Newsflash June 25th 2013
Click here for a roundup of news from Romania.
Valentin Țigău, 25.06.2013, 14:41
Three military aircraft of the Romanian army, made available to the Romanian authorities, repatriate the bodies of the 18 Romanians who lost their lives in the road accident in Montenegro and bring back to Bucharest 29 people who sustained injuries. On Tuesday, the Romanian deputies kept a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the road accident. Also, the government decreed a day of national mourning on Wednesday. A bus with 47 Romanian tourists on board tumbled off a mountain road about 30 km north of Podgorica on Sunday.
Romania’s President, Traian Basescu, on Tuesday received in audience HRH the Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex. On that occasion, President Basescu underlined the importance played by the British Council for the young generation, before 1989. The British Council opened its center in Romania back in 1938. In 2013, it celebrates 75 years of existence in this country. The Earl and Countess of Wessex are on a visit to Romania, as of Monday. Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, the third son (fourth child) of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, said on Tuesday, upon launching a portal of the British business community that Romania’s economy has a huge potential and Romania is a friendly country, which is geographically close to Great Britain, in terms of British investments. Since the start of 2013, the investments made by British companies in Romania account for over 27% of the total volume of foreign investments in this country.
Romania’s President, Traian Basescu, on Tuesday signed a decree on awarding the National Order “For Merit”, in rank of knight, to US Maj. Gen. Mark O. Schissler, Strategy and Policy Director of the U.S. Command in Europe and co-chair of the Romanian-US Joint Committee. The award is offered in token of high appreciation for the substantial contribution to the process of implementing the Agreement between Romania and the US on the installation in Romania of the anti-ballistic missile system. The distinction is offered at the proposal of Romanian Defense minister, Mircea Dusa.
Romania’s Senate on Tuesday validated Lilian Zamfiroiu with 104 “yeas” and 24 “nays” for the position of President of the Romanian Cultural Institute, ICR. Lilian Zamfiroiu, who has been Romania’s deputy ambassador to UNESCO will replace Andrei Marga, who tendered his resignation last week. A candidate backed by the ruling Social Liberal Union for the top position of the Romanian Cultural Institute, Lilian Zamfiroiu said during the hearings with the line committees in the Senate that he intends to bring representatives of all cultural trends in Romania at the same table.
25 Romanian and foreign designers are taking part in the largest fashion festival in the country, which opens on Tuesday in Sibiu. Among the domestic designers invited to this sixth edition of the Feeric Fashion Days festival are Adina Buzatu, Ana Maria Galan and Bianca Popp. According to the organizers, many of the presentations will be hosted in unconventional spaces.
A recent poll in Bucharest shows that if Romania held parliamentary elections this week, 58% of Romanians would vote the candidates of the center-left coalition currently in power, the Social Liberal Union. They would be followed by the center-right Liberal Democratic Party, with less than 16%, followed by other parties with less than 8%. This poll largely confirms the results of the elections held last year. The research was commissioned by the Romanian central daily Adevarul.
On Tuesday, almost 200,000 eighth grade graduates in Romania are taking the Romanian language written exam as part of their national high school selection exam. On Wednesday, minority students will take exams in their native language. The last exam of this test is in mathematics, scheduled for Thursday the 27th. In 2012, about 25% of students could not manage a passing grade in this national examination.
Romanian tennis players Simona Halep and Alexandra Cadantu on Tuesday qualified for the second round in Wimbledon. Halep defeated Olga Govortzova of Belarus in three sets and Cadantzu won to Austrian Tamira Paszek in two sets. In the second round, Cadantzu will meet Japanese Kimiko Date Krumm and Halep will play against Chinese Na Li. The first Romanian tennis player to qualify for the second round in Wimbledon was Sorana Carstea, 22nd seed, who defeated Swiss player Stefanie Voegele, on Monday. Carstea will compete against Italian Camila Giorgi.
UEFA disciplinary committee did not suspend the Romanian football champions, Steaua Bucharest, from European competitions, after the team was involved in a corruption file. Steaua’s owner, George Becali, was recently prosecuted and sentenced to prison for bribe giving in a case dating back to 2008, which prompted the investigation of his club by the European authority. However, the Romanian team will be on a five-year probation. In case of any mistake, the one-year ban from European competitions will be applied automatically. Steaua is at this point scheduled to play their next match against Macedonian champions FK Vardar Skopje, a game counting towards the second preliminary round of the Champions League.
