June 2, 2016
Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu will travel to Warsaw next week for talks on NATO's south-eastern border.
Newsroom, 02.06.2016, 12:01
Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu will travel to Warsaw next week alongside his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, for talks on the situation at NATOs south-eastern border. Also discussed will be the stage of cooperation among Romania, Turkey and Poland. According to the Polish Foreign Minister, Witold Waszczykowski, Poland wants to collaborate directly with Romania, as the two states have similar goals in the strategic partnership. Against this background, the Polish official mentioned the statements of Russian President, Vladimir Putin, who talked about the potential threat posed by the elements of the American anti-ballistic shield in Romania and Poland. The talks will be held next Thursday, one month ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw.
Novelist Dan Stanca, poet Vasile Dan, literary critic Mircea Anghelescu and essay-writer Horia-Roman Patapievici have been nominated for the Writers Union Awards for 2015. According to the Writers Union webpage, the most important award, the National Prize for Literature went to novelist Mircea Cartarescu, who turned 60 on the very day he got the award. The Writers Union Special Prize went to essay-writer Horia-Roman Patapievici.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel sees no reason for the EU to lift sanctions against Russia in the Ukraine crisis, a government spokeswoman said on Wednesday. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Tuesday some EU states were skeptical about extending sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis and it was unclear if the 28-nation bloc would decide to extend them. A spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry has said that Steinmeiers statements were not inconsistent with the Berlin Governments stance in the Ukraine crisis and the final declaration of G7 leaders in Japan.
Romanias hard currency reserves at the end of May exceeded 32 billion euros, up by over 1.2 billions as against April 30, according to a report of the National Bank of Romania. A eurobond issue two weeks ago, worth 1 billion euros, triggered the increase. The gold reserves stood at 103.7 tons, worth over 3.6 billion euros, the report also says.
Flash floods have killed at least five people in France and Austria on Wednesday. German firemen found the bodies of three people in the basement of a house in Bavaria, and the body of another woman was discovered in floodwaters nearby, after her house collapsed. Also, in central France, a woman aged 86 drowned. Thousands of people have been evacuated in parts of France, while rising waters cut off roads and bridges across Austria and Germany, submerging streets and houses and leaving people seeking refuge on rooftops.
The Romanian womens handball team secured their presence at the European Championship this year, after defeating on Wednesday evening, in an away match, the Lithuanian side, 34-24, in the last but one stage of the preliminary group 1. In the same group, Norway beat Belarus, 32-22, and qualified to the final tournament in Sweden. Romanias womens handball team will also represent their country at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this summer.
Romanian hydrologists have issued orange and yellow code alerts for flooding in several counties in central, southern, western and north-western Romania, valid starting today until Saturday evening. The weather will be unstable throughout the country, with maxim temperatures ranging from 17 to 27 degrees Celsius. The noon reading in Bucharest was 21 degrees.
(Translated by Elena Enache)
