a better financial aid agreement in Brussels. On the other hand, the opposition leader, Antonis Samaras, pleaded for a “YES” vote in the referendum that should defeat what he called the “government’s irresponsibility”. Irrespective of the result of the referendum, the Greek PM promised to reach an agreement with the international financial institutions within 48 hours at the most in the wake of Sunday’s referendum. According to opinion polls the number of YES and NO votes are almost equal. The closed banks and the restrictions on capital flow imposed in the past week in Greece led to a drop in the number of people who supported the government’s stand. Germany ruled out the possibility of restructuring Greece’s sovereign debt, in spite of the IMF’s recommendation in this regard and of the warning that Athens will need an additional 50 billion euros by 2018. At present Greece has a total debt of more than 320 billion euros of which 65% to euro zone countries and the IMF and 8.7% to the European Central Bank.

Tens of thousands of Moldovan citizens are expected on Sunday in central Chisinau to vote, in a national rally, for a resolution regarding Moldova’s union with neighboring Romania. The rally was asked by NGOs from the two countries. According to them only united can they face the challenges of the future, live a better life and enjoy a bigger country with no internal borders, no obstacles and with a common and prosperous destiny for all Romanians. The rally will take place in the area where the great anti-Soviet protests of 1989- 1990 were organized and where in August 1991 another Big National Assembly hailed the proclamation by the Moldovan Parliament of the country’s independence from Moscow. We recall that the present Republic Moldova was set up on part of the eastern Romanian territories annexed by the USSR in 1940, following an ultimatum.

The Romanian authorities have conveyed messages of congratulation to the American people on the occasion of the Independence Day marked by the US on July 4th. The Romanian politicians have underlined the importance of 135 years of Romanian- American diplomatic relations and the cooperation of the two countries in various fields. The interim PM, Gabriel Oprea, said on behalf of the government that 135 years of Romanian-American diplomatic relations were the basis for a successful future cooperation. He underlined the very good cooperation in the military, energy security, scientific and academic fields between the two countries. Oprea expressed hope that the good cooperation relations will lead to the signing of an agreement between Washington and Bucharest on the intensification of cooperation for preventing and fighting terrorism, an important technical criterion for including Romania in the Visa Waiver program. The co-president of the National Liberal Party, in opposition, Alina Gorghiu, said that the US was the world’s most important democracy and a reliable ally of Romania. The example set by this country, that for more than 2 centuries has given Americans the chance to freedom and prosperity, has drawn the admiration of many nations and was a source of inspiration for all the friends of democracy, Alina Gorghiou added. On Thursday President Klaus Iohannis reminded that the Strategic partnership with the US was, alongside the country’s NATO and EU membership, a landmark of Romania’s foreign policy and security.

The Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu, 48th in the WTA rankings, qualified Saturday in the eighth finals of the Wimbledon tournament after eliminating the Czech Krystina Pliskova, 6-3, 7-5. In the next match Niculescu will meet the winner of the match pitting Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland)- Sabine Lisicki (Germany). Niculescu obtained the best results in this tournament, in which she has previously participated 8 times. The other 4 Romanian players participating in the Wimbledon tournament were eliminated in the first 2 rounds, Simona Halep, the world’s no. 3 player included.