April 23, 2015
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Bogdan Matei, 23.04.2015, 12:00
French Premier Manuel Valls has today announced that five terror attacks have been foiled in France in the past months after 17 people were killed in Jihadi attacks in Paris in January this year, France press reports. Valls’ statement comes after French prosecutors have arrested an Algerian who masterminded an attack over a church on the capital’s outskirts. The man, a computer science student whose intention to join the Jihadist fighters in Syria was well known to the French secret services, was in the possession of an entire weapons arsenal. His DNA was also found at a crime scene near Paris. ‘Never has the threat been so greater’ says Premier Valls adding that hundreds of French citizens are at present in Syria where they run the risk of turning into radicals.
The Prime Ministers of Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia, Victor Ponta, Boiko Borisov and Alexandar Vucici are to convene tomorrow for three-party talks in Craiova, southern Romania. Prime Minister Ponta is expected to also hold talks with his Bulgarian counterpart after the meeting on a series issues, such as the new bridge over the Danube and tourism. The Romanian and Bulgarian governments met in Ruse, Bulgaria in March last year for talks that were also being attended by Serbia’s Prime Minister.
According to Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis, the war against dictatorships as well as endemic corruption have caused massive people displacement in various world regions, a phenomenon, which in his opinion is more pressing than ever. As of today president Iohannis is attending the European Council’s emergency proceedings in Brussels. The summit has been called by European Council president Donald Tusk following the tragedy in the Mediterranean, where 900 people, mostly north-African refugees, lost their lives. The heads of state and government from the 28 countries attending the meeting will be assessing the European Commission action plan that already rallied support from the European ministers in Luxembourg on Monday. The plan provides for cooperation between various European institutions to gleaning information on the human traffickers’ modus operandi. The measures stipulate the fingerprinting of all immigrants and their fair distribution in all member countries.
The world’s number three tennis player, Romanian Simona Halep has qualified for the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament in Stuttgart, with 731,000 dollars prize money at stake, having grabbed a three-set win against Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. In the quarterfinals, Halep, who is favourite number two to winning the tournament, will be taking on the winner of the game pitting Italy’s Sara Errani against Kazakh Zarian Dias. In a separate development, the BRD Tiriac Nastase ATP Trophy is well under way in Bucharest, with over 439 thousand dollars in prize money. The tournament has reached its quarterfinals stage, yet no Romanian players have got through to this stage of the tournament.
The USA has accused Russia of having built anti-aircraft defence systems inside eastern Ukraine, Reuters reports. The US Department of State says that Russia has been training the pro-Russian separatists in the region, in violation of the Minsk ceasefire agreement signed in February. Ukraine and its Western allies have long been accusing Moscow of supplying the rebels with troops and weapons, something that Moscow has repeatedly denied. More than 6,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine a year ago.
