June 23, 2014

News and Current Affairs from Romania

Ştefan Stoica, 23.06.2014, 11:34

Healthcare trade unions continued on Monday their protests, picketing several ministries, including the Finance Ministry. Members told Radio Romania that the authorities failed to meet their demands, including the main one, a 10% raise across the board. At the same time, they said that they received firm promises of meeting other demands, such as the ones related to the situation of public health bureaus, the law regulating healthcare in schools, and unfreezing jobs in the system. A new round of negotiations is scheduled for the following days at the Finance Ministry.

Romanian PM Victor Ponta is on a visit to Israel to attend a joint government session. Several bilateral agreements will be signed as part of the process, mainly economic accords, said Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, speaking to Radio Romania. On Sunday he held talks in Jerusalem with his Romanian counterpart, Titus Corlatean.

Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean joins his EU counterparts in Luxembourg in a meeting dedicated to the Ukraine situation. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin submits the peace plan proposed by President Petro Poroshenko in an attempt to disarm pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country. The plan provides amnesty for separatists who disarm peacefully and have not committed war crimes, freeing of hostages, setting up a buffer zone 10 km wide on the border with Russia, and providing constitutional protection for the Russian language. The meeting in Luxembourg comes right before two ex-Soviet states, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, sign association and free trade agreements with the EU on Friday.

Three Romanians play on Monday in the first round at Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the year. In the women’s singles, Monica Niculescu faces off against Alison van Uytvanck of Belgium, while freshly qualified Andreea Mitu plays Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, ranking fourth in the world. In the men’s singles, Victor Hanescu plays against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. On Tuesday, also part of the first round, four female Romanian tennis players compete. Simona Halep, newly minted third place in the world, meets Brazilian player Teliana Pereira, Sorana Carstea, 29th seed, plays American Victoria Duval, Alexandra Cadantu faces off against Camila Giorgi of Italy, while Irina Begu competes against Virginie Razzano of France.