April 15, 204 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 15.04.2014, 19:39
Former Prime Minister of Romania, Victor Ciorbea was appointed Ombudsman by the joint chambers of the Romanian Parliament on Tuesday. Ciorbea was nominated for this post by the Social Democratic Party, and will hold this office for five years.
Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that Ukraine was on the verge of civil war, after Kiev deployed armed forces in the east of the country, to counter the moves of pro-Russian armed separatists, who seized a number of government buildings in several towns. Kiev and the West see Russia behind the latest developments in Ukraine, and accuse Kremlin of sending Russian militants in east Ukraine. The presidency of the Russian Federation however dismissed the accusations as absurd. In a telephone conversation on Monday, the US President, Barack Obama, urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to use his influence to make separatists in eastern Ukraine stand down.
The situation in Ukraine was discussed by the EU defence ministers in Luxemburg on Tuesday, the second day of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting. Romania was represented by Defence Minister Mircea Dusa. The NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called on Russia to help reduce the tensions in Ukraine and to make it clear that it does not support the pro-Russian separatist violence. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, Anders Fogh Rasmussen has added that military options were not discussed, and that the measures NATO is considering in order to ensure the collective defence of allies would be announced.
A new round of negotiations for a solution to the conflict between the Republic of Moldova and the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transdniestr is scheduled for May, according to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The OSCE is heading the 5+2 talks resumed in 2011, in which the Republic of Moldova, Transdniestr, Ukraine and Russia also take part, while the EU and the USA are observers. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in the early ‘90s, the Republic of Moldova, with a majority Romanian-speaking population, has been facing a conflict with the Russian-speaking region of Transdniestr, which proclaimed its independence but failed to get international recognition. A brief war between the two parties in 1991-1992 left hundreds of people dead. The separatists in Transdniestr benefit from the support of Russia, which keeps troops within the region in spite of Moldova’s opposition. Moldova fears that Transdniestr’s ambition to join Russia may lead to a scenario similar to that in Crimea.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry deplores the loss of human lives caused by the fire that started in Valparaiso, Chile, on April the 12th. According to the Foreign Ministry, Romanians have been following with deep concern and solidarity the tragic events in Chile over the last month. During this period, large parts of this South-American state were hit by disasters, including an 8.2 earthquake on April 1.
The president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, Octavian Morariu, announced his resignation on Tuesday. According to certain sources, Morariu, 53, decided to give up this position, which he held for 10 years, in order to focus on his work within the International Olympic Committee. Octavian Morariu became a member of the IOC during the meeting in Buenos Aires in September 2013.
