COOPERATION
\n– The first Romanian – Polish intergovernmental meeting was held in Warsaw on
\nFriday. On the occasion, the parties agreed to boost political dialogue at all
\nlevels in preparation for Romania’s taking over the Presidency of the Council
\nof the European Union. Consultations were held against the background of both
\ncountries celebrating their centennial this year. The Romanian Prime Minister
\nViorica Dancila had a meeting with her Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki.
\nThe Romanian head of government stressed the excellent level of bilateral
\ncooperation and Romania’s interest in boosting it, in fields such as
\ninvestments and energy in particular. In turn, the Polish Prime Minister too
\nhighlighted the excellent cooperation between the two countries, spanning 99
\nyears of diplomatic ties, in the political, economic and cultural fields.
\nMateusz Morawiecki also stressed the good cooperation within NATO and the EU.
\nAlso on Friday, the Romanian Defence Minister Mihai Fifor and the Polish Deputy
\nPrime Minister Piotr Glinski signed a bilateral agreement on the tombs of the
\nRomanian and Polish soldiers buried in Polish and Romanian soil respectively.
\nThe visit to Poland ended with a meeting of the Romanian Minister for Romanians
\nAbroad Natalia Intotero with Romanian military and representatives of the
\nRomanian community in Poland.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
VISIT
\n– The Presidential Foreign Policy Adviser Bogdan Aurescu has held talks at the
\nWhite House with the US National Security Adviser John Bolton, focusing on the
\ncooperation between Romania and the US. On the occasion, Aurescu reiterated
\nBucharest’s commitment to enhancing the bilateral Strategic Partnership. In
\nturn, Bolton expressed the US’s appreciation for all that Romania is doing as
\npart of NATO. Among other things, the two officials discussed the relations
\nbetween the EU and the US, considering Romania’s taking over the rotating
\npresidency of the Council of the EU in early 2019, the NATO summit due in
\nBrussels in July and the developments in the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, which
\nare both Romania’s neighbours.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
INFRINGEMENT
\n– The European Commission has started the infringement procedure against
\nRomania, for the latter’s failure to observe the European Directive on the
\npresumption of innocence and the right to be present at the trial in criminal
\nproceedings. The directive should have been implemented by April 2018.
\nAccording to the European Directive, people who are being prosecuted are
\npresumed innocent until a final sentence is ruled, and the authorities have no
\nright to make statements that contradict this state of facts. Action in court
\nand means of appeal or remedy which can be used only after the ruling in case
\nremains final, including actions before the European Court of Human Rights,
\nshould not fall within the scope of this Directive.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
PROTEST
\n– Taxi drivers in Bucharest have suspended their protest temporarily, after
\nnegotiations at the Ministry of Development on Friday. They are unhappy with
\nthe recent proposals announced by the Ministry, relating to the emergency ordinance
\namending the law that regulates their activity. Taxi drivers claim the banning
\nof the Uber type applications and have announced they will use all legal forms
\nof protest until the elimination of all unauthorized forms of transportation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
CULTURE
\n– The heir apparent to the British throne Charles, Prince of Wales, visited the
\nRomanian Cultural Institute in London on Thursday. He watched the exhibition
\nassociated to the bibliophile volume ‘Transylvania Florilegium’, which
\ncelebrates the uniqueness and extraordinary diversity of the Romanian natural
\nheritage, reads a communiqu\u00e9 issued by the Cultural Institute. Prince Charles
\nalso attended the launch of the album of the same name, issued by Addison
\nPublications. According to the Romanian Cultural Institute in London, the
\nguests included part of the 36 artists from across the world that signed the
\n124 aquarelles of the exhibition, cultural personalities in London and leaders
\nof the Romanian community in Great Britain. This is Prince Charles’s second
\nvisit to the Cultural Institute, after the one in 2014, when he attended the
\nopening of an exhibition of Transylvanian landscapes, compiled, just like
\n‘Transylvania Florilegium’, at his proposal and with his support. ‘Transylvania
\nFlorilegium’ album, with a foreword signed by the Prince of Wales, will be
\nprinted in two volumes and will include 124 pictures made over a period of 7
\nyears, the institute’s communiqu\u00e9 also reads.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
TIFF
\n– The city of Cluj-Napoca, in north-western Romania, is hosting, until June 3rd,
\nthe 17th Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF). This
\nyear’s edition includes no less than 227 productions: 178 feature films and 49
\nshort reels from all over the world. ‘The Romanian Film Days’,
\na section of the festival devoted to Romanian directors, comprises 35
\nproductions, including ‘Touch Me Not’, director Adina Pintilie’s debut film,
\nwhich reaped the Golden Bear Award in Berlin this year, as well as Andrei Cretulescu’s production
\n‘Charleston’. The French actress Fanny Ardant has been chosen to award the
\nTransylvania trophy and the honorary guest to this festival is the Romanian opera singer Angela Gheorghiu.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
TENNIS
\n– WTA no.1 player Simona Halep is up against 105th-placed Alison Riske, of the
\nUSA, in a match counting towards the second round of the Roland Garros
\ntournament, the year’s second Grand Slam Event, due to kick-off of Sunday.
\nSimona Halep, who has conceded defeat twice
\nin the final, in 2014 and 2017, respectively, is the top-seed at Roland Garros this year. Four other Romanians
\nare included in the main draw at Rolland Garros. The first one is WTA
\n32nd-placed Mihaela Buzarnescu, who is also among the top seeded players this
\nyear, as an absolute first. Buzarnescu takes on the American Vania King. Also,
\nIrina Begu, ranking 41 in the WTA classification, plays against Slovakia’s WTA
\n78th-ranked Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. WTA 45th-ranked Sorana Carstea faces
\nAustralian contender, WTA 24th-placed Daria Gavrilova and 65th-ranked Ana
\nBogdan takes on Czech opponent, WTA 90th-placed Marketa Vondrousova. Only one
\nRomanian is included in the main draw of the men’ s version at Roland Garros ,
\n97th-ranked Marius Copil, who faces WTA 72nd-placed Marco Cecchinato, in the
\ninaugural round of the tournament.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":75903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-102787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n