July 6, 2014 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

România Internațional, 06.07.2014, 19:16

The observance and promotion of the rule of law must be a top priority for the entire international community, said on Sunday the Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean. He went on saying that Romania’s foreign policy was based on the strict observance of international law and called on all states to take a similar stand. Corlatean made those statements on Justice Day, celebrated on July 6th, under the auspices of the Higher Council of the Magistracy.

Over 59% of the high-school graduates in Romania have passed the Baccalaureate exam this summer, data made public on Sunday by the Education Ministry show. The figure is 3% higher than last year. Though Education Minister Remus Pricopie had warned that no irregularities would be tolerated, problems were reported, such as the one in Arad, western Romania, where a school inspector asked for money to help some candidates pass the exam. He was taken in temporary custody for 30 pending investigations. Also, some candidates were asked to leave the examination rooms as they were trying to cheat. The final results will be made public on July 11th.

Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Turkey are participating for a week in a joint NATO exercise in the Black Sea. Besides search and rescue missions and sea traffic monitoring, soldiers are also conducting artillery drills. Romania is represented by the “Alexandru Axente” dragger and the “Regina Maria” frigate. Russia too started large scale military maneuvers in the Black Sea on Friday, involving 20 military and auxiliary ships, over 20 fighter planes and helicopters, as well as navy infantry and artillery troops.

Ukrainian troops have announced they’ve regained control over the towns of Drujkovka and Konstantinovka, in the east of the country. Previously, Kiev had announced the victory over another two separatist strongholds, Slaviansk and Kramatorsk. The army is now heading for Donetk, one of the biggest cities in the region, where the insurgents have regrouped. The Ukrainian president Petro Porosenko spoke about a turning point in the conflict, but also warned that there would be more tough moments until the full liberation of the region devastated by the separatist rebellion.

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2 thousand 5 hundred employees of the Freight Division of the Romanian National Railway Company, CFR Marfa, owned by the Romanian state, will be made redundant in keeping with a restructuring and reorganization program. Depending on seniority, people will get 12 to 14 salaries part of the severance package, standing at a maximum of 370 Euros per month. Also, they will get 6 gross salaries, the equivalent of 205 Euros. The restructuring program is aimed at reestablishing the balance between the volume of freight and the number of employees, so that competitiveness should increase. CFR Marfa had a 54.8% market share in 2013. The turnover was 210 million Euros, 5% lower than in 2012.

Italy is very much alone in the fight against the huge wave of immigrants trying to land on the European coast and calls for help from the other EU countries. The Commander- in- chief of the Italian Navy, admiral Filippo Maria Foffi, believes this is an unsustainable task for just one single member of the EU and therefore all the EU countries should get involved in improving control on the EU borders. According to authorities, the number if immigrants is on the rise. 66 thousand have arrived since the beginning of the year, as compared to 43 thousand last year. In October 2013, a few days after the tragedy in Lampedusa, where over 360 immigrants died, Italy launched the “Mare Nostrum program”, in an attempt to save the immigrants fleeing Libya to Europe on board improvised boats.

Argentina and the Netherlands have qualified for the semifinals of the World Football Cup in Brazil, after beating in the quarter finals Belgium 1-nil and Costa Rica 4-3 respectively. On Friday, also in the quarter finals, Germany defeated France 1-nil, and the host team beat Columbia 2-1. Brazil and Germany will play on Tuesday for a place in the final. The other semifinal is scheduled for Wednesday.