May 15, 2014 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
România Internațional, 15.05.2014, 12:30
The European Union and the Republic of Moldova will sign, on June 27, 2014 an Association Agreement including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. This will open a new chapter in the EU-Moldovan relations. The Agreement clearly underlines the importance that both sides attach to fundamental values, democracy and the rule of law. The EU and the Republic of Moldova finalised the negotiations on this Agreement in June 2013 and initialled it in November 2013 during the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius. The European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, reiterated, after a meeting with the Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca, the European Commission’s commitment to support the Moldovan people and an united and modern Republic of Moldova.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that the latest statements by the Bucharest authorities are unacceptable and that is is unlikely that bilateral ties should continue to be as good as before. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Moscow, the Russian foreign ministry’s spokesman, Alexandr Lukasevici said on Thursday that the Romanian officials’ recent statements, those of President Basescu included, created the impression of ”an amplification, on command, of the anti-Russian rethoric.” Lukasevici also said that a normal relationship between the two countries is rather unlikely after last week’s incident, when Romanian authorities closed their airspace for the Russian deputy prime minister Dimitri Rogozin. Rogozin is on the list of Russian officials, who, given the sanctions imposed by the European Union, are denied access to the community area.
The European Union and the United States warned Russia on Thursday that it is to expect new sanctions if it tried to disrupt the presidential elections in Ukraine due at the end of this month. The announcement was made by the British Foreign Secretary William Hague after talks with the US Secretary of State John Kerry and several European allies. An opinion poll made public in Ukraine shows that only one third of the voters in Eastern Ukraine are willing to take part in the presidential elections on May 25. Pro-Western billionaire Petro Perosenko, is favourite to win the elections, according to the poll. Following is Iulia Timosenko and the pro-Russian Serghei Tighipko. On the other hand, the Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov has said that Ukraine is closer than ever to civil war and that Russia does not plan to send troops to this country.
Hidrologists have extended until Friday afternoon the alert for high water levels and flooding in certain areas in Romania. Yellow, orange and even red code alerts are in place for rivers in most parts of the country. Hundreads of households have been flooded and left without power and tens of national roads have been closed down.
