May 6, 2016 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 06.05.2016, 12:30
INAUGURATION The head of the diplomacy in Bucharest, Lazar Comanescu, on Friday inaugurated Romania’s consulate in Solotvino a town in Ukraine connected with the Romanian city of Sighetul Marmatiei through a historical bridge over the Tisa River. Comanescu says that the new consulate will contribute to the further consolidation of the relations between Romania and Ukraine and will ease the enforcement of an agreement on the cross-border trade. The Romanian Foreign Minister held talks with representatives of the Romanian community in TransCarpathia, which included headmasters and members of various associations. The Romanian community in Ukraine is estimated at more than 400 thousand people.
VISIT Antony Blinken, the United States Deputy Secretary of State will be paying a visit to Romania over Saturday and Sunday, says a communiqué issued by the US Department of State. Blinken is expected to hold talks with Romanian officials about the upcoming NATO summit in Warsaw, the bilateral cooperation in the field of security, the Romanian-US economic partnership, the rule of law and reforms in Romania. The US official will be meeting representatives of the business community and civil society. Romania is the third leg of Blinken’s diplomatic tour, which is also taking him to Poland and Bulgaria. On Monday and Tuesday, the US official is expected in France, the last leg of this tour, which has high on the agenda various issues concerning bilateral and regional cooperation.
ALL STAR Romanian handballer Cristina Neagu of the Montenegrin side Buducnost Podgorica has been selected for the All Star Team of the 2015/2016 Champions League edition in women’s handball. Neagu became part of the team following the 28 thousand votes registered in an online poll the European Handball Federation had conducted among fans. All Star also includes three Norwegians, two Hungarians and one player from Romania, Montenegro, the Netherlands and Brazil. Coach Ambrod Martin is from Spain.
CONCERT The National Radio Orchestra on Friday gave a royal concert honouring the day of May 10th, which is Royalty Day in Romania. Conducting was Nicolae Moldoveanu, and the soloist was violinist Gabriel Croitoru. The event enjoyed the attendance of their Royal Highnesses Prince Radu, Princess Elena and Princess Maria. Before the beginning of the concert, a volume titled “the Royal Year” was launched at the Radio Hall, a journal recollecting the 150 years since the establishment of the Royal House of Romania and the promulgation of the 1866 Constitution. A number of events dedicated to May 10th will be held in Bucharest and the mountain resort of Sinaia until next Tuesday. Before the communists came to power in Romania, in 1947, May 10th was Romania’s National Day. Later, the celebration was erased from the Romanians’ collective memory. On May 10th, 1866, Carol 1st became the ruler of Romania. 11 years later, the Romanian state gained its independence, and on May 10th, 1881, Romania became a kingdom.
EUROVISION EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre on Friday said it was regrettable to be forced to take the extreme measure of not allowing Romania to participate in the Eurovision music contest. The EBU official talked in Bucharest with representatives of the Finance Ministry, Parliament, the Council of Competition and the public television broadcaster TVR. The measure, which is a first, was taken in response to the record high debt (roughly 10 million euros) the Romanian broadcaster has to EBU (the European Broadcasting Union). This year the Eurovision contest will be held in Stockholm over May 10th-14th and Romania was to be represented by Ovidiu Anton with a song entitled ‘A Moment of Silence. At the same time, if the Romanian broadcaster is excluded from EBU it will lose the rights of broadcasting specific international sporting events such as the European Football Championship in France or the Olympics in Rio as well as access to News Services.
