August 16, 2014
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 16.08.2014, 12:05
The Romanian Patriarchate and the Bucharest Archbishopric are organizing Saturday and Sunday religious and cultural events to mark 300 years since the death as martyrs of the Romanian ruler Constantin Brancoveanu and his four sons. The Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Daniel, on Saturday consecrated once again the Saint George the New Church in Bucharest, the last place of worship the ruler of Wallachia, Constantin Brancoveanu, had commissioned. This is the place where he was secretly interred after being killed in Constantinople in 1714. In May 2014 the relics of the ruler were exhumed and placed into a shrine for Christians to be able to pay their respects. The year 2014 was declared the “Brancoveanu Year” and commemorative events are held all across Romania.
The Romanian President, Traian Basescu, on Friday talked over the phone with the American vice president Joe Biden. The topics included, among others, the situation in Ukraine. According to the White House, the two officials expressed concern for the possibility of Russia trying to intervene in Ukraine under the cover of providing humanitarian aid, which is considered an infringement of international legislation as well as of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The agenda of talks also included the stage of bilateral relations and the NATO summit to be held in September in Great Britain.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry hails the anniversary of 95 years of diplomatic relations between Romania and Canada. On August 16th 1919 Romania’s General Consulate was opened in Montreal. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Canada is an important ally of Romania within NATO and also a close partner within international organizations. A genuine bridge between the two states, the Romanian community in Canada numbers almost 200 thousand people, including teachers, researchers and PhD candidates who have a significant role in consolidating bilateral relations in several domains of interest.
The UN Security Council has passed a resolution regarding the cessation of recruitments and funding of the jihadists from Syria and Iraq. The Council also included on the list of people coming under international sanctions for their links with Al Qaida, a number of 6 extremists, among whom officials of the Islamic State and of the al-Nosra Front, originating from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The sanctions consist in embargoes on weapons, the freezing of assets and travel restrictions. The is the most concrete and extended measure taken by the UN Security Council so far against the Islamic State fighters. They are controlling a great part of the territory of Syria and Iraq and are accused of perpetrating atrocities mainly against the Yazidi minority that has taken refuge over the past days in the Sinjar mountains. Following an emergency meeting the EU decided that the EU member states are free to deliver weapons to the Iraqi Kurds who are battling the jihadists if they have the agreement of the Iraqi national authorities. Canada has also announced it will supply the Kurdish fighters with military equipment.
