July 26, 2014
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Bogdan Matei, 26.07.2014, 17:32
The Romanian foreign minister, Titus Corlatean, said it was very important for the Euro-Atlantic community to have a common position on Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine. He emphasised that Bucharest always supported close cooperation in this respect between the EU and the USA. In an interview to CNN, Corlatean deplored the fact that the attitude of some EU member countries regarding Russia rather reflected economic interests in the energy sector. He added that the common position taken by the EU with respect to the sanctions against Moscow was nonetheless a step forward. These statements come after on Friday Brussels added 15 Russian and pro-Russian Ukrainian citizens and 18 entities to its list of sanctions over their actions affecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Their assets in the EU will be frozen and they will be subject to an EU entry ban.
The Liberals and Liberal Democrats, making up the right-of-centre opposition in Romania, convene today in a joint congress to endorse their new electoral alliance, called the “Christian-Liberal Alliance”. The congress has been preceded today by the merger of the Civic Force, the party headed by ex-PM Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, into the Liberal Democratic Party. The Christian-Liberal Alliance will back a common candidate in the presidential election this November. The candidate will be chosen, further to a sociological survey, between the Liberal leader Klaus Iohannis and the Liberal Democratic senior vice-president Catalin Predioiu. According to analysts, the most likely winner is Iohannis. An ethnic German and mayor of Sibiu, in central Romania, he is viewed as the most likely challenger for the Social Democratic PM Victor Ponta in November’s election.
The Canadian company Candu Energy Inc. has signed a cooperation agreement with China Nuclear Power Engineering Company on the construction of two new reactors at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant in south-eastern Romania. The agreement follows an understanding signed last year by the Chinese company and the Nuclearelectrica National Corporation concerning investments in the Romanian nuclear sector. The Romanian economy minister Constantin Niţa has recently said Bucharest is determined to continue enlargement works on the Cernavoda plant. The unit already has two CANDU 6-type reactors, operational since 1996 and 2007 respectively. Combined, they produce some 20% of Romania’s electricity output.
Hungary’s Conservative PM, Viktor Orbán, is taking part today in the works of the Summer University in the resort of Tusnad, in central Romania. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in Budapest, Orban will give an address before the members of the Hungarian foundation Pro Minority and of the Council of Hungarian Youth in Romania. He is also to meet leaders of the ethnic Hungarians in Romania. This 1.5-million strong minority, living mostly in the centre and west of Romania, accounts for six per cent of the country’s total population. Its main political party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, is a member of the ruling coalition in Bucharest.
A 12-hour truce between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas took effect this morning in Gaza. The parties announced a partial ceasefire, after the US Secretary of State John Kerry failed to mediate a long-term truce. In nearly 3 weeks of conflict, around 880 Palestinians and scores of Israelis have been killed. Diplomatic efforts continue in Paris, where an international meeting is under way. On Friday night, the Romanian Government headquarters was picketed by Palestinians and supporters of their cause, calling for an end to the offensive in Gaza. Since the start of the conflict, Romania has repatriated over 100 nationals from the area, at their request.
