September 9, 2015
For a roundup of domestic and international events, click here.
Newsroom, 09.09.2015, 12:00
REFUGEE CRISIS – In his annual “State of the Union address in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the president of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker on Wednesday called on the EU member countries to reach an agreement on the relocation of the 160,000 refugees, who arrived in Greece, Italy and Hungary. Moreover, Juncker called on the Europeans to make no difference among the refugees depending on their religion. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Brussels, the scheme of the urgent relocation of refugees among the EU member countries provides for Romania to receive 4646 refugees as against 1785 refugees this country had initially pledged to receive. Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, said that any figures related to the refugees forwarded by the European Commission would be subject to an inter-institutional domestic analysis, but he made it clear that Romania preferred voluntary quotas of immigrants, instead of the compulsory ones. The EU Interior Ministers would meet in Brussels on September 14th to make concrete proposals on the settlement of the migrant issue. They will discuss the urgent establishment of reception centers in Greece and Italy to register the migrants and establish who are refugees and who are illegal immigrants.
MOLDOVA – The president of the ex-Soviet Republic of Moldova with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population, Nicolae Timofti, has dismissed the idea of his resignation demanded by protesters in the center of the capital Chisinau. He said that his resignation would spark off another political crisis and instability would increase against the backdrop of the void of power. “The weak state institutions are to blame for the situation – Timofti said, accusing the National Bank, the General Prosecutors Office and the National Anti-Corruption Centre of being ineffective. Hundreds of protesters, who are in tents in the center of Chisinau, are demanding the resignation of the president and the government, early elections and that those guilty of Moldovas bank fraud be brought to court.
STRIKE – Lufthansa, the biggest European airline, has today cancelled some 1,000 flights after the German pilots union, Cockpit, staged the 13th strike in the last 18 months. The Lufthansa flights to Frankfurt and Munich from the Henri Coanda International Airport in Bucharest scheduled today have also been cancelled. On Tuesday, the German airline cancelled 84 of the 170 long distance flights because of the protest triggered by the disputes pertaining to wages, benefits and the cut in costs. The repeated strikes have so far cost the company over 300 million Euros.
THE QUEEN – Queen Elisabeth the 2nd has today become Britains longest-reigning monarch, surpassing her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria, who reigned for 63 years and seven months. Born on April 21st 1926, Queen Elisabeth acceded to the throne on February 6th 1952, at a time when Winston Churchill was Prime Minister. As constitutional monarch, the queen is the sovereign of another 15 Commonwealth countries, including Pakistan. In the world, the king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, aged 87, is the monarch with the longest reign since 1946.
TENNIS – The second favourite of US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, Romanian tennis player, Simona Halep is today taking on 20 seeded Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus in the quarter finals, which is a first for her. The third favourite, the Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecau-Jean Julien Rojer was defeated by the French pair Pierre Hugues Herbert- Nicolas Mahut in the quarter finals. In the semifinals, the French pair will meet the winners of the match between the Romanian-Indian pair Florin Mergea-Rohan Bopanna and the British-Swedish pair Dominic Inglot-Robert Lindstedt.
FOOTBALL – In Erevan, the Romanian under 21 football team on Tuesday defeated the Armenian team 3-2 in a match in the 5th group of the qualifiers for the European under 21 Championship due in 2017. That is the second victory obtained by the Romanian team after beating the Armenian team 3-0 at home. Wales ranks first in the group being followed by Romania. In the seniors group Romania comes in second, standing great chances to qualify for the European Championship hosted by France in 2016.
