May 15, 2014
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 15.05.2014, 12:00
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmusen is on a two day visit to Romania. He will meet with president Traian Basescu, Prime Minister Victor Ponta, Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean and Defense Minister Mircea Dusa. On Friday, Rasmussen will participate in a joint press conference with President Traian Basescu. Rasmussen’s visit to Bucharest takes place one month after NATO announced it would strengthen its air, sea and ground defense capability in central and eastern Europe, as a reaction to the crisis in Ukraine.
According to preliminary estimates made public today by Eurostat, in the first quarter of the year Romania registered a 3.8% economic growth as compared to the same period of 2013, the biggest annual growth rate registered in an EU member country. The same figure had been previously announced by Romania’s Statistics Institute. The data also show that the GDP in the first quarter was 0.2% bigger as compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. The Minister Delegate for Budget, Liviu Voinea, had anticipated an economic growth of at least 3.5% in the first quarter, given the data regarding the industrial output and consumption.
A Moldovan government delegation is participating in Brussels in a meeting with European Commission representatives on the European integration efforts of this former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian speaking population. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca will discuss bilateral issues, as well as the latest regional developments. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent to Brussels, the European Commission wants to make sure that the future association and free trade agreement with the Republic of Moldova, which is to be signed on June 27th will ensure stability and economic growth in that country. The meeting is being held against the background of tensions in Ukraine and pressure put by Russia on the other eastern partners of the European Union.
Pro-Russian separatists in the east of Ukraine have today given Kiev authorities a 24 hour ultimatum to pull out their troops from the Donetsk region, threatening to launch a powerful offensive if their claim is not met, RIA Novosti reports. Yesterday, the interim president Oleksandr Turcinov stated that Ukraine would not give in to the insurgents’ blackmail, who – he said – was acting as dictated by Russia. The statement was made at the beginning of the first round of talks organized at national level to ease tensions in the region, which gathered officials, politicians, candidates to May 25th presidential elections and civil society representatives. In another move, the Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov has stated that Ukraine is closer than ever to a civil war, but has also said that Russia has no intention to send troops there.
Trade unions in Turkey have today started a strike to protest against the most serious mining accident in the country, which claimed 300 lives. Trade union leaders are complaining about the fact that privatization has worsened the situation with regard to security in mines. On Wednesday, the police intervened with tear gas and rubber bullets in Ankara and Istanbul, where thousands of people protested against the accident that occurred at the Soma coal mine in western Turkey. Back in 1992, 263 miners died in an explosion in the east of the country, and another 30 died in a similar accident in 2010.
The Romanian women’s gymnastics team is participating in the European artistic gymnastics championship hosted by Bulgaria’s capital Sofia. The team headed by the famous trainer Octavian Bellu is in the fourth group, alongside Russia, Germany, Spain, France, Great Britain, Italy and Belgium. On Wednesday night, in the juniors’ competition, Romania won the bronze medals.
