January 20, 2014 UPDATE
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România Internațional, 20.01.2014, 19:44
STATE VISIT – During his state visit to Israel, Romania’s president Traian Băsescu was received on Monday by his counterpart Shimon Peres. The former expressed his conviction that Israel would do its best to ensure peace in the region. Traian Băsescu also talked about the excellent cooperation between the two states in the field of military technology and the fight against terrorism, as well as cross-border crime. President Shimon Peres emphasised that peace is not easy to obtain and that Israel would spare no efforts to bring peace and development in the area. Also on Monday, Traian Basescu had talks with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. On Tuesday, the last day of his visit, President Basescu will hold talks in Ramallah, the West Bank.
JUDICIARY – The European Commission will release its reports on the progress of the justice systems in Romania and Bulgaria on Wednesday. The announcement was made on Monday by the EC spokesman Mark Gray. The reports are part of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. For Romania, the report will look at the developments of the past year, because Bucharest was subject to a supplementary report last January. The judicial systems of Romania and Bulgaria have been monitored since the two countries joined the EU in 2007.
EU – IRAN – The EU foreign ministers decided in Brussels on Monday to temporarily lift the economic sanctions against Iran. In turn, Tehran slowed down its uranium enrichment operations to 20% and dismantled part of the infrastructure used in this process. The West suspects Iran of trying to produce atomic weapons under the pretext of a civilian nuclear programme, but the Islamist regime in Tehran denies the accusations.
UKRAINE – The EU and USA Monday expressed deep concerns with the tense situation in Ukraine, and invited the political class of the ex-Soviet Republic to dialogue. In Kiev, the clashes between the pro-European protesters and the police became violent, with hundreds of people injured on Sunday. Also on Monday, at the request of President Viktor Janukovych, a special commission works to manage the political crisis, and representatives of the Opposition are expected to join in the negotiations. The protests in Ukraine started after the authorities in Kiev refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union, at the summit held in November in Vilnius.
