January 4, 2015

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 04.01.2016, 12:01

Romania’s national currency,
the leu, will this year maintain its stabilization trend against the Euro, but
it will slightly depreciate against the USD. The forecast was made by the
Financial – Banking Analysts’ Association in Romania, according to which the
national currency will be mostly
influenced by external factors. The President of the Association, Radu
Craciun, has stated that, although Romania’s perception at international level
is very good, the leu’s exchange rates will very much depend on the dynamics of
the volatile currency markets. On the other hand, he has warned that certain
promises made in the run-up to the 2016 local and legislative elections might
raise worries among the foreign investors, and this could impact the evolution
of the exchange rate.

Poland might accept a
compromise regarding the limitation of EU citizens’ rights in Great Britain,
the Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski has stated. He has also said
that, in exchange for that, London should support Warsaw’s proposal to
strengthen the NATO presence in Central Europe. Poland, who has hundreds of
thousands of citizens living in Great Britain, is one of the most active
opponents of the proposal set forth by the British PM David Cameron to reduce
welfare benefits for the EU citizens, as part of the process of reforming the
relationship between Great Britain and the EU. An understanding on this issue
would be a diplomatic victory for the new Polish conservative government, which
will organize the next NATO summit in Warsaw in July.

The Swedish authorities,
overwhelmed by the huge inflow of migrants, have today instated new controls on
the border with Denmark, France Presse reports. Everybody who crosses the
Ostersund Bridge, which is the main access gate used by the refugees, must
present an ID. The measure also applies to those who come on board ships
departing from the Danish and German ports on the Baltic Sea. Sweden, where
over 20% of the residents are of foreign origin, received over 160,000 refugees
in 2015 alone. In turn Denmark, the country that has only received 18,000
refugees, is afraid that the migrants rejected by Sweden will remain on its
soil, France Presse also reports.

The US has made an appeal for
calm, following the halting of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia, which
has a predominantly Sunni population, and Iran, whose population is mostly
Shiite. The US Department of State has stated that diplomatic ties are crucial
for settling the differences between the parties. Saudi Arabia has announced it
no longer maintains ties with Iran after its embassy in Teheran was assaulted
by violent protesters, discontent with the execution by the Riad authorities of
a Shiite clergy man. Nimr Bakr al-Nimr, a virulent critic of Saudi Arabia’s
Sunni dynasty, was accused of terrorism and breaking the oath of allegiance to
the sovereign.

The Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for talks with the Russian president
Vladimir Putin, with the aim of having the parties reach a peace agreement.
Tokyo and Moscow have never signed a peace treaty after WWII, because of a
territorial dispute. In 1945, the former Soviet Union took over the control of
the islands which to Japan are ‘The Northern Territories’ and which Russia
calls ‘the South Kuril Islands’.

Romanian tennis
players Irina Begu and Monica Niculescu have today qualified for the eighth
finals of the Shenzhen tournament in China, with over 400,000 dollars in prize
money. Begu, who is third seeded at this tournament, has defeated in two sets
Lara Arruabarrena of Spain, and Niculescu has passed by Anastasija Sevastova of
Latvia. Andreea Mitu has been defeated in two sets by the Czech Katerina
Siniakova. Also today, Alexandra Dulgheru has scored a victory against the
Belgian Alison van Uytvanck in the first round of the competition in Auckland,
New Zealand, with 230,000 dollars in prize money. The best known Romanian tennis
player, Simona Halep, is first seed at the Brisbane tournament in Australia,
which has some 900,000 dollars up for grabs.