May 21, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of the main local and international news

Newsroom, 21.05.2024, 20:10

VISIT Romania’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, held talks on Tuesday in Ankara with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A joint session of the governments of the two countries was also held in the Turkish capital. According to a communiqué of the Executive in Bucharest, the Prime Minister’s intention is that the bilateral exchanges between the two countries rise up to 15 billion dollars through a series of future projects in energy, transports, agriculture, agrifood industry and defence. Last year, the bilateral trade stood at over 10 billion dollars while Turkey is Romania’s main economic partner outside the EU. Against the background of the aforementioned visit, the local authorities have issued a decree under which, Romanian citizens can enter Turkey for transit and tourism only by means of their identity card. They can remain in Turkey for 90 days at most.

TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Ana Bogdan was voted the winner of the Heart Award, for her contribution in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers, according to the competition’s Instagram page. Ana Bogdan won two of the three matches played in April in the meeting with Ukraine, as the Romanian team came back from 0-2 to 3-2. Thus, Romania qualified for the first time for the final tournament of the competition. The Romanian team will face Japan in the round of 16 of the Billie Jean King Cup, and if they win, they will be playing Italy in the quarterfinals. The final tournament will take place over November 12-20, in Seville. On the other hand, in Strasbourg, the pair made up of the Romanian player Monica Niculescu and the Spanish Cristina Bucşa qualified, on Monday, for the quarterfinals of the doubles event of the WTA 500 tournament, after defeating the Czech-Slovak pair Marie Bouzkova/Tereza Mihalikova, 6-1, 6-3. In the quarterfinals, Niculescu and Bucşa will be up against the Americans Ashlyn Kruger/Sloane Stephens.

 PACT A security and defense pact between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova was signed in Brussels on Tuesday, by the country’s Prime Minister, Dorin Recean and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell. Under the document, the Republic of Moldova will get support to consolidate its resilience and combat misinformation to boost cybersecurity and consolidate its defence sector, as well as in the management of crises and borders.  The two sides have stepped up cooperation against the background of the war in Ukraine and after Chişinău has accused Russia of waging a hybrid war against it. According to the Financial Times, the partnership with Brussels in the field of security and defense will allow the Republic of Moldova to exchange information and carry out joint military exercises, as well as to be included in the common arms procurement system of the EU.

ELECTION Iran will be holding elections on June 28, after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi. The funeral ceremonies for the former president began on Tuesday near the place where he died on Sunday, following the crash of the helicopter he was in. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared five days of national mourning on Monday after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi and appointed the First Vice President Mohammed Mokhbe as interim president.

ROYALTY Her Majesty Margareta, the Custodian of the Romanian Crown, and His Royal Highness Prince Radu are paying a visit to Luxembourg these days, in order to emphasize “Romania’s role in the European Union and NATO and to support the European aspirations of the Republic of Moldova”. In the presence of His Royal Highness Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Her Majesty Margareta gave a speech at the Pierre Werner Institute on the security of the eastern borders of the EU and NATO. In the following days, the Custodian of the Crown and the Prince Consort will visit the University of Luxembourg and meet with students and staff from Romania. A visit is also scheduled to the Notre-Dame Saint-Sophie School, as well as to the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, where they will meet the Romanians who work there. The program also includes a meeting with the members of the Romanian community in Luxembourg, as well as the inauguration of the photography exhibition “Contribution of the Royal Family to the consolidation of Romania’s role in NATO and the EU 2002-2023”.

(bill)