The Romanian
\nprime minister Dacian Ciolos
\nwill pay an official visit to Berlin on Thursday for talks with the German
\nchancellor Angela Merkel. The two officials will discuss, among other things,
\nways to strengthen bilateral relations and immigration to Europe. The Romanian
\nprime minister will also meet members of the Romanian community in Germany and
\nrepresentatives of the Romanian-German economic forum. Early this year, Dacian
\nCiolos will also travel to France and
\nthe Netherlands, the latter country being the new holder of the EU rotating
\npresidency since January 1st. <\/p>\n
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Orthodox
\nChristians, who are the majority in Romania, as well as the Greek Catholic
\nChristians, celebrated the Feast of Epiphany on Wednesday. Religious services
\nwere held in churches and monasteries to bless the water, which is believed to
\nhave healing and spiritual cleansing powers. On Thursday, Orthodox Christians
\nwill celebrate Saint John the Baptist. He baptised Jesus in the Jordan river,
\nrevealing to people that he was the Messiah. The religious celebrations of the
\nEpiphany and Saint John the Baptist mark the end of the winter celebrations and
\nthose dedicated to the nativity of Christ. As many as 2 million Romanians are
\nnamed after Saint John. <\/p>\n
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\n
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Moldovan president
\nNicolae Timofti has given parliamentary parties a week to create a new
\nparliamentary majority and urged them to respect the pro-European vote of the
\nMoldovan citizens. On Tuesday, Timofti held a fresh round of talks with
\nparliamentary parties to nominate a new candidate for the position of prime
\nminister. On Monday, Parliament failed to appoint a government led by the
\nbusinessman Ion Sturza because not enough MPs turned up to vote. If the next
\nchoice of prime minister is not endorsed, president Timofti will have to
\ndissolve Parliament and call early elections. The former government led by the
\nLiberal-Democrat prime minister Valeriu Strelet was ousted following a vote of
\nno-confidence called by the pro-Moscow Socialist and Communist parties, and
\nalso endorsed by the self-proclaimed pro-western Democratic Party. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
Judge Mircea Aron is the new president of the Superior Council of
\nMagistracy in Romania. His vice-president is the prosecutor Luminita Palade.
\nMircea Aron has been a member of the Council since 2011 and a magistrate since
\n1981, while Luminita Palade has been in the Council for two years and serving
\nas a magistrate since 1994. The priorities of the new leadership are fairness
\nand transparency in the appointments for the Supreme Court, the General
\nProsecutor’s Office and the National Anticorruption Directorate, strengthening
\nthe legal system and supporting changes to legislation in the field of the
\njudiciary. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
Schengen and freedom of movement must be
\nguaranteed for both citizens and the economy, said the European
\nmigration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos. The European Commission agreed
\nwith officials from Germany, Denmark and Sweden to maintain border controls on
\nthe internal borders of the three states for a minimum period. Germany says,
\nhowever, that security on the EU external borders is not perfect, in particular
\non the border with Turkey and on Greece’s borders and that the refugee
\nrelocation system is not being implemented. Germany, Sweden and Denmark have
\nreintroduced border controls in the Schengen area saying the massive flow of
\nmigrants is a threat to their internal security. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
The Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecau and Jean Julien Roger reached the
\nquarterfinals of the ATP tennis tournament in Doha worth 1.2 million dollars in
\nprize money. Seeded second, Tecau and Roger will next face the Russian-Spanish
\npair Teimuraz Gabashvili and Albert Ramos Vinolas. In the women’s doubles, the
\nall-Romanian pair Andreea Mitu and Patricia Maria Tig reached the semifinals of
\nthe Shenzen tournament in China worth 500,000 dollars. Alexandra Dulgheru, also
\nfrom Romania, has made it to the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament in
\nAuckland, New Zealand, worth 226,000 dollars. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
An alert has been
\nissued in Romania for heavy precipitation, powerful winds and glazed frost
\nacross the country from Wednesday at noon until Thursday night. Rain is
\nexpected in the south and southeast and snow in the east and northeast and in
\nthe mountains. A code yellow alert for rain is in place in three counties in
\nthe south and southeast from Wednesday night until Thursday at noon. A yellow
\ncode alert was issued for Bucharest and 8 counties in Romania for glazed frost.
\nRoad travel has been disrupted on the national roads crossing these areas. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated by: C. Mateescu)<\/p>\n
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