May 2, 2014 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of international and domestic news.
Bogdan Matei, 02.05.2014, 12:10
UKRAINE CRISIS– Ukrainian interim president, Oleksandr Turchynov, on Friday called on Russia to bring to a halt what he called the wave of hysteria and threats. Earlier, Moscow had expressed indignation at the operations launched by the Ukrainian army against the pro-Russian separatists, in the east of the country. The Russian Foreign Ministry says Kiev is using the army against its own people and deems the actions murderous. The clashes, involving the participation of Ukrainian nationalist volunteers have left victims on both sides. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry announced the separatists shot down two army helicopters in Sloviansk. In Donetsk, the rebels seized a railway command centre, bringing railway traffic to a halt. In exchange, in Lugansk, following the negotiations with the Ukrainian authorities, the separatists left the prosecutor’s office and the headquarters of a local television, that they seized on Tuesday. At least three fatalities and many injuries were also reported in the south, in the port-city of Odessa, where the participants in a pro-unity demonstration were attacked by pro-Russians armed with chains and bats.
INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS– Russia’s policy towards Ukraine forces NATO to regard that country as an adversary and not as a partner, NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow has said. One month ago, the NATO foreign ministers decided to suspend the alliance’s military and civil cooperation with Russia, in response to Crimea’s annexation by Russia. In turn, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has said the EU will continue to exert pressure on Russia, if a peaceful, negotiated solution to the Ukraine crisis is not found. In another move, the European Commissioner for Energy, Gunther Oettinger, has said the Union wants that a single price be set for Russian gas, to be paid by all EU member states. At present, the Europeans are buying Russian gas based on bilateral agreements with Moscow and pay different prices. A joint purchasing of Russian gas might improve the EU’s power of negotiation and would reduce prices, Oettinger has underlined.
DIPLOMACY– The crisis in Ukraine and its effects on the countries in the region, including on the Republic of Moldova, will stand high on the agenda of the talks that the British Foreign Secretary William Hague will have in Chishinau on Monday. He will meet Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Natalia Gherman. Recently, the German and French Foreign Ministers Frank Walter Steinmeier and Laurent Fabius have visited Chishinau, too. In the past month, the Republic of Moldova has been visited by many US officials and EU Foreign Ministers, against the background of the Ukrainian crisis and the rapprochement between Chishinau and the EU.
ECONOMY– Romania’s foreign currency reserves increased in April by 1.16 billion Euros, up to 32.44 billions, the National Bank of Romania announced on Friday. According to the same source, the country’s international reserves (hard currencies plus gold) totalled 35.5 billion Euros on April 30th, as compared to 34.4 billion, on March 31st. The gold reserve stood at 103.7 tons, and its value is close to 3.1 billion Euros, given the latest evolution of international prices. The payments due in May 2014, as part of the direct public debt or of that guaranteed by the Finance Ministry, stand at an overall value of 2.370 billion Euros.
SYRIA– At least 18 people, mostly children, were killed on Friday in a rebel suicide attack in the province of Hama, in central Syria, France Presse reports. On Thursday, over 30 people were killed in an air raid carried out by the forces of Bashar al Asad’s regime against a neighbourhood controlled by rebels in Alep, in the north. Since December 15th, the neighbourhoods seized by the rebels in Alep have been the target of an offensive carried out by Al Asad’s regime, which has claimed hundreds of lives. In another move, 24 candidates have registered for the presidential elections due in Syria on June 3rd, among whom the current president Bashar al Assad, France Presse also reports. The elections, to be held in a country ravaged by a bloody conflict that has already killed 150 thousand people, will only be held in the territories controlled by the regime in power and have already been termed as a farce by the opposition and the western countries.
KABUL-Hundreds of people in northeastern Afghanistan were reported missing on Friday, following landslides caused by torrential rain, press agencies quote local officials as saying. A week ago, bad weather conditions took a toll of 100 lives in northern Afghanistan.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS– With a partially free press, Romania ranks 84th among 197 countries in the world, the 2013 Freedom House Report reads. Similar rankings have been obtained by Botswana and the Dominican Republic. The Republic of Moldova (a former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian speaking population) ranks 112th, same as Lebanon and Tunisia. Top of the list are the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Last come Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and North Korea. The Freedom House report claims the year 2013 was the darkest in the past decade from the point of view of the freedom of the press. According to the document, only 14% of the world population has access to a free press, 42% live in regions where the press is partially free and 44% in areas where there is no freedom at all.
UNEMPLOYMENT-The number of the unemployed in the Euro zone slightly dropped in March as compared to the previous month, registering a rate of 11.8%. According to data made public today by Eurostat, the countries with the lowest unemployment rates are Austria (4.9%), Germany (5.1%) and Luxembourg (6.1). At the opposite pole there stands Greece with a percentage of 26.7% and Spain 25.3%. The main concern of the European authorities, youth unemployment in the Euro zone has dropped along a year, from 24 to 23.7%. At EU level, the number of unemployed people stood in March at over 25 million, with a rate of 10.5%.
TRAVELLING PIANO TOUR– Romanian pianist Horia Mihail and his travelling piano have reached New York, where the project started by Radio Romania is presented at the Romanian Cultural Institute to representatives of European and American public radios and also to the American public. The Travelling Piano tour, which has reached its fourth edition, started from the idea of reconditioning a piano owned by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, which would have been scrapped, and sending it on a musical adventure across the country, to be then offered as a gift to one of the cities involved in the project. After travelling over 4 thousand km through 15 towns and cities in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, Horia Mihail has now reached New York. On Sunday he will give a concert at Klavierhous, a shop that specialists say is heaven to pianists, and has a special facility for recitals.
SPORTS– Romania’s women’s table tennis team has managed to qualify for the quarterfinals of the World Championships, due in Tokyo, Japan. Although it stood the second chance, Romania defeated South Korea 3-2 in the eighth finals, thanks to the victories secured by Elizabeta Samara, Daniela Dodean and Bernadette Szocs. In the quarterfinals, Romania will meet Singapore on Saturday.
