24 January, 2020

Events held across the country to celebrate the 161st anniversary of the Union of the Romanian Principalities.

Newsroom, 24.01.2020, 14:00

Celebration.
The 161st anniversary of the Union of the Romanian Principalities of
Moldavia and Wallachia is celebrated today across the country. On the 24th of January
1859, Alexander Ioan Cuza, who, a week earlier, had been elected ruler of
Moldavia, was also voted unanimously by the Electoral Assembly in Bucharest as
the sovereign of Wallachia and thus proclaimed ruler of the United
Principalities. Cuza’s reign laid the institutional foundations of modern
Romania through a number of radical reforms. The civil and criminal codes were
adopted, both inspired by the French model, a national army was created,
primary education became obligatory and the first universities were
established: in Iasi in 1860, and in Bucharest four years later. Cuza was forced
to abdicate and go into exile in 1866. He was followed by the future King Carol
I from the German princely family of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Carol’s long
reign would see Romania obtain its state independence from the Ottoman Empire
and regain the south-eastern, Black Sea province of Dobrudja following the Russian-Romanian-Turkish
war of 1877. In 1918, under King Ferdinand, aka The Unifier, the creation of
the Romanian nation state became complete as Transylvania, Banat, Crisana,
Maramures, Bukovina and Bessarabia, historical provinces with a majority ethnic
Romanian population and which had until then been under the occupation of
neighbouring multinational empires, became united with Romania.

EU. The Romanian justice minister Catalin Predoiu is attending an informal
meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council held in Zagreb, Croatia.
This is the first ministerial meeting of the Council held during Croatia’s
presidency of the Council of the European Union. EU justice ministers are
discussing the progress made with regard to the strategic guidelines in the
field of freedom, security and justice, judicial education and the importance
of judicial networks in the civilian and commercial areas. Talks are also
focusing on cooperation in the civilian and criminal areas, border protection,
the modernisation and digitisation of judicial systems and adjustment to the
impact of artificial intelligence.

Romanian
diaspora. The Romanians living abroad are a precious
resource and an important component of society, and the Romanian state and
authorities have many responsibilities towards them, said prime minister
Ludovic Orban on Friday in a statement conveyed to the Convention of Romanians
Abroad. The meeting is held at the Parliament in Bucharest and brings together
over 300 representatives of the Romanian associative environment abroad, the
academic community, church circles, as well as journalists, writers, diplomats
and experts in international relations. Discussions focus, among others, on the
way in which the Romanian communities abroad are represented in the Parliament
in Bucharest, the status of Romanians on the EU employment market and solutions
to encourage them to return to their home country.

Brexit. The president
of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the president of the
European Council Charles Michel signed the Brexit withdrawal agreement approved
by the UK. On Thursday, the agreement became law in the UK after being ratified
by the queen, a week before the separation and after more than three years
since the referendum. Prime minister Boris Johnson will officially sign the
withdrawal agreement over the coming days. After being adopted in the UK, the
agreement must also be ratified by the European Parliament, on the 29th
of January.

Coronavirus. The
Chinese authorities have announced a significant rise in the number of those
infected with the new coronavirus that has already killed 25 people. More than
830 people have been infected and ten Chinese cities are in quarantine. The
authorities have cancelled the celebrations of the Chinese New Year in Beijing.
The virus has caused chaos at the most eagerly awaited time of the year in
China. The World Health Organisation has decided not to declare an
international state of alert. The virus, which appeared in the city of Wuhan,
is from the same strain as SARS, which caused the death of 800 people around
the world in 2002 and 2003, and which also appeared in China. Cases of
coronavirus have also been reported in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines,
Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United States and the
Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macao.

Tennis. Romania’s Simona Halep, world no. 3
in the world, on Saturday faces Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva, world no. 38, in
the third round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament
of the year. It’s for the first time the two face each other on the WTA
circuit. A finalist in Melbourne in 2018, Halep is the only Romanian player
still in competition in the singles. On Friday, the Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecau
and Jean-Julien Rojer lost to the all-Australian pair Max
Purcell and Luke Saville in the second round of the men’s doubles. In the
women’s doubles, the Romanian-Slovenian pair Raluca Olaru and Dalila Jakupovic
lost in the first round to the Hungarian-French pair Timea Babos and Kristina
Mladenovic. Monica Niculescu is the only Romanian player still playing in
competition in the doubles. Niculescu, who pairs up with Japan’s Misaki Doi,
will next be facing the all-Japanese pair Nao Hibino and Makoto Ninom in the
second round.