Russian Justice Minister visiting Morocco

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RABAT, February 8 (Itar-Tass) - Russia views Morocco as a reliable,
stable and pragmatic partner, Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov
said here Monday as he addressed a joint news conference together with
Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri.
The two ministers co-chair the Russian-Moroccan Intergovernmental
Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation.
"Our cooperation is developing quite successfully and we see strategic
objectives and new opportunities," the Russian Minister said. "This is
confirmed by the sides' readiness to sign a whole range of important
agreements and by the upcoming start of direct regular flights between
our two countries."
According to Konovalov, Russian-Moroccan relations are characterized
at present "by the presence of mutual trust of both countries' political
leaderships in each other, as well as by mutual benefits the two peoples
are getting from this cooperation."
"We specified a number new options in the course of the talks to raise
the bilateral relations to a quality new level," Konovalov said, voicing
the confidence both Russian and Moroccan government would do everything in
their power to translate these options into reality.
Among the promising spheres for cooperation, he singled out the energy
sector, including the nuclear power industry, investment projects,
science, education, and public health.
"At present, the structure of bilateral trade is dominated by products
with rather modest added-value levels," Konovalov said.
On the Russian side, these are the natural resources and on the
Moroccan side, the agricultural produce, he said.
"Without dropping off the areas of cooperation that have been
mastered, we have a possibility now to speak about new areas for
cooperation and the emergence of new positions in the structure of trade,"
Konovalov said.
Taieb Fassi Fihri said, on his part, the talks with Konovalov aimed to
impart new dynamics to the bilateral relationship.
He voiced the hope that the start of regular flights between Moscow
and Casablanca in March will help increase the numbers of Russian tourists
and potential investors arriving in Morocco.


.Moldova's Constitution Court to decide on when to elect President.

CHISINAU, February 8 (Itar-Tass) - Moldova's Constitution Court holds
a session Tuesday to decide on when the national President is to be
elected.
An appeal for discussing the issue was filed by the opposition
Communist Party.
The Communists believe that the election should be held in compliance
with the law within two months after the vacating of presidential post by
Interim President Mihai Ghimpu, who resigned December 28, 2010.
This means that the next election should be held February 28 at the
latest, the Communist Party insists.
However, a number of Moldovan politicians claim this legislative
provision is restricted to the presidents who have been elected, like the
Communist leader Vladimir Voronin. The latter man vacated the office back
in September 29.
As for the interim presidents, these politicians insist that the
two-months provision does not apply here, as the law does not set any
deadlines for electing the president in the situation as it is now.
Moldovan parliament is unable to elect a president, which it is
supposed to do under the terms of the national Constitution, for the
second straight year. The deadlock did not end even after political power
in this country changed hands.
The ruling liberalist Alliance for European Integration has 59 seats
in the 101-seat parliament and the Communist Party has the remaining 42
seats.
To elect a president 61 votes are needed and if the MPs fail to elect
the head of state at two attempts the parliament is to be dissolved -
something that has happened twice since spring 2009.
The settling of Moldova's dragged-out political crisis is the central
issue of a visit to this country that PACE President, Mevlut Cavusoglu
begins later Tuesday.
The parliament's press service said Cavusoglu is going to meet with
Acting President of the Republic and Speaker of Parliament Marian Lupu,
Prime Minister Vlad Filat, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign
Affairs Iurie Leanca, as well as the different political forces
represented in parliament.
His discussions with the leaders of parliamentary factions will most
likely focus on the ways of overcoming the current political crisis.

.Russian team returns home from University Games in Turkey.

MOSCOW, February 8 (Itar-Tass) - Russian student national team has
returned home after a chain of triumphant victories at the 25th Winter
University Games that were held in Erzurum, Turkey.
A gala reception was organized in the athletes' honor. Russia's Deputy
Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policies Pavel Kolobov, who himself
won Olympic gold in 2000, came to meet and greet members of the team.
The young Russian athletes won 14 gold, 14 silver and ten bronze
medals, taking an assured first place in the team classification.
"The prizewinners of the University Games will get special
presidential grants and the champions will get the titles of the
'international master of sports'," Oleg Matytsin, the President of the
Russian Union of Student Sports told Itar-Tass at the airport.
He indicated that the victory in Erzurum had been won hard.
"The conditions were far from simple, as it was difficult of our
athletes to get accustomed to the climate because of the sharp lapse rates
of temperature," Matytsin said. "Many of them suddenly developed health
problems, and yet they displayed their genuine stamina."
"This once again testifies to their huge potential," he said.
Cross-country racer Aliya Iksanova, the winner of two golds and three
silvers, shared her impressions with Itar-Tass.
"The classical five-kilometer race is my favorite thing, but I attuned
myself to it for quite sometime and I did my best to become the first,"
she said. "As I crossed the finish live, I was overwhelmed with jubilant
emotions."
Alexei Trussov, the winner of a gold, a silver and a bronze in
biathlon said he could not believe right away that he had won gold. "I
crossed finish line and then I didn't believe I was a champion of
something," he said. "Never before had I taken the first position and
right here it began with a victory."
-0-kle


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