April 2, 2015
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Mihai Pelin, 02.04.2015, 12:00
Around 2,500 sheep and cattle growers are staging a protest rally in front of Romanian Government’s headquarters in Bucharest today, as the talks they initiated with Agriculture Ministry representatives have failed. Livestock farmers are unhappy with the delayed payment of subsidies, slashes in per capita subsidy, but also with the lack of a national strategy for small and medium sized dairy farmers, who will be edged out of the market, as they say, immediately after the abolition of the milk quota as of April 1st. Dairy farmers have also bemoaned the double taxation system, through the producer’s licence and producer’s certificate, for which monopoly is held by licensed free practice veterinarians, as well as excessive bureaucracy. The farming sector’s largest union federation Agrostar counts more than 45,000 members, who are farmers, but also employees in the farming sector and related services.
The Romanian Defence Minister Mircea Dusa in Bucharest today will be attending the joint conference of the United States European Command and the defence ministers of Central European countries. High on the agenda are topics related to the challenges posed by the security environment and the joint work of the US army and the armed forces of the central and Eastern European countries, at regional level, as well as within NATO. Also high on the talks’ agenda are staving off threats at regional and global level and the action plan drawn out for the Alliance’s enhanced operational capacity.
The world’s number 3 tennis player, the Romanian Simona Halep as an absolute first has got through to the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Miami, with 5.4 million dollars prize money at stake. Today Halep secured a laid-back win against the American Sloane Stephens, 6-1, 7-5. 23-year old Halep on Friday will be taking on WTA leader Serena Williams, in the semi-finals of the Miami tournament. In the quarterfinals, Williams overpowered the world’s number 27 player according to the WTA rankings, Germany’s Sabine Lisicki. In the semi-final, Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro will be proving her mettle against Andrea Petkovic of Germany. Head-to-heads so far point to Serena Williams’ 4-1 advantage over Simona Halep. In the ongoing WTA season, the Romanian has only one defeat on the record sheet, in the Australian Open. Halep’s excellent run has since meant 15 consecutive wins, among which the titles she won in the Dubai and Indian Wells tournaments.
The unemployment rate across the EU in February stood at an all-time low since September 2011. According to the European Statistics office Eurostat the number of unemployed has been continually decreasing, accounting for roughly 24 million people, that is 1.5 million less than in 2014. 21% of the unemployed are young people under 25. In February, the unemployment rate went down by 0.1 % as compared to January, standing at 9.8% across the European Union, and with a 11.3 % unemployment rate reported for the Euro zone. Among EU member states, the largest number of unemployed was reported for Greece and Spain, while the lowest such figure was reported for Germany, Austria and Denmark. With a 6.5 % rate, Romania has maintained its position among the countries with a low unemployment rate. Fighting unemployment is a priority for the European Commission led by Jean-Claude Juncker. We recall the European Commission’s investment plan accounts for 300 billion Euro.
Negotiators from six nations and from Iran resumed nuclear talks in Lausanne, after the 1st of April deadline to reach an agreement was exceeded, according to the international press. The foreign minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, said the parties agreed on all major issues, but western officials say there are still obvious disagreements. The US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany want to make sure Iran will not be able to build a nuclear weapon in less than a year from now. Tehran insists on having international sanctions lifted as a precondition of any agreement, claiming that its nuclear program is strictly civilian.
