30 September, 2019

A roundup of some of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 30.09.2019, 14:00

EU commissioner. President
Klaus Iohannis has sent a letter to prime minister Viorica Dancila inviting her
to talks on Wednesday on the subject of Romania’s nomination for the position
of European commissioner. Last week, Romania’s pick for transport commissioner,
the Social Democrat MEP Rovana Plumb was
rejected by theEuropean Parliament’s Committee on
Legal Affairs over a conflict of interest. The decision of the committee, which
met today according to Romanian Liberal MEPs, is final. Hungary’s pick for EU
commissioner was also rejected over conflict of interest. Last week, Rovana Plumb had been asked to clear some controversial aspects in her
declaration of assets concerning a loan she took out in order to finance an
election campaign. Plumb has said
today she has extinguished the loan of 800,000 euros over which there was
suspicion of a conflict of interest.

University year. Universities from
Bucharest and around the country are today hosting events to mark the beginning
of the new university year, with various special guests in attendance. Some of
the universities to hold such events are the Bucharest University, the Academy
of Economic Studies and the Babeş Bolyai University in Cluj
Napoca, as well as different faculties from the National School for Political
Science and Public Administration. The Carol Davila Medicine and Pharmacy
School in Bucharest begins classes on Tuesday. Other universities, such as the
Bucharest Polytechnic, have already started classes. The Bucharest University
has around 34,000 students and some 2,000 teachers in its 19 different
faculties.

Chirac funerals. Today is a day of
national mourning in France in memory of the former president Jacques Chirac
who died last Thursday at the age of 86. His funerals are attended by president
Emmanuel Macron and three predecessors, including Valéry
Giscard d’Estaing, who is 93 years old. Tens of other leaders from around the
world are also expected to attend. Romania is represented by its foreign
minister Ramona Manescu. Jacques Chirac was at the forefront of the French
political scene for 40 years, as mayor of Paris, parliamentarian, minister and
prime minister. His remarkable career was overshadowed towards the end by a
2-year suspended sentence in 2011, when he had already left political life, in
a fake jobs case dating from his time as Paris mayor. One of the key moments
the world will remember him for includes France’s refusal in 2003 to take part
in the US-led invasion of Iraq. Romanians will remember Jacques Chirac as a
great supporter of their country’s joining NATO and, later, the European Union.

Romania unemployment. The unemployment rate saw a 0.1% drop in Romania in August compared with
the previous month, to reach 3.8%, according to data published today by the
National Institute for Statistics. Unemployment is higher among men than women,
with a 4.3% unemployment rate for men and 3.2% for women.

Handball. The Romanian women’s handball
side defeated the Faroe Islands 25-20 in an away match on Sunday as part of Group
7 of the European Championships qualifying games. Poland top the group with 4
points, followed by Romania, also with 4, Ukraine with no points and the Faroe
Islands, again with no points. The two best-ranked sides qualify for the final
tournament. Romania will play their next match in March next year, against
Poland. At the previous championships in 2018, Romania finished fourth, losing
the bronze medal to the Netherlands.

Tennis. World no. six Simona Halep of Romania today lost
to Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round of the WTA tennis
tournament in Beijing. Halep has qualified for the sixth time to the WTA Finals
to be held in Shenzhen between the 27th of October and the 3rd of November. The
tournament brings together the world’s best eight players. Two other Romanian
players are in action in Beijing today in the women’s doubles: Monica Niculescu and Raluca
Olaru.