2 July, 2015

News and Current Affairs

Bogdan Matei, 02.07.2015, 11:59

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis reiterated on Thursday that Romania planned to become a security supplier in a very convoluted geopolitical context. After official talks in Bucharest with NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg, the president said that Romania was synchronizing its actions with its Alliance partners. In turn, Secretary Stoltenberg said that Romania was a determined and reliable NATO ally. Stoltenberg met today in Bucharest with interim PM Gabriel Oprea and the defense and foreign ministers, Mircea Dusa and Bogdan Aurescu. The agenda of the secretary during the visit includes official talks with President Klaus Iohannis. The two had previously met in January in Brussels, where the Romanian head of state was making his first visit abroad in his new position, to attend the Summer European Council. Back then the two exchanged views on the measures NATO has to take in order to cope with today’s security environment. Also today, the civilian head of NATO inaugurated in Bucharest the first of two NATO command and control centers in Romania. By the end of the year, all centers of this type will become operational in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Each center will have a staff of about 40 NATO representatives in charge of planning, coordinating military exercises, as well as redeployment in case of crisis. These command centers were set up to reinforce the Alliance’s eastern flank in view of Russia’s aggressive stance.

The Vice-President of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, Dan Motreanu, member of the opposition National Liberal Party, is being prosecuted by the National Anticorruption Directorate for influence peddling and money laundering. He is involved in the same case in which also prosecuted is the former presidential advisor George Scutaru, accused of accessory to money laundering and bribe taking. According to a press release issued today by the Anticorruption Directorate, both Motreanu and Scutaru got thousands of hundreds of Euros, given for the National Liberal Party’s 2008 election campaign by a top figure in the local administration, who in turn got one million Euro to help the briber purchase land in Buzau, south-eastern Romania.

Dacian Ciolos of Romania was appointed by EC President Jean-Claude Juncker special adviser on international food security. Ciolos was EU commissioner for agriculture and rural development between 2010-2014, and according to the head of the EU executive, he has a great deal of experience in this area, and is the right man for the job. The new adviser will be working closely with members of the Commission to establish the EU contribution to finding solutions to this global crisis and others, such as pressure on natural resources, a booming population, and climate change. Dacian Ciolos was minister of agriculture between 2007-2008.

Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu faces today against Slovak player Jana Cepelova, in the second round of the grass court competition in Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the year. This game is eagerly awaited in Romania after the game on Tuesday in which Cepelova, 106th ranked in the WTA, eliminated world number three Simona Halep in the biggest surprise of this tournament. One other Romanian player is left in the race in addition to Niculescu, Irina Begu, who plays in the third round against star player Maria Sharapova, fourth seeded in the WTA.

Romanian football team FC Botosani debuts tonight in the European cup competitions on home turf against Georgian team Tskhinvali, in the first leg of the first round in the Europa League. The return leg is scheduled a week from now, to be played in Georgia. The winner of the round will face against Legia Warsaw of Poland in the second preliminary round, a stage at which Romanian team Astra Giurgiu plays against Scottish team Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Romania’s vice-champions, ASA Targu-Mures has qualified straight to the third preliminary round of the Europa League, while champions Steaua Bucharest will meet Slovak team AS Trencin, in the second preliminary round of the Champions League. Steaua won in May not only the national title, but also Romania’s Cup and the League cup. Now it plays its first game away, on July 14 or 15, with the return leg one week later in Bucharest.

Moody’s financial rating agency downgraded Greece from a Caa2 rating to a Caa3, after it became the first developed country to default on its debt to the IMF, according to Reuters. The decision comes after similar moves from Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. Moody’s warned that, lacking support from international lenders and without introducing economic and fiscal reforms, Greece would become unable to pay its private debt. Eurozone finance ministers have decided to continue talks with the government in Athens only after the results come in for the referendum on Sunday, in which Greeks are asked to voice their opinion on the austerity program imposed by international creditors.