12 October, 2016

Romanian diaspora prepares for voting, Romanian Foreign Minister visits Indonesia

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Bogdan Matei, 12.10.2016, 11:59

DIASPORA – Today is the last day for submitting the list of candidacies for the diaspora in the elections scheduled for December 11. On October 23rd the lists are definitive, and the Foreign Ministry proposed to the Permanent Election Authority the proposals for polls abroad, numbering 417, 111 more than in the elections in 2012.

JAKARTA – As part of his visit to Indonesia, Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu held talks with his counterpart, Retno Marsudi, on enhancing political, economic and trade exchanges. The two attended a ceremony for the signing of a memorandum between the national chambers of commerce of the two countries. Comanescu expressed Romania’s willingness to act as Indonesia’s maritime gate to Europe. Jakarta is the first stage of a four day tour of Asia. On Thursday and Friday the head of diplomacy will take part, in Bangkok, Thailand, the 21st ministerial meeting of the EU-ASEAN meeting.

KIDNAPPING – The Bucharest Foreign Ministry has activated today an emergency response center after a Romanian engineer has been abducted in Nigeria. The ministry said that they follow closely the situation through the embassy in that country, keeping in touch with Nigerian authorities, as well as with the Romanian citizen’s family and employer. The Nigerian police and media claim the man was abducted as part of the wave of rebel attacks against oil and gas installations.

NATO -Romanian head of the general staff Nicolae Ciuca takes part today in the Strategic South Direction NATO conference, held in Naples, Italy. The agenda contains security issues, emphasizing NATO’s southern flank, as well as issues covered by this summer’s summit in Warsaw.

FOOTBALL – Romania’s national football team tied with a blank score board in Astana against the home team of Kazakhstan, in its third preliminary game of the 2018 World Cup scheduled for Russia. Also on Tuesday in group E, Poland defeated Armenia 2-1, while Montenegro defeated Denmark in an away game, 1-0. Montenegro and Poland lead the group with 7 points each, while Romania is third, with 5 points. Romania plays Poland on November 11th.

PRISONS – Romanian prison guards and employees are protesting the national authority employing them, against what they claim are unfair salaries and work conditions. They are also protesting against staff shortages, which bring along unpaid overtime.

TRIAL – The Romanian Anti-Corruption Directorate asked for presidential endorsement in pursuing in court the case against former Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea for manslaughter. Oprea, whose most recent public office was in Parliament, resigned his seat in the Senate on October 1st. According to legal provisions, the head of state has to approve warrants against government ministers. The former minister and MP has been indicted for the accidental death of police officer Bogdan Gigina, which occurred while he was part of the official convoy accompanying the then minister, which the latter was allegedly not entitled to at that moment.