March 4, 2015 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Florentin Căpitănescu, 04.03.2015, 12:15
Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday received in Bucharest Natalia Gherman, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Moldova, an ex-soviet country with a Romanian-speaking majority. On this occasion president Iohannis has reassured the government in Chisinau on Romania’s solidarity and cooperation with the Republic of Moldova. President Iohannis also hailed the commencement of Romanian gas deliveries to the Repulic of Moldova, by means of the common gas pipeline Iasi-Ungheni. In turn, Mrs. Gherman has reiterated the Republic of Moldova’s commitment to carrying on its European progress. ‘Our road to Brussels goes through Bucharest’, Mrs. Gherman has said, recalling that Romania is the main trade partner of the former soviet republic. Mrs. Gherman also co-chaired together with her Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu the third inter-governmental committee Romania – the Republic of Moldova for European Integration.
Romania will be represented by 17 athletes at the European Indoor Athletics Championships due to start in Prague on Thursday. The Romanian delegation’s main goal is winning at least one medal in the competition. Triple jumper Marian Oprea stands most chances of winning a medal. Since the beginning of its participation in the aforementioned competition Romania has obtained 90 medals, of which 23 gold. According to the organizers, 650 athletes out of 49 countries have announced their participation in the prestigious sporting event.
A crisis management exercise is taking place in all capitals of the NATO member states over March 5th-10th. The Romanian Defense Ministry has announced that the North Atlantic Council-led exercise is aimed to test the political and military consultation and decision-making speed against the backdrop of cybernetic threats and attacks. Joining the National Response System of Romania, whose head office is at the Defense Ministry, are also representatives of other ministries and institutions in the national defense system, public order and national security.
Romania on Wednesday commemorated 38 years since the devastating earthquake of 1977, which measured 7.4 degrees on the Richter scale and killed over 1500 people. The tremor was the most violent natural disaster that hit Romania in the 20th century. The center of Bucharest was largely damaged and the Southern town of Zimnicea was almost entirely destroyed. According to experts, the economic losses stood at two billion dollars, a figure that the communist officials of the time did not confirm.
The mayor of Ploiesti in southern Romania, Iulian Badescu was preventively detained on Wednesday on several charges including bribe taking and abuse in office. Badescu allegedly asked for 300 thousand euros of which he got 100 for the illegal funding of local football side Petrolul, a first-leaguer currently facing insolvency. According to the anticorruption prosecutors, the funding, which was done through an NGO, stood at 1.8 million euros. The sentence given on Wednesday is not definitive. Also on Wednesday Dan Diaconescu, founder of the populist People’s Party, a former TV producer and candidate for the presidential seat received a prison sentence of five years and a half in two blackmail files.
