Slovakia
\non Friday took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union
\nfrom the Netherlands, against fears sparked by the Brexit vote. Prime Minister
\nRobert Fico has warned that the future of a Union with 27 member states cannot
\nbe decided by the few, referring to meetings of some Western officials
\nimmediately after the referendum in the United Kingdom. The Slovakian official
\nsaid the EU would have to redefine its underperforming policies, especially
\nthose referring to migration. Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen
\nArea is one of the priorities of Slovakia’s term in office, according to Radio
\nRomania’s Brussels correspondent. Slovakia will host an informal EU summit in
\nSeptember, the first to be organised outside Brussels since 2000. <\/p>\n
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\n
\n
\n
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Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis has invited Prime
\nMinister Dacian Ciolos and National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu, as well as
\nthe leaders of parliamentary parties, to a new round of talks on Monday in the
\nwake of the Brexit vote. Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has had
\nless influence on financial markets in Romania than on those in other states in
\nthe region, but this doesn’t mean the impact won’t be more serious in the
\nfuture, National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu has said. The Romanian official
\npointed out that the result of the referendum has fuelled uncertainty on
\ninternational markets. <\/p>\n
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\n
\n
\n
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Romania
\nis a trusted ally of NATO and remains a pillar of security and stability in the
\nregion, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has said while attending the
\ninauguration ceremony for NATO’s two command centres in Bucharest. Klaus
\nIohannis explained that NATO’s command structures in Romania have a major role
\nas part of collective efforts to improve the Alliance’s capability of
\nsuccessfully responding to current and future threats. The president also
\nreferred to the recent inauguration of the anti-ballistic defence facility in
\nDeveselu, recalling that Romania has increased its defence budget and will do
\nso up to 2% of its GDP by 2017. The Multinational South-East Division Command
\nin Bucharest has joined other five NATO units on its eastern flank in Bulgaria,
\nPoland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. At the 2014 NATO Summit in Wales NATO
\ndecided to set up these command centres as a response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. The event in Bucharest is held one week ahead of the NATO Summit in
\nWarsaw. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The association agreement between the
\nEuropean Union and the Republic of Moldova, aimed at consolidating political
\nand economic ties between the two parties, entered into force on Friday. EU
\nforeign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that together with the implementation of reforms in the country,
\nthe agreement has the potential to bring new jobs, economic growth and
\nstability for Moldovans. A similar agreement between the European Union and
\nGeorgia also came into force on Friday. <\/p>\n
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\n
\n
\n
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A record high
\nquantity of 2.5 tonnes of cocaine, worth an estimated 625 million euros, was
\nseized by the border police from a container in the port of Constanta,
\nsouth-eastern Romania. The ship carrying the cocaine was coming from South
\nAmerica. The drugs were supposed to reach European markets. Investigators have
\ndetained five people, all foreign nationals, in this case. This record catch
\nwas one of the topics of a meeting held by Romania’s interior minister Petre
\nToba with Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock in Bucharest on Friday. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The European
\nUnion has extended its sanctions against Russia until the 31st of
\nJanuary 2017. The sanctions were first imposed in July 2014 in response to
\nMoscow’s actions to destabilise neighbouring Ukraine. They target mainly banks
\nand oil and defence companies and have a strong effect on the Russian economy.
\nMoscow, which denies any involvement in the break-away conflict in Ukraine, has
\nitself imposed a ban on imports of agricultural products from the European
\nUnion. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Austria’s
\nConstitutional Court has overturned the result of the presidential elections of
\nthe 22nd of May saying there were irregularities in the handling of
\nthe postal votes and ruled that the election will be re-run. The result was
\nchallenged by the far-right Freedom Party whose candidate, Norbert Hofer, lost
\nby under 1% to the independent candidate Alexander Van der Beller, who was due
\nto begin his term on the 8th of July. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Romanian women’s handball team on Friday defeated
\nRussia 21:18 to reach the finals of the World University Championship in
\nMalaga, Spain. In the finals on Saturday, Romania face host country Spain, who
\nhave defeated Poland in the semifinals. Romania already defeated Spain in the
\ngroup matches 20:19. (Translated by: V. Palcu & C. Mateescu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A round-up of local 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":[14005,29966,28945,29007],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-101153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-brexit","tag-european-union","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-republic-of-moldova"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n