3 July, 2015
News and Current Affairs
Ştefan Stoica, 03.07.2015, 11:59
Two simultaneous marches are scheduled for today in the center of Athens, one in favor of, the other one against the conditions demanded by international lenders in exchange for helping Greece out of default. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent there, the No marchers will be joined by PM Alexis Tsipras, saying he hoped the Greek voters would grant him a strong mandate to continue negotiations. On the other side, the ‘We Live in Europe’ side will be marching for saying Yes in the referendum on Sunday. According to polls, the two sides have very close percentages. The capital controls imposed by the government to prevent bank runs have convinced many to favor saying Yes in the vote on Sunday. At the same time, the IMF warned that Greece would need new loans, worth around 50 billion Euro over the next three years, and debt restructuring in the absence of reforms and solid economic growth. In a report issued before the breakdown of negotiations between Athens and international lenders, the IMF claims that Greece’s debt dynamic is unsustainable given the slow pace of reform.
The Duchy of Luxembourg takes over officially from Latvia the rotating presidency of the European Union. With rising Eurozone instability, triggered by the Greek crisis, Luxembourg faces major challenges, such as that of preserving the Eurozone, as recently stated by the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, who was previously PM of Luxembourg. The duchy will also have to manage an unprecedented migration crisis.
Romanian tennis player Irina Begu, 29th seeded, plays today with star and favorite Maria Sharapova, ranked fourth in the world, in the third round of the Wimbledon grand slam. On Thursday, another Romanian, Monica Niculescu, qualified to the third round, after emerging victorious against Slovak Jana Cepelova, who surprisingly eliminated Romanian Simona Halep, ranked third in the world. Niculescu will meet in the next stage the Czech player Krystina Pliskova, 134th seeded. Begu and Niculescu have obtained in this edition of the Wimbledon contest the best results of their career.
In its first game in European championships, Romanian football team FC Botosani tied at home in the first leg of the first preliminary round of the Europa League against the Georgian team Tskhinvali. The second leg will take place in a week in Georgia. If they prevail, FC Botosani will play against Polish team Legia Warsaw in the second preliminary round, the same round in which Astra Giurgiu will be facing Scottish squad Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Romania’s vice-champions, ASA Targu-Mures, qualified straight to the third preliminary round of the Europa League. Romania’s champions, Steaua Bucharest, will play against Slovak team AS Trencin, in the second preliminary round of the Champions League.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that there was still work to do in the Iranian negotiations. The talks in Vienna have been extended after the sides could not meet the deadline set for the end of June, according to the BBC. At the same time, head Russian negotiator Sergei Riabkov said that an agreement is very close to being reached. The negotiations between Tehran and the 5+1, the US, Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany, aim to produce an accord guaranteeing a peaceful Iranian nuclear program, in exchange for lifting international economic sanctions.
