February 13, 2014
A look at the main stories in Romania today.
România Internațional, 13.02.2014, 12:00
The state secretary for strategic affairs with the Romanian foreign ministry, Bogdan Aurescu is today addressing the conference launching the NATO-Russia multinational and multiannual project in the field of telesurgery. On Wednesday, he visited the NATO headquarters for talks with NATO officials. He used the opportunity to highlight the 10th anniversary of Romania’s NATO membership. He also emphasised Bucharest’s support for the consolidation of transatlantic relationship and the Open Door policy.
According to the first deputy president of the National Liberal Party, Klaus Iohannis, the possibility that his party leaves the ruling coalition has not been discussed within the party or with its coalition partners. He agreed, however, that there is certain tension and even a crisis within the Social Liberal Union. He made this statement amid talks about a future government reshuffle. The Liberals, who want Klaus Iohannis to occupy the positions of deputy prime minister and interior minister, are opposed to the idea of there also being a deputy prime minister from the Conservative Party, as proposed by the Social Democratic Party.
World Radio Day is being celebrated today. Proclaimed in 2011 by UNESCO, this is an opportunity to celebrate radio as a medium promoting access to information and culture. The theme this year is the promotion of equal opportunities. In Romania, the first radio broadcast was aired on 1st November 1928, with the establishment of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation. With three national, nine regional and an international channel broadcasting in ten different languages, as well as Romanian and the Aromanian, Radio Romania is the most popular radio channel in the country and a public service success story.
At the Olympic Games in Sochi, Romanian athletes are today competing in skeleton, cross country skiing, individual men’s and women’s biathlon, men’s figure skating and the luge relay. Germany leads in the overall medal count, followed by Canada and Norway. Romania’s Olymipc team is made up of 24 athletes. Despite having participated in all editions of the winter Olympic Games, Romania has only won one medal so far, when its two-man bobsleigh team won the bronze in 1968 at the Olympic Games hosted by the French city of Grenoble.
Two Romanian tennis players, Simona Halep and Monica Niculescu have qualified to the 8th finals of a WTA tournament in Doha, Qatar, worth 2.4 million dollars. Halep, number 10 in the world, defeated Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in three sets, while Niculescu, no 54 in the world ranking, eliminated Bettanie Mattek-Sands of the US, also in three sets. Romania’s third player in the competition, Sorana Cirtstea, no 26 in the world, was defeated by the Polish player Agnieszka Radwanska in the third round. In the doubles competition, the Romanian-Czech pair Monica Niculescu and Klara Zakopalova, has also made it to the competitions 8th finals after defeating the French-Italian pair Kristina Mladenovic and Flavia Pennetta.
