June 14, 2014
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România Internațional, 14.06.2014, 14:19
The Romanian minister delegate for the Diaspora, Bogdan Stanoevici, met in Vienna with the chief of the Integration Department in the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two discussed the role of the cultural and educational exchanges for the better integration of the Romanian community in Austria. Stanoevici also met with representatives of the Romanian community in Austria and of the League of Romanian Students in that country. On Sunday, the last day of his visit to Austria, the Romanian official will take part in the events commemorating 125 years since the death of national poet Mihai Eminescu. Stanoevici will attend an Eminescu tribute show at the Pygmalion Theatre in Vienna and a religious service held at the Romanian Orthodox Church in the same city.
A public offer to sell 51% of the shares of the Romanian electricity provider Electrica will be launched on Monday and conclude on June the 25th. With this Stock Exchange listing, the company intends to get at least 435 million euros, and the maximum price per share is 13.5 lei. Small investors will also benefit from a 5% discount, depending on the number of shares they purchase and the moment of sale. A total of 177 million shares will be sold in the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange by the Romanian state.
At least 49 Ukrainian passengers lost their lives after their military transport aircraft was downed by separatists in Lugansk, east Ukraine. Last night, the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, urged the Russian president Vladimir Putin to revise his policy regarding Ukraine, and added that he would like to discuss the Kiev-Brussels issue that sparked the crisis. Barroso said Russia should begin to defuse the tensions in Ukraine, to help in disarming the pro-Russian rebels and to stop the inflow of weapons and combatants into Ukraine. Also yesterday, Moscow announced it did not intend to hold new talks with Ukraine regarding the price of the natural gas supplied to this country, before the end of Monday’s ultimatum given by Russia for the payment of the Ukrainian debt.
Afghanistan is today holding the second round of the presidential election. The election is closely monitored by security forces, amid threats coming from the Taliban, and after last week one of the candidates, the former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, was targeted by a bomb attack. The Afghans are to elect a successor for Hamid Karzai, and are to choose between two candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and a former World Bank economist, Ashraf Ghani. According to the BBC, the vote count will only be finalized in late July.
The US will not discuss the Iraq crisis with Iran, the US State Department announced, after Tehran reiterated its support for the Shi’a government in Baghdad, which is faced with growing insurgency. Yesterday, the US president, Barack Obama, said he did not intend to deploy ground troops to Iraq, to counter the offensive of the Sunni extremists, but will analyse several options to help the Iraqi security forces to handle the situation. The Iraqi government announced putting together a plan to defend the capital city, as the insurgents have moved to less than 100 km from Baghdad. The governmental troops have been joined by militia groups set up at the call of PM Nouri al-Maliki and of a Shi’a religious leader.
