Newsflash July 7 2013
For a roundup of news from Romania, click here.
Florentin Căpitănescu, 07.07.2013, 00:00
The Romanian foreign minister Titus Corlatean on Monday starts a 2-day official visit to Moscow, the first by a Romanian foreign minister since February 2009. Colatean will have talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov about the stage and future of bilateral relations in various fields, in particular the economic sector. Inter-governmental agreements will also be signed on the creation of a Romanian Cultural Institute in Moscow and a Russian Centre for Culture and Science in Bucharest, as well as a cooperation agreement in the fields of culture, education, media, sports, youth and tourism and a collaboration protocol between the two countries’ foreign ministries.
Lithuania, the current holder of the EU 6-month presidency, is interested in seeing real progress towards Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area. This statement was made by Romania’s ambassador to Lithuania, Dan Balanescu, in an interview to the Romanian Agerpres news agency. Mr Balanescu said the entry into the passport-free area would be the focus of the upcoming visit to Vilnius by Romania’s prime minister Victor Ponta in September. Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession was initially scheduled for the spring of 2011, but was repeatedly postponed. The two countries have been told they are making sufficient progress in the reform of their judiciary and the fight against organised crime.
A vessel with 33 Syrian and two Turkish nationals on board, including women and children, who were trying to enter Europe have been intercepted by the border police near the Romanian Black Sea shore, the Coast Guard has announced. The Romanian authorities said the vessel did not have a flag and had left from Turkey. The Syrian citizens on board explained to the investigators that they requested Turkish nationals to help them enter a Schengen country. The Syrian migrants are now investigated for illegal entry into Romanian territory, while the two Turkish guides for recruiting persons to this end.
The results of the baccalaureate exam for high school graduates in Romania will be made public on Monday, when students can also submit their contestations. Also on Monday, the prosecutor’s office will interview a number of students from a high school in Bucharest over allegations of cheating. Following the scandal, the school’s head has been arrested temporarily for a period of 29 days. Prosecutors have started investigations over other suspected cases of fraud at a number of schools across the country.
