December 17, 2013 UPDATE
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România Internațional, 17.12.2013, 12:00
Romania’s president Traian Basescu has conveyed a message of congratulation to German chancellor, Angela Merkel, currently at her third term in office. Basescu said that for Romania, Germany is an ally and a friend. Conservative Merkel, who got a landslide victory on Tuesday will lead a big coalition made up of the Christian-Democratic Union, Christian-Social Union and Social Democrats. It’s for the first time Merkel got reelected as head of the grand coalition after the 2005-2009 mandate. On Wednesday, the chancellor will pay a traditional visit to France for talks with president Francois Hollande.
Romania’s new culture minister Liberal Gigel-Sorinel Stirbu was sworn in on Tuesday. A 42 year-old lawyer, Stirbu replaces Daniel Barbu, who stepped down last week amid inappropriate statements on the budget allotted for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS infections. Also on Tuesday, Social-Democrat Toni Grebla was sworn in as a judge at the Constitutional Court. Grebla was proposed by the Senate and will replace Iulia Motoc, who will join the European Court of Human Rights.
Russia will invest 15 billion dollars in bonds issued by Ukraine and will cut by a third the price of its gas exports to that country, Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday after the talks he had with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych. Putin said the talks agenda didn’t include Ukraine’s possible accession to the Eurasian Union. Yanukovych went to Russia amid large-scale protests by the pro-west opposition, who fear the country might sign an agreement to join the Eurasia Union led by Moscow. Ukraine has been scene to numerous protests since November 21st, when the incumbent government decided to suspend the process of associating with the EU.
A mourning day was observed in the western Romanian city of Timisoara on Tuesday to the memory of the victims of the December 1989 anti-Communist revolution. 24 years were commemorated since the army used live ammunition and tanks to repress the uprising of the people in Timisoara, who were brave enough to take to the streets against the former communist dictator Nicolae Ceusescu’s regime. All flags on the city’s main institutions were lowered down at half-mast. Commemoration masses and wreath-laying ceremonies were also held throughout the city. We recall the revolution sparked off in Timisoara and rapidly spread to other cities across the country. It gained momentum in Bucharest on December 22nd, the same day as Ceausescu’s regime collapsed.
“The Child’s Pose” a film directed by the Romanian Calin Peter Netzer has been included on the shortlist of the four feature films most likely to receive an Oscar 2014 nomination for the best foreign production, according to “The Hollywood Reporter” publication’s site. Also included on the list are the Danish production” The Hunt”, the Iranian film “ The Past” and the Belgian production “The Broken Circle”. The American Film Academy on December 20 will announce the shortlist including nine films, five of which will then be selected. “The Child’s Pose” was awarded the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2013.
