1 March 2019, UPDATE

A look at some of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 01.03.2019, 19:45

Visit. Romanian PM Viorica Dancila has announced that US Vice President Mike
Pence will pay a visit to Romania in the first half of this year. She also said
she had a telephone conversation with Pence in which they talked about the
Romanian-American relations, which are seen as excellent and with a positive
evolution within the Strategic Partnership between the two states. Dancila has
reconfirmed the importance that Romania pays to the consolidation of
trans-Atlantic ties. For his part, Mike Pence has highlighted the importance of
the Strategic Partnership for the Washington administration and has voiced
appreciation for how Romania handles the rotating presidency of the Council of
the EU.

Military. More than 1,000
military are taking part in the first multinational exercise organised by the
Romanian Navy this year and entitled Poseidon
19, carried out between the 1st and the 8th of March
in the Romanian territorial waters and the international waters in the western
part of the Black Sea. Participating are 10 Romanian vessels, four military
ships from Bulgaria, Germany, Spain and Turkey and two speed boats for divers.
The air exercises will be carried out by a Puma Naval helicopter, two MiG 21
Lancer planes and two F-16 planes of the Romanian Air Force. The exercise aims
at consolidating the interoperability between the participating vessels and
crews in a multinational context and certifying the Romanian Navy capabilities
placed at NATO disposal in the coming period.

Brexit. The Romanian interior
minister Carmen Dan says Romania’s priority is to protect the rights of the
430,000 Romanian citizens living in the UK if the latter crashes out of the
European Union without a deal. She also says the Romanian government is
considering a set of measures to protect its nationals based on the principle
of reciprocity, because the Romanian citizens in the UK must benefit from the
same rights as the almost 2,500 UK citizens living in Romania. Carmen Dan says
talks have already been held with the UK minister for migration and the UK
ambassador to Bucharest about the recognition of the right of residence of the Romanian
citizens in the UK and the UK citizens in Romania.

Judiciary. The prosecutors from the
Superior Council of Magistracy have met the justice minister Tudorel Toader,
asking him to repeal the emergency order that has brought new changes to the
justice laws. According to prosecutors, the minister has said he will give up
some of the changes. In the meantime, hundreds of magistrates again held
protests on Friday in Bucharest and other cities across the country.

EU funds. Romania aims to attract
European funds worth 12.5 billion euros by the end of the year, says the
minister for European funds Rovana Plumb. She spoke about investments in the
human capital, large infrastructure projects, innovation, the education
infrastructure and healthcare. She has also announced that two new programmes are
to be launched this year, one for combating school drop-out and another to
support innovation among entrepreneurs. Romania has so far attracted 8.5
billion euros in the current programme, accounting for 28% of the total amount
of allocated funds, a level that is close to the European average of 29%.

Radio Romania. The Romanian Radio
Broadcasting Corporation has launched a new local station in Brasov, airing on
the frequency 93.3 FM. The new station’s news and current affairs programmes
focus on local developments, including the decisions of the local authorities, the
stage of ongoing projects, traffic, weather, cultural and artistic events as
well as sports competitions. We remind you that last year, on November 1st,
Radio Romania celebrated 90 years since its first broadcast. Alongside the national
channels dedicated exclusively to news and current affairs, culture, music or village
life, Radio Romania also has regional and local channels and online channels
for children and youth. Also, Radio Romania began its international broadcasts
as early as the 1930s and today broadcasts in 11 foreign languages, Romanian
and the Aromanian dialect.

Tradition. Romanians celebrated
on March 1st an ancient custom known as Martisor in Romanian and
which marks the arrival of spring. Martisor refers to small amulets tied to a
white and red thread that are offered to the loved ones on this day. The
tradition is believed to date back to pre-Christian times and can be found in
several Balkan countries. The word is of Latin origin and is the popular name
given to the month of March. In 2017, the cultural practices associated with
the 1st of March were inscribed by Romania, Bulgaria, the Republic
of Moldova and North Macedonia on the UNESCO world heritage list.

EU. Bucharest hosted on
Friday an informal meeting of EU telecommunications ministers, an event
organised by the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU. According to the
Romanian communications minister, Alexandru Petrescu, the Romanian presidency
considers it useful to launch the talks on the future European digital strategy
post-2020. The Romanian official says the strategy can bring significant
benefits to Europe in terms of providing new opportunities for citizens and
businesses and ensuring reliable, high-speed and accessible networks and
services.