Newsflash, 24th June
A round-up of news from Romania
România Internațional, 24.06.2013, 19:31
18 Romanian nationals were killed and 29 injured in Montenegro, when their bus left the road and fell into a precipice on Sunday night some 30 km north of Podgorica. The wounded persons, 7 of whom are in critical state, have been taken to a hospital in Montenegro’s capital. Romanian foreign minister Titus Corlatean has cancelled his trip to Luxembourg to attend a meeting of the EU External and General Affairs Council and has travelled instead to Montenegro, where he was received by president Filip Vujanović. The Montenegrin president has reiterated the support of the authorities in his country in the case of the tragic accident. The secretary of state with the Romanian health ministry Raed Arafat has also travelled to Montenegro. A crisis cell was set up in Bucharest led by prime minister Victor Ponta, who has declared a day of national mourning on Wednesday in memory of the victims. Mr Ponta said an airplane would carry the bodies of the 18 Romanians to Romania. Also, two other planes carrying medical equipment will repatriate the wounded.
Prince Edward of Great Britain and his consort, the Countess of Wessex are attending the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the British Council in Romania. Part of the British Embassy in Bucharest during the communist regime, the British Council became an independent institution after the fall of communism in 1989. It currently occupies a building in the centre of the Romanian capital and also opened local centres in Romania’s biggest cities, including Brasov, Cluj Napoca, Constanta, Iasi, Sibiu and Timisoara. According to a release from the British Embassy in Bucharest, prince Edward and the countess of Wessex are on their first official visit to Romania.
Romania’s football champion Steaua Bucharest will play against the Macedonian team FK Vardar Skopje in the Champions League second preliminary round following a draw held on Monday in Nyon. Steaua are to play their first game at home. However, Steaua are awaiting the decision of the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body after the club’s owner George Becali was sentenced to three years in prison for bribe giving. In 2008, Becali tried to give 1.7 million euros to the Universitatea Cluj players to defeat Steaua’s rival, CFR Cluj, in the last leg of the domestic championship.
