May 14, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
România Internațional, 14.05.2015, 12:15
An agreement between Romania and Ukraine regarding the small border traffic, agreed on by the two countries prime ministers in 2014, entered into force on Thursday. The agreement refers to those who have been living for at least three years within 30 kilometers from the border and want to spend up to three months on the neigbouring countrys territory for social, economic or family reasons. About 2 million people living in the border area of the two countries can benefit from this accord.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who pays a 3-day visit to Italy, on Thursday visited the Universal Exhibition in Milan, dubbed “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life, with the evening being devoted to a meeting with representatives of the Romanian community in the city. On Friday, President Iohannis will visit the Vatican, for talks with Pope Francis. The Romanian official will also visit St. Peters Basilica, and will meet with the Romanian students in Rome. This is President Iohannis second visit to Italy. At the end of April Iohhanis discussed, in Rome, with his counterpart Sergio Mattarella, with prime minister Matteo Renzi and with Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso.
The European Commission has recently presented the Agenda on migration, which details the measures aimed at settling the crisis in the Mediterranean. The initiative stipulates the development, by the end of this month, of a provisional mechanism through which the EU countries will have to take over 20 thousand refugees, and the creation of a permanent one by the end of the year. According to France Presse, the distribution shall be made in keeping with the following factors: the GDP, the population, the rate of unemployment and the number of refugees already settled in that respective country. Romania will get 3.75% of the total number of immigrants, accounting for 657 people, while France and Germany will get 3 thousand and 2 thousand respectively. For the first time the European Commission proposes the activation of the emergency mechanism stipulated in the EU Treaty, with the aim of providing support for the member countries that are faced with an unexpected migration wave. Such plans had to be developed following the large number of immigrants coming from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, who are crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe. This year alone, some 2 thousand immigrants have lost their lives while trying to cross the sea.
The Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu participated in the North-Atlantic Council held on Thursday on the sidelines of the NATO Foreign Ministers summit in Antalya, Turkey. The meeting of the agenda focused on the latest developments in the eastern and southern neighbourhoods of the Alliance. In his speech, the Romanian Minister said that for the security environment around the Alliance to improve, the decisions adopted at the NATO summit hosted by Great Britain in September 2014 must be fully implemented, and, more importantly, the process of adaptation of the Alliance must be completed with a broader strategy. To this end, he suggested a coherent, integrated strategy targeting both the eastern and the southern neighbourhoods. The Romanian Foreign Minister has also stressed the need for a firmer inclusion of the Black Sea area on NATOs strategic map.
Two Romanian athletes will compete in the quarterfinals of the tennis tournament in Rome: Simona Halep, number 2 in the world and Alexandra Dulgheru, seeded 72nd in the WTA classification. The two tennis players qualified to the quarterfinals after having defeated on Thursday American Venus Williams and Russian Ekaterina Makarova, respectively. In the mens doubles the Romanian-Dutch team, made up of Horia tecau and Jean Julien Rojer made it to the quarterfinals after having beaten the Romanian-Indian team Florin Mergea/Rohan.
