The Romanian Foreign Minister, Titus Corlatean, will attend on Monday, in Brussels, the meeting of he EU’s Foreign Affairs Council, chaired by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. The Council will first discuss the latest developments in Syria as well as EU’s sanctions policy on this country. Ministers will exchange views on the EU's Common Security and Defense Policy, ahead of the European Council on Defense due in December 2013. The Council will also tackle the latest developments in the Middle East peace process and will examine the situation in Mali.

Romania is to take over the yearly presidency of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), currently held by Macedonia. The Speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, Valeriu Zgonea, is attending, as of Sunday until Tuesday, in the Macedonian city of Ohrid, the 10th Conference of the heads of parliaments in the member states of the South-East European Cooperation Process. The meeting’s agenda includes issues such as the economic crisis and inter-parliamentary cooperation.

Local elections are held on Sunday and Monday in Italy. The elections, which the Romanians living in this country also take part in, are seen as a major test for the new coalition, headed by PM Enrico Letta. In the country’s capital city, Rome, the current mayor Gianni Alemanno supported by Silvio Berlusconi’s rightist party is running against Ignazio Marino, who represents PM Letta’s centre-left Democratic Party. According to official statistics, about 1 million Romanians are currently living in Italy.