EU – Thursday saw the official
\nlaunch of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. 12
\nyears since Romania joined the EU, our country takes on a major role at EU
\nlevel, namely to contribute to consolidating a more cohesive, stronger and more
\npowerful Europe, President Klaus Iohannis said in his opening address. Romania
\nwill carry out its presidency with dignity, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said
\nin turn, adding that she wants a more united, robust and solidary Europe at the
\nend of Romania’s term in office. In turn, President of the European Council,
\nDonald Tusk, underlined that Romania will act in the spirit of the proverb Man
\nconsecrates the land. Whether its policy will be a good example to follow or a
\nsevere warning depends entirely on Romania, President Tusk said. The EU
\nofficial called on Romanians to defend the underlying principles of political
\ncivilization, liberty, integrity, defending truth in public life, the rule of
\nlaw and the Constitution. Romania is taking over the presidency of the Council
\nof the European Union at a crucial moment, European Commission President
\nJean-Claude Juncker said. He added that the EU wouldn’t be complete without
\nRomania, and that Romania belongs in the Schengen Area. I’m counting on the
\nenergy and unity of the whole Romanian nation to be able to decide what to do
\nand what we can do in the coming months, Juncker concluded. The launch was
\nmarked by a concert at the Romanian Athenaeum given by the EU orchestra. The
\nprogram included the Romanian Rhapsody I by George Enescu and Beethoven’s
\nSymphony No. 9 ‘Ode to Joy’ which became the Anthem of the EU in 1985. On the
\nother hand, several hundred people gathered in front of the Athenaeum for an
\nanti-government rally under the slogan We want Europe, not dictatorship!,
\nstaged by several civic organizations. Protesters chanted pro-European and
\nanti-Government slogans. On Friday,
\nJean-Claude Juncker will meet with President Klaus Iohannis and with the PM
\nViorica Dancila as well as with the speakers of Parliament’s two chambers. The
\nEuropean officials will also have talks with the Romanian ministers who, for 6
\nmonths, will chair both in Bucharest and Brussels, working meetings with their
\ncounterparts from the EU member states.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Visit -
\nThe Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu met with his Polish counterpart Jacek Czaputowicz who was on a visit to
\nBucharest. The two reviewed the stage of accomplishment of the common objectives
\nset at bilateral, regional, European and multilateral level and set the
\nlandmarks of the Romanian – Polish cooperation on short and medium term. Talking
\nabout Romania’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, Teodor
\nMelescanu stated that Bucharest will focus on promoting cohesion as a common
\nEuropean value, on overcoming division among member states and on identifying
\nways to consolidate the role of the EU. In another development, the Romanian Foreign
\nMinister offered to his Polish counterpart a digital copy of 294 archived files
\ncovering the period 1918-1947 to mark a century of diplomatic relations between
\nRomania and Poland. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Protests – Transporters from Romania and
\nother Eastern European states on Thursday protested in front of the European
\nParliament against the change of legislation in the field, in the context in
\nwhich the MEPs from the Committee on Transport are voting on the new
\nregulations. Protesters claim that the proposals included in the mobility
\npackage were made against the backdrop of surging protectionism of western
\nEuropean states and that the transporters in eastern and southeastern Europe
\nwill be affected by the measures. They believe the measures will lead to
\nsignificantly higher operation costs and restrictions on the international road
\ntransportation within the community space. One of the measures forbids the
\nperiod of weekly rest to happen in the truck cab. Another measure is related to
\nthe obligation of drivers to return home at least once every 4 weeks. Measures
\nalso refer to the obligation to equip all international transport vehicles with
\nan intelligent tachograph by the end of 2024. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Tennis -
\nRomanian tennis player Simona
\nHalep, WTA no. 1, has been seeded first in the Australian Open, the first Grand
\nSlam tournament of the year, where last year she reached the finals. Halep on
\nTuesday will play Kaia Kanepi of Estonia (70 WTA). On Monday, on the first day
\nof the tournament Irina Begu (76 WTA) will play Andrea Petkovic of Germany (61
\nWTA), Monica Niculescu (88 WTA) will play Amanda Anisimova of the US (87 WTA)
\nwhile Sorana Cirstea (84 WTA) will play Rebbeca Peterson (62 WTA). On Tuesday,
\nMihaela Buzarnescu (25 WTA) will play Venus Williams of the US (37 WTA) while
\nAna Bogdan (81 WTA) will go up against a player from the qualifying phase.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated by L. Simion & V. Palcu)<\/p>\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":[29795,34377,34376,31960],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-103267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-australian-open","tag-romania-poland-relations","tag-romanias-presidency-of-the-council-of-the-european-union","tag-transporters-protests"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n