Newsflash, July 14
A roundup of domestic news
România Internațional, 14.07.2013, 14:02
The IMF managing director, Christine Lagarde, will pay a visit to Romania on Monday and Tuesday. She will hold talks with the Romanian authorities, with representatives of the private sector, civil society and academic environment about the country’s economic prospects. On July 17th, following the visit of the IMF official, a joint IMF and European Commission mission will come to Bucharest for talks with the Romanian authorities about the conclusion of a new precautionary-type agreement. Recently Romania has successfully concluded a second such agreement worth 3.5 billion euros.
France’s day was also marked in Bucharest on Sunday by a number of events under the motto “Paris, yesterday and today”. Also under the motto “Live la vie en rose” several exhibitions were opened displaying vintage cars, authentic clothes and photos featuring the Parisian atmosphere. France marks on July 14th two important historical events: the Federation Day of 1790 when France became a constitutional monarchy for a short while and the fall of the Bastille in 1789 when the republic was instated.
Hundreds of former political detainees and dissidents in Eastern Europe marked Sunday in Sighetu Marmatiei, in northern Romania, 20 years since the inauguration of the first memorial devoted to the victims of Communism. One of a kind in Europe, the museum-memorial in Sighet evokes the ordeal experienced by millions of people who lived during the Communist era, between WWII and 1989 in such countries as Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. According to statistics, during the Communist regime in Romania, over 600 thousand people were sentenced and imprisoned for political reasons. We recall that the post-Communist authorities in Romania condemned the Communist regime in 2006.
The Romanian environment minister, Rovana Plumb, is participating on Monday in Vilnius in the EU Informal Environment Council. The meeting in Lithuania, the country holding the six-month rotating presidency of the EU, focuses on climate change. The two big issues under discussion are the protection of natural resources and biodiversity and providing the funds necessary for fighting climate change. On the sidelines of the Council a working luncheon will look into the risks posed by shale gas exploitation.
Romania is participating between July 14th and 19th, with a 46-strong sports delegation, in the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival hosted by the Dutch city of Utrecht. The Romanian athletes will compete in 5 of the 9 events included in the Olympic festival’s schedule namely in the athletics, gymnastics, swimming, judo and tennis competitions. The aim of the Romanian delegation is to win around 10 medals.
The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep on Sunday won the final of the WTA clay court tournament hosted by Budapest. The tournament had prizes up for grabs worth 235 thousand dollars. Halep defeated Yvonne Meusburger 2-1. For Halep, winner of the tournaments in Nurenberg and s-Hertogenbosch, this was the 3rd final of the last 4 tournaments, after she lost in the second round at Wimbledon. On the other hand, also at the weekend, the Romanian tennis player Victor Hanescu failed to qualify to the final of the ATP tournament in Stuttgart, with prizes worth 410, 200 euros. He was defeated in the semi-finals German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
From the 14th to the 20th of July the Bacovia Municipal Theater in the town of Bacau, in eastern Romania, will host the 14th edition of the Youth National Theater Festival in English called “The Ingenious Drama Festival”. As many as 120 high school students who love drama will devote one day of their summer holidays to performing arts and will participate in the now traditional festival “I.D. Fest”.
