June 8, 2014 UPDATE

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Florentin Căpitănescu, 08.06.2014, 12:05

MEETING — Romania’s Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean on Sunday met with three US Congressmen arrived in Bucharest as part of a regional tour. Talks with former presidential candidate Republican John McCain, his colleague Ron Johnson and Democrat Chris Murphy focused on security in Romania’s vicinity and in the Black Sea Region. The three US officials also met on Saturday with president Traian Basescu. According to a presidency press release, the three have expressed their gratitude for Romania’s contribution to NATO’s successful operations over the last years. Seen as two of the most influential US Congressmen and famous for the vocal opposition to Moscow, McCain and Johnson also visited the Republic of Moldova in April to express US support to the pro-Western power in Chisinau, against the backdrop of rising tensions in neighbouring Ukraine.

THE PENTECOST — Orthodox and Catholic Christians in Romania and worldwide on Sunday celebrated the Pentecost, marking the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. In religious terms, the feast day marks the foundation of the first church, 50 days after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, when three thousand people were baptized in the Christian faith, thus founding the first Christian community. On Saturday, some 150,000 Christians from all over the world took part in a Catholic pilgrimage to Mount Sumuleul Mic near Miercurea Ciuc, central Romania. Devoted to the Pentecost, the pilgrimage to Mount Sumuleu is considered one of the largest events of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe, and has been a tradition for over four centuries.

ACCIDENT — Five Romanian citizens were killed on Sunday in a road traffic accident in neighbouring Hungary. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the car transporting the victims suddenly swerved on the oncoming lane, coming into a head-on collision with a bus before crashing into a utility vehicle. The tragedy occurred in the city of Gyortelek, north-eastern Hungary, very close to the Romanian border, the Foreign Ministry also reports.

BILATERAL RELATIONS — It is essential that Romania should maintain a high level of bilateral dialogue with China, particularly at economic level, Romanian Economy Minister Constantin Nita said upon meeting with Chinese Trade Minister Gao Hucheng in Ningbo, south-eastern China. On that occasion, Nita invited Chinese companies to invest in Romania, including in key sectors such as energy, transport, IT and agriculture. On the other hand, the products of Romanian companies may find their way onto the Chinese market, Nita went on to say. The visit of the Romanian official will end on Monday. Nita met with the Chinese official on the sideline of a meeting of Economy and Trade Ministers of China and Central and Eastern European countries.

INVESTITURE — Former Egyptian Army Commander Abdel Fattah al-Sissi on Sunday was sworn in as president of Egypt, after grabbing some 97% of votes in the presidential elections and after the opposition withdrew from politics. The ceremony was held nearly one year after al-Sissi overthrew his predecessor, Islamist president Mohamed Morsi after a coup d’etat. The move was followed by a bloody repression of Morsi’s supporters and allies, the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, a group that had won the elections in early 2011 after Hosni Mubarak’s term in office was brought to an end.

TENNIS — Romanian tennis player Simona Halep will be ranked 3rd in WTA standings as of Monday, after her performance in Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam tournament of the year. Halep lost Saturday’s finals against Maria Sharapova of Russia, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 after 3 hours of play. After the game, Sharapova admitted this was the toughest Grand Slam final of her career. This was also the first time that Halep, the Romanian woman tennis player with the biggest ascension in 2013, played in a Grand Slam final. Also in Roland Garros, Ioana Ducu and Ioana Rosca have won the junior’s doubles competition.