March 2, 2014 UPDATE
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Corina Cristea, 02.03.2014, 20:06
The situation in Ukraine is not posing a threat to Romania’s security, but another frozen conflict in Crimea which adds to the already existing chain of frozen conflicts around the Black Sea can become a threat to the country’s security on medium turn, Romanian president Traian Basescu said on Sunday. Romania considers that any presence of the Russian troops on Ukraine’s soil without the latter’s consent and outside international agreements is an aggression, president Basescu went on to say. The Romanian official added that Viktor Yanukovich has lost his legitimacy by fleeing the country at a moment of crisis and should announce his resignation. On Saturday night after president Basescu met national security officials, the presidency office in Bucharest announced that the national security structures had not been put on alert, but the situation in Ukraine would be closely monitored, and so would the separatist developments in the neighboring Republic of Moldova. On Monday, Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean will join his EU counterparts for a meeting on the situation in Ukraine. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Corlatean would voice his profound concern for the present situation, highlight the necessity of abiding by the international laws and plead for the EU’s active, consistent and unitary involvement in Ukraine.
NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmusen has called on Russia to immediately cease threatening Ukraine. During an urgent meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels, Rassmusen cautioned that Russian operations are threatening peace and security in Europe. ‘What Russia is doing in Ukraine violates the principles of the UN Charter’ Rassmusen said. Against the background of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, the US secretary of state John Kerry warned on Sunday that Russia could be expelled from the G8 organisation. In response to Russian operations in Ukraine, France and Britain threatened to boycott the G8 summit in Sochi this summer. Ukraine’s interim president Oleksandr Turcinov has put the country’s military on combat alert shortly after Russian Parliament voted in favour of a military intervention in Ukraine. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseni Iateniuk says his country is on the brink of disaster and called on Moscow to pull out its troops from Ukraine.
Talks between the Social Democratic Party, number one in the present ruling coalition and UDMR, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania over the structure and the programme of the new Romanian government have been postponed until Monday. According to UDMR president Kelemen Hunor, the Union has given a positive answer to an invitation extended by Prime Minister Victor Ponta for a possible alliance and that the UDMR representatives have drawn up a document over a new a political agreement on the governing programme. The document has three chapters: one referring to the rights of national minorities with emphasis on the problematic of the Hungarian minority, the second on economic and social issues and a third focusing on the regional development of infrastructure and investment. A new executive is to be created following a decision by the National Liberals, former number two in the ruling coalition, to withdraw from the government amid divergences with Social Democrats. Social-Democratic Prime Minister Victor Ponta said the future executive would continue the programme of the former Social-Liberal Union, winner of the 2012 elections.
Paula Seling and Ovi will attend the Eurovision music awards on behalf of Romania. A national poll run on Saturday night designated their song, ‘Miracle’, to represent us in the prestigious European music Awards due to be held in early May, in Copenhagen, Denmark. We recall this is the two singers’ second participation in Eurovision, after that in 2010, when they ranked third with a song entitled, ‘Playing with Fire’.
Romania’s national water polo side qualified for the European Championship 2014 after outperforming Britain’s representative 18-8 in an away match on Saturday. The Championship, due in Budapest, Hungary over July 14th and 27th will also be attended by the selections of Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Italy, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Georgia and Croatia.
