March 1, 2016
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 01.03.2016, 12:00
An IMF mission is expected in Bucharest, between March 2nd and 15th, for an annual assessment of the Romanian economy. Headed by the new IMF chief for Romania, Reza Baqir, the mission will be holding talks with representatives of the political parties, trade unions and business association, representatives of academia and bankers. The assessment, under article 4 in the institutions statute, is a mandatory surveillance mechanism, for all member countries. The assessment is followed by general recommendations regarding monetary, financial and economic policies in order to ensure economic stability and growth.
Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu is today starting a two-day visit to Iran, where he is to be received by president Hassan Rouhani and Parliament president Ali Larjani. The Romanian official will also be holding talks with his counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. High on the agenda are ways of kick starting the bilateral relations at political-diplomatic level, economic cooperation as well as regional developments with emphasis on the Syrian file. According to Radio Romania correspondent, Comanescu is being accompanied by a major economic delegation, the largest to have visited Iran in recent years, after the economic sanctions imposed on Iran for its nuclear programme were lifted. Comanescu is the first foreign official to visit the country after the last weeks election, whose returns indicate a balance between the pro-reformist camp and the ultra-conservatives, both in Parliament and in the Assembly of Experts, which designates Irans supreme leader, Radio Romania correspondent says.
As the OSCE chair, Germany will try to rekindle international talks in a bid to settle the frozen conflict in Transdniester, a breakaway pro-Russia region in the east of the Republic of Moldova, an ex-soviet country with a Romanian-speaking majority. The statement was made by the head of German diplomacy, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, during a UN Security Council session. International talks over the Transdnistrean issue in the 5+2 format (the Republic of Moldova, Transdniester, OSCE, Russia and Ukraine, plus the USA and EU as observers) were interrupted in 2014. We recall that Transdniester came out of Chisinaus control following a bloody armed conflict back in 1992, which ended after the deployment of Russian troops in a move to beef up the breakaway militias.
Troops from Romanias Air Forces and from the Canadian Royal Air Forces are today starting a series of common drills due to be held until April 10th at the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in Constanta, south-eastern Romania. The exercises have brought together roughly 200 Romanian soldiers backed by MIG-21 Lancer fighters and Puma helicopters. They will be joining 100 Canadian soldiers who are using F 18 Hornet fighters for maneuvers aimed at improving interoperability inside the North Atlantic Alliance and raising the cooperation level between allies.
Marius Sumudica, coach of football side Astra Giurgiu, which is currently topping the table of the first Romanian football league, has got a six-month suspension from all football activities and has to pay over 20 thousand euros in fines for gambling on various sporting events. The Discipline Committee of the Romanian Football Federation has been notified that Sumudica has violated regulations by betting on first league matches and other sporting events. The former Romanian footballer publicly admitted that he used to hold 15% of a betting agencys shares. Astra Giurgiu has ended the season on the first position but it cannot count on their coach in the play-offs, due to kickoff late this week.
