June 13, 2016

Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, is paying a two-day official visit to Bucharest.

Newsroom, 13.06.2016, 12:00

Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, is paying a two-day official visit to Bucharest, upon an invitation extended by his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis. The two officials will discuss about consolidating bilateral ties at political, economic and cultural level, but also about migration and security at the EU’s external borders. Sergio Mattarella will attend on Tuesday in Bucharest an economic forum on Italian investment in Romania. Romania’s is Italy’s second most important economic partner with trade worth 13 billion euros. According to Italian Ambassador to Bucharest, Diego Brasioli, Italy is one of the EU countries supporting Romania’s joining the Schengen area. Over 1,200,000 Romanians are currently living in Italy, while the number of Italians in Romania stands at around 20,000.

World leaders, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis included, voiced solidarity with the United States after the deadliest mass shooting in the history of this country, which left 50 people dead and 53 injured. “We know enough to say this was an act of terror and act of hate,” President Obama said in an address to the nation from the White House. Authorities identified the attacker as Omar Mateen, an American citizen of Aafghan origin aged 29. The IS sympathizer, was killed by SWAT officers. He had been interviewed by the FBI in 2013 and 2014 but was not found to be a threat, the FBI said.

The Romanian foreign minister Lazar Comanescu is today attending a ministerial meeting to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the signing of the comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty. The document was negotiated between 1993 and 1996 and adopted in September 1996. The signatory parties undertake not to test nuclear weapons and take every necessary measure to prevent and ban such actions on their territory. Romania signed the treaty in 1996 and ratified it in 1999. In Vienna, minister Comanescu also chairs the opening of the ministerial segment of the Preparatory Committee of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation and give a talk on the global efforts to implement the treaty as an essential component of the international security architecture.

In Romania, direct foreign investment went up by 112 million euros in April as against the same month of 2015, accounting for 887 million euros in the first four months of the year. The announcement has been made today by the National Bank of Romania. According to the same source, direct foreign investment exceeded 3 billion euros last year, by 25% more than in 2014.

The International Theatre Festival, one of the biggest events in the world devoted to performing arts, continues in the Romanian city of Sibiu. The 23rd edition of the festival, that has brought together over 2800 artists from 70 countries, ends on June 19th. The theme of this year’s edition of the festival is Building Trust. Many of the performances to be presented celebrate the work of William Shakespeare, marking 400 years since his death.

The Romanian Naval Forces and the US Navy are carrying out drills in the Black Sea as of today, to exercise standard procedures and enhance interoperability between the fleets of the two states. Romania participates with the Queen Marie Frigate, a corvette, two dredgers, two rocket vessels, a Puma Naval helicopter and divers from the Special Operations unit. Two MiG21 Lancer planes belonging to the Romanian Air Forces will also be used in combat simulations. The US participates with its USS Porter destroyer, which will be exercising standard communications procedures with the Romanian Navy. The vessel first arrived in the Constanta port in 2006, and this is its third trip to Romania.

Croatia defeated Turkey 1-nil in their Euro 2016 Group D opener on Sunday. Also in Group D, defending European champions Spain meet the Czech Republic today. In Group E, Belgium face Italy, while Ireland take on Sweden, also today. We recall that Romania lost their opening Group A match against France 1-2, while Switzerland defeated Albania 1-nil, also in Group A. On Wednesday, Romania face Switzerland.

(Translated by Elena Enache)