June 2, 2014
News and current affairs from Romania
România Internațional, 02.06.2014, 11:09
A joint IMF, EC and WB delegation is in Bucharest until June 16 for a new evaluation of the stand-by loan agreement signed last autumn. Among other things, the Romanian authorities have to convince the representatives of the international institutions that they have resources to slash state health insurance premiums by 5% starting at the half of the year.
US President Barack Obama starts today a European tour including Poland, Belgium and France. The president meets in Warsaw on Tuesday the leaders of 10 CEE countries, Romania included. Obama will reiterate his country’s support for this region against the background of tensions in Ukraine, trying to obtain a general European consensus on a stance towards Russia. On Wednesday, also in Warsaw, Obama is scheduled to meet Ukrainian president elect Petro Poroshenko, expressing support for the Ukrainian people and the pro-western government in Kiev. In Brussels, the US president will be attending the G7 summit. While in France, Obama will be received by French president Francois Hollande, on the same day when the French president receives Russian President Putin, invited to participate in the commemoration of the Normandy landing of June 6, 1944.
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, 4th seed in the WTA standings, plays today against American Sloane Stephens, in the eighth finals of the Roland Garros tournament, the year’s second Grand Slam. Also today, in the women’s doubles, Romanian player Irina Begu and Italian player Karin Knapp play in the eighth finals against the Spanish duo Gabrine Muguruza/ Carla Suarez Navarro. The Romanian- Croatian pair Florin Mergea and Marin Draganja play today in the quarter finals against Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia.
In Romania, the weather is rather cool and unstable. Skies are overcast temporarily. In rains in the south half of the country, with localized thunderstorms. Maximums today are between 17 and 24 degrees Celsius, with a noon reading in Bucharest of 20 degrees. At the same time, a code orange flood alert has been issued for almost the entire Romanian length of the Danube, valid until 5 June. Experts warn that a new flood is expected in Hungary in about a week.
On June 1, a new package of health services has come on line in Romania. Patients younger than 39 have to submit to a battery of compulsory tests at least every three years, tests conducted by their family physician. 300 types of conditions are no longer treated in hospitals now, with that responsibility falling on clinics. Stay tuned for more details after the news.
