February 25, 2015
A roundup of local and international news making the headlines in Romania today
Newsroom, 25.02.2015, 12:00
Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has met a number of political leaders from the neighbouring Republic of Moldova as part of his visit to this ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian speaking population. He has had talks with the leaders of Moldova’s pro-western parties, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party in the ruling coalition and the Liberal Party in opposition, about the strategies for Moldova’s EU integration and the support Romania can provide in this respect. The leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, the former prime minister Vlad Filat, has said Romania is an example in the fight against corruption, while the Democrat leader, Marian Lungu, has voiced confidence with regard to the development of confident bilateral relations. The Liberal leader, Mihai Ghimpu, the former interim president of Moldova, has described the talks with Romania’s president as constructive. Also today, Klaus Iohannis addressed the students and teaching staff of the Chisinau University. On Tuesday, during talks with his Moldovan counterpart Nicolae Timofti, Iohannis reiterated Romania’s firm support for Moldova’s European integration.
The permanent bureaus of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in Bucharest have decided to meet on 2 March to vote on the president’s nomination of MP Eduard Hellvig as the director of the Romanian Intelligence Service. A former member of the Conservative Party and, since 2008, a member of the National Liberal, in opposition today, 40-year-old Eduard Hellvig served in 2012 as a minister for regional development and tourism in Victor Ponta’s cabinet. In the autumn of 2014, he was part of Klaus Iohannis’ election campaign team. The position of intelligence chief has been vacant since January 27th, when George Cristian Maior resigned after 8 years in office.
The foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France called for the implementation of the ceasefire deal and the withdrawal of heavy weapons from eastern Ukraine. US Secretary of State John Kerry has confirmed that Washington is yet to make a decision on whether to provide arms to the Ukrainian forces. In its latest report, Amnesty International says both sides in the conflict are to blame for the death of over 5,800 people since the outbreak of clashes between the Ukrainian troops and the Moscow-backed separatists. According to the Amnesty International report, illegal weapons such cluster bombs have been used in the conflict.
Greece’s list of reform to its eurozone creditors does not provide “clear assurances that the Government intends to undertake the reforms envisaged in the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies” said the director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde. She pointed out, however, that Greece’s efforts are sufficiently comprehensive”. Eurozone finance ministers approved the extension of Greece’s bailout based on a list of reforms submitted by Athens to its creditors, the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. This list was the first condition Athens had to meet to secure a 4-month extension of a rescue agreement signed in 2012 and due to expire on Saturday.
The Romanian tennis player Alexandra Dulgheru, no. 94 in the world, faces world no. 5 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the second round of the Doha tournament worth 731,000 dollars. In the first round, Dulgheru defeated the French player Alize Cornet, world no. 24. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecau and Jean Julien Rojer qualified to the second round of the Dubai tournament worth over 2 million dollars, having defeated the all-Swiss pair Roger Federer and Michael Lammer. In the second round, Tecau and Rojer will face the Swedish-Polish pair Robert Lindstedt and Marcin Matkowski. Also in Dubai, the Romanian-British pair Florin Mergea and Dominic Inglot qualified to the quarterfinals after winning against the all-Spanish pair Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco. Simona Halep last week won the title in Dubai in the women’s singles.
