Newsflash June 23
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news.
Florentin Căpitănescu, 23.06.2013, 19:15
Romania’s foreign minister, Titus Corlăţean, is taking part on Monday and Tuesday in Luxembourg in the meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council and General Affairs Council. The new European budget framework for 2014-2020, the preparations for the European Council due late this month and the situation in Syria are some of the topics to be approached in these meetings. The EU foreign ministers will also discuss with NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rassmusen about the situation in Afghanistan, in the context of the foreign troop pullout in 2014. Romania has some 1,600 troops deployed in Afghanistan.
Starting on Monday the Romanian economy minister, Varujan Vosganian, is on a two-day visit to Austria, one of Romania’s key trade partners. The main important stages of the visit are the meetings with the Austrian minister of economy, family and youth, Reinhold Mitterlehner, and with Franz Hochstrasser, deputy CEO of Erste Group Bank, which has a substantial presence in Romania. Vosganian will also take part in a forum organised by the Austrian Economic Chamber and devoted to, and in a roundtable organised by the Federal Association of Austrian Industry. According to official data, in 2012 the Romanian-Austrian trade amounted to nearly 3.5 billion euro.
The United States National Security Agency announced on Sunday the introduction of new IT security procedures designed to prevent further leaks. The measure was taken after former CIA analyst Edward Snowden has recently disclosed secret intelligence on a large-scale electronic surveillance operation conducted by the US services. Snowden, who is already searched by the American justice, is seeking asylum in a country that does not have an extradition treaty with the US. The most likely destinations, according to France Presse, are Iceland, Ecuador or Venezuela.
Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians from around the world, Romania included, Sunday celebrated the Pentecost, 50 days after Easter. Pentecost Sunday is the annual celebration of the Holy Spirit descending on the Apostles, who then were able to preach the word of God in languages they had never spoken before. On the same day, further to a sermon by Apostle Peter, some 3,000 people embraced the Christian faith, thus laying the foundations of the first Christian community in Jerusalem. This was the beginning of the Christian Church.
Seven Romanians will play, in different pairs, in the doubles event of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. Among them is Simona Halep, who won the s-Hertogenbosch tournament in the Netherlands, after defeating 6-4, 6-2, the Belgian Kirsten Flipkens. Halep, 21, has the best season in her career, as last week she won her first WTA title in Nurnberg (Germany). Horia Tecau is also playing in the Wimbledon tournament. Together with Belarus Max Mirnyi, Tecau won the doubles event in s-Hertogenbosch. In the final they defeated the German couple Andre Begemann/Martin Emmrich 6-3, 7-6. This was the second victory for the Tecău/Mirnyi pair, which was set up this year, after the success in Bucharest at the BRD Năstase Ţiriac Trophy.
