Romania’s president Klaus
\nIohannis has hailed the formation of a new, pro-European government in the
\nneighboring Republic of Moldova, a former Soviet country, with a predominantly
\nRomanian speaking population. The head of state wished good luck to the Cabinet headed by Valeriu Strelet, who,
\nhe said, would find in Romania the most important supporter in overcoming the
\ncountry’s economic difficulties and carrying on its European integration
\nprocess. In turn, the Foreign Ministry has reiterated Bucharest’s firm and
\nunconditional support for Moldova’s efforts to join the European family. The
\nPrime Minister designated by Valeriu Strelet and his governmental team got the
\nMoldovan Parliament’s vote of confidence, supported by the representatives of
\nthe Alliance for European Integration made up of the Liberal Democratic Party,
\nthe Democratic and the Liberal Party.<\/p>\n
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In Romania,
\ndrought has affected large farming areas and has damaged one third of the basic
\ncrops and dozens of thousands of pastures. In the county of Galati alone, in
\nthe south-east, over 80% of the arable land was affected, translated into
\nlosses of over 360 million lei. Also, the level and the flow of the River
\nDanube have dropped significantly and are to soon reach alarming levels. At the
\nentrance to the country, the flow rate is half the normal value, and experts
\nwarn that the situation is going to get worse. High temperatures and lack of precipitations will also affect the month
\nof August. Meteorologists warn that rain will be scarce all over the country,
\nespecially in the south and south-east.<\/p>\n
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Some 1000 Romanian
\nmagistrates are protesting against the modification of the legislation
\nregarding the judiciary. They have signed a memo submitted to the Higher
\nCouncil of the Magistracy, saying that these modifications will have serious
\nconsequences on the judiciary. The magistrates do not agree with the
\nelimination of the examination for admission and promotion into the Magistracy
\nand have warned that this modification was harshly criticized in the reports
\ndrawn up under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. The same stand is
\nshared by the National Judges’ Union. The Higher Council of the Magistracy
\nclaims that the modifications to the law on the status of the magistrates were
\nsubmitted to all courts and prosecutors’ offices in the country three years
\nago, for consultations.<\/p>\n
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On Thursday, the US imposed
\nnew sanctions against Russian companies and natural persons as well as against
\nformer Ukrainian officials, under the accusation of them trying to elude
\nAmerican sanctions against Russia and the separatists for their role in the
\nconflict in Ukraine, Reuters and France Presse report. In all, 13 people from
\nRussia and four from Ukraine were added to the American black list and will
\nhave their assets in the US frozen. The action is evidence of Washington’s
\ndetermination to maintain pressure on Russia for breaking the international law
\nand feeding the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the US Treasury has stated in a
\ncommuniqu\u00e9. The EU has officially extended the tough economic sanctions imposed
\non Russia for breaking the international law until January 2016.<\/p>\n
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The IMF will continue to take
\npart in the granting of the new financial aid for Greece only provided the EU
\ntakes a firm commitment for this country, an IMF high-ranking official has
\nstated, France Presse reports. The information came after, according to the
\nFinancial Times, the IMF experts recommended the leadership of the institution
\nto not grant Greece the new aid, because of that country’s huge debt and its
\nnegative record of reform implementation. The IMF is participating in Athens’s
\nnegotiations with the international lenders. At domestic level, the Greek
\nprime-minister is trying to get the full support of the Syriza MPs, as part of
\nthem have criticized the agreement signed with the lending institutions. He has
\nproposed the organization of an extraordinary congress on this topic in the
\nmonth of September.<\/p>\n
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\n
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The Romanian
\nfootball squad Astra Giurgiu, from southern Romania, ended in a draw, 2-2 the
\nmatch against the English side West Ham United last night, in the first round
\nof the third preliminary round of Europa League. In the same round of the
\ncompetition, the Romanians from ASA Tg. Mures lost 0-3 to the French AS
\nSaint-Etienne. On Wednesday, Romanian champions Steaua Bucharest ended in a
\ndraw the match against the Serbian side Partizan Belgrade, in the first leg of
\nthe Champions League’s third preliminary round. The return games are due next
\nweek.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
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\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":100004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-100373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n