March 18, 2019 UPDATE

Romanian Cristina Neagu, world's best handball player of 2018

Newsroom, 18.03.2019, 20:15

DIASPORA – The policies for the diaspora, the exchange of good practices, initiatives to support language and cultural ties and policies leading to speedy integration of diaspora communities were the main topics on the agenda of an informal meeting organized on Monday in Bucharest by the Ministry for the Romanians Everywhere, in partnership with the Foreign Affairs Ministry, in the context of Romania’s holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. Attending the event were delegations from 15 foreign countries. Minister for the Romanians Everywhere, Natalia Intotero, pointed out that Monday’s event was the first of its kind in the EU focusing on diaspora communities and underlined the need for it to be a topic on the European agenda.

AGRICULTURE — Romanian Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Petre Daea presented on Monday at the meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels, the second led by Romania since taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Union, the steps taken as regards the new Common Agricultural Policy after 2020. Part of the meeting was also a report on the congress held around strategic plans for the Common Agricultural Policy with a view to climate change.

UTRECHT ATTACK – The Dutch police announced they arrested the man believed to be the attacker that opened fire inside a tram and killed three people in the Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday. Previously, police had said they were looking for a 37-year old man of Turkish origin, believed to be the attacker. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he was “deeply concerned” and cancelled his weekly coalition talks.

MOTION – The lower chamber of the Parliament in Bucharest on Monday debated the no-confidence motion against the Minister of Finance, Eugen Teodorovici. The vote is scheduled for Wednesday. The motion criticizes Emergency Government Order 114, which levies additional taxes on banks, energy companies, and telecommunication carriers. The signatories of the motion are 103 MPs from the three major parties in the opposition. They claim that this level of taxation would negatively affect economic growth, and that the population would see higher bills for most services. At the same time, the ruling coalition rejected the idea of dropping the ordinance, while analyzing the effects of some changes. At the same time, Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici said that banks have to finance the real economy, while vulnerable energy consumers have to be protected from price hikes.

SPRING FESTIVAL – The Spring Festival in Oradea presents the Romanian public nine Japanese artists to perform under the baton of Romanian conductors Tiberiu Soare, Horia Andreescu and Ciprian Marinescu. The festival is held between Between March 19 and 28 and includes four symphonic concerts. Among the Japanese artists invited at this year’s edition of the festival are pianist Kyoko Tagawa, violinists Aoshi Yoshida, Yuna Kusanagi, Mio Migiyama, Ayumi Tamura and Sayaka Tamura, pianist Madoka Iida, Motoko Terauchi playing the ryuteki şi and Tadashi Kanki playing the double bass.

HANDBALL – The 2018 International Handball Federation World Players of the Year are Cristina Neagu and Mikkel Hansen. Neagu thus becomes the first athlete to have won the award four times, the IHF announced on Monday. The Romanian was previously named World Player of the Year in 2010, 2015 and 2016. In 2018, the Romanian left back’s achievements began in the premier European club competition, the EHF Champions League. For the second time in her career, Neagu finished the season as the top scorer, with 110 goals. For the fourth consecutive time, she was named the Champions League All-star Team left back. Neagu also won the Champions League bronze medal with her club CSM Bucuresti. In addition, she claimed the Romanian Cup and championship with Bucharest. Following that success, Neagu was the headline of the Women’s EHF EURO 2018 in France in December, as she led Romania to the semi-finals at the European championship for only the third time in history, and the first time since 2010.

TENNIS — Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, the former Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci and the Australian tennis coach Darren Cahill were among the first to congratulate the Canadian tennis player of Romanian origin Bianca Andreescu. Social networks were also flooded with congratulations addressed to the new winner of the tennis tournament in Indian Wells, in the US. She defeated on Sunday the much more experienced German player Angelique Kerber, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6. 18-year-old Bianca Andreescu thus made history at Indian Wells, being the first player to win the trophy with a wildcard. She will now climb to 24th place in the WTA ranking, climbing up from 178 at the beginning of the year. Thanks to Bianca Andreescu’s victory, Romania’s Simona Halep remains in the world top three, occupying the third position since Monday. (Translated by Elena Enache)