May 25, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 25.05.2015, 12:15
Romania continues to be committed to providing security in the region and to promoting a safe, free and prosperous Europe, not only within NATO and the EU, but also in the neighbourhood. The statement was made by president Klaus Iohannis on Monday at the opening of the Security in the Black Sea Region” international program, organized by the Romanian Intelligence Service in cooperation with US institutions. Iohannis termed the current geo-political background as a complex one, characterized by global transformations, and said the Black Sea was an area of both convergence and collision of the Riparian countries’ and international players’ interests.
On Monday, Prime-Minister Victor Ponta met with the members of the joint IMF, EC and WB delegation, whose technical mission ends on Tuesday. The talks in Bucharest focused on the impact of the new Fiscal Code, which provides, among other things, for some lower taxes and fees. The Government insists that Romania needs fiscal relaxation, a fact that has been acknowledged by the international financiers. The latter, however, would like guarantees that the budget deficit targets set by the Romanian government will be reached. The delegation will come back to Bucharest in late June, to assess the current agreement, which Romanian wants to terminate in autumn.
Attending in Sofia a debate on the fight against corruption, the former Romanian Minister of Justice, Monica Macovei, has stated that the planned amendments to Bulgaria’s constitution are a waste of time and will do nothing but hamper the fight against corruption. According to Monica Macovei, the right solution is not to set up new bodies and amend laws; what is important is for everybody to work as a team and to focus on the major crimes. Bulgaria needs independent professionals and prosecutors to fight against corruption, Macovei also said. As the Minister of Justice between 2004 and 2007, Monica Macovei initiated a number of reforms that helped Romania join the EU on January 1st, 2007. During her term the National Anti-Corruption Directorate was set up, seen as the most effective institution in the fight against this scourge in Romania.
12 Romanian vessels, an American destroyer and a Bulgarian minesweeper, with around 1,500 soldiers on board, are taking part in an exercise called ‘Trident Poseidon 2015’. Held for four days in Romanias territorial waters and the Black Sea international waters, the exercise aims at improving the interoperability between the NATO forces and interagency cooperation in Romania. One of the activities part of this exercise is the evacuation of civilians in a conflict area, an activity which will be carried out on the 27th of May in the military port of Constanta.
Romanian tennis players Alexandra Dulgheru, Irina Begu and Andreea Mitu on Monday qualified for the second round of the Roland Garros tournament. Monica Niculescu lost in the first round to the Spanish Carla Suarez Navarro. Dulgheru had no problems beating the American Nicole Gibbs 6-3, 6-1, Irina Begu defeated American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 7-6 and Andreea Mitu won the match against the French Alize Lim 6-3, 8-2. On Sunday, Simona Halep, ranking 3rd in the WTA classification, defeated the Russian player Evghenia Rodina 7-5, 6-4. In the second round, Halep will play against the Croat Mirjana Lucic — Baroni. Romania has no representatives in the men’s singles. In the doubles, Horia Tecau pairs up with the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer and Florin Mergea plays alongside the Indian Rohan Bopanna.
The Romanian men’s handball team HC Odorhei won the Challenge Cup after defeating Liberty Seguros ABC/UMinho of Portugal 32-25 on home turf. In the first match the Portuguese side had won 32-28. This is the first trophy for the HC Odorhei team, which is now the third Romanian team to have won the Challenge Cup after Steaua Bucharest in 2006 and UCM Resita in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
