October 16, 2016

Syria talks end without breakthrough./Romanias president Klaus Iohannis to attend European Council meeting in Brussels./Romanian boxer Cristian Ciocan wins European WBO heavyweight title.

Newsroom, 16.10.2016, 13:53

Syria. The representatives of the United States and Russia, who discussed the
situation in Syria on Saturday in the Swiss city of Lausanne, would continue
contacts in the near future, said Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. He
added that the parties at the talks stood for the launch of a political process
in Syria as soon as possible. The meeting was also attended by regional powers.
The US suspended bilateral talks with Moscow over the latter’s support for
Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the Aleppo offensive. According to the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, more than 300,000 people have been killed in the
conflict in Syria since it began in March 2011.

EU. Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will next week take part in a meeting
of the European Council in Brussels, said the president’s spokeswoman Madalina Dobrovolschi. She said the talks, to be held on
Thursday and Friday, will focus on migration, trade policy and the Union’s
external relations, in particular with the Russian Federation.

Turkey. The foreign ministry
in Bucharest has informed Romanian citizens travelling to or transiting Turkey
that this country’s Parliament has endorsed a government decision to extend the
state of emergency by another three months starting on October 19th.
Under the circumstances and given that the security situation is still
unstable, in particular in and around Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, as well as
other big cities in Turkey, the Romanian ministry has reiterated a warning for
Romanian citizens to remain cautious and vigilant and avoid involvement in
demonstrations or other public events that may degenerate into violence. On
Friday, rockets landed in the Turkish province resort of Antalya, the favourite
tourist destination for Romanians holidaying in Turkey.

NATO. A meeting of defence ministers from NATO and partner
states, the first since the Warsaw summit, will be held in Bucharest between
the 19th and the 21st of October. The Strategic Military
Partner Conference will be coordinated by the Allied Command Transformation
located in Norfolk, the US. 350 officials from NATO and partner countries are
expected to attend the event in Bucharest. Four planning workshops will also be held, focusing on
different themes: maritime, air/space, land and cyber.

Montenegro elections. Parliamentary elections are held today in Montenegro. According to the
ruling party, they will decide whether the country continues to come closer to
the European Union and NATO or moves in the direction of Russia. Prime minister
Milo Djukanovic’s party claims the
opposition is funded by Russia, an accusation the latter denies. On the other
hand, the opposition has accused the government of corruption and rising crime
rates. The Democratic Party of Socialists has been in power for 27 years in
Montenegro. We recall that some of this country’s territory came under NATO
bombardment while it was still part of Yugoslavia, in 1999. After its
separation from Serbia, Montenegro moved closer to NATO and last year received
an invitation to join this organisation. The country’s links with Serbia
remain, however, close, as well as its cultural and commercial ties with Russia.

Boxing. The Romanian
boxer Cristian Ciocan won the European WBO heavyweight title after
wining a points victory against the Turkish boxer Erkan Teper in a professional
boxing gala held on Saturday night in Hamburg, Germany. Ciocan was declared a
winner after 12 rounds. Aged 29, his win-loss record is 20-4. He also held the
WBO title three years ago and hopes to win the world title next year.

Handball. The Romanian women’s handball champions CSM Bucharest today face the
Russian side Rostov-Don in their first Champions League group match. The two
sides last met in the quarterfinals of the previous Champions League season.
CSM won that game and went on to win the trophy in Budapest against the
Hungarian side Gyor. In the second group match, ETO Gyor face the Danish side Midtjylland. (Translated by: C. Mateescu)