5 October 2019, UPDATE

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

Newsroom, 05.10.2019, 19:15

Moldova. Romania remains a staunch supporter of the Republic of Moldova’s
efforts on its European path, said the Romanian deputy prime minister
responsible for the implementation of strategic partnerships, Mihai Fifor,
during talks in Bucharest on Saturday with a delegation of the Moldovan
Parliament led by vice-president Monica Babuc. Fifor has reiterated Bucharest’s
willingness to provide its partners in Chisinau with expertise in different
fields, in particular that of European affairs, given Romania’s experience as
holder of the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. The meeting in
Bucharest was an opportunity to discuss the priorities of the bilateral
relationship and joint development projects in the social and economic areas. The
Romanian government has every intention to continue the scholarship programmes for pupils studying in the neighbouring states
and the Balkans in Romanian or studying the Romanian language as mother tongue,
as well as its allowances for teachers of the Romanian language. With regard to
the projects in the economic area, emphasis was placed on investments aimed at
energy interconnection.

Elections. The Permanent
Electoral Authority approved on Saturday the proposals of the Romanian diplomatic
missions and consular offices regarding the headquarters of 444 voting stations
abroad for the presidential elections next month. The list submitted by the Romanian
foreign ministry also includes the 78 new voting stations to be established
based on the requests registered by voters at the online address
votstrainatate.ro. The foreign ministry is to submit new proposals for the
setting up of new polling stations abroad by the 19th of October. As
far as postal voting is concerned, the Permanent Electoral Authority has
announced that the Romanian Postal Service has already distributed over 10,000
envelopes abroad, with 4,500 more to be distributed shortly. The election
campaign begins on the 12th of October. The first round will be held
on the 10th of November, followed by a second on the 24th.
14 candidates are in the race for president.

Brexit. Almost 200,000 Romanians living and working in Great Britain
have applied for the new residence status, the British Ambassador to Bucharest
Andrew Noble has told Radio Romania. He explained that in the event of a
no-deal Brexit, Romanian citizens coming to the UK for visits or short trips
and who wish to remain must apply for 3-year residence. The ambassador has also
given assurances that the Romanians living in the UK will not be affected. He
says that after Brexit, his government wants an even closer relationship with
Romania and that his country would enhance its involvement in humanitarian or
collaboration projects in areas such as home affairs and the fight against
organised crime. The UK is due to leave the European Union on the 31st
of October.

Accident. Bucharest. The transport ministry wants heavy duty vehicles to
be equipped with speed limiters. Minister Razvan Cuc said talks would begin on
Monday to implement a national programme to this end. The announcement comes
after a road accident that took place on Saturday morning in southern Romania,
when a lorry travelling on the wrong side of a national road crashed into a
passenger minibus killing 10 people. Seven other people are in hospital with
injuries.

Education. On World Teachers Day, which is celebrated every year on the 5th
of October, the Romanian prime minister Viorica Dancila published a statement
in which she emphasised the essential role of teachers in the development of a
country, adding that her government is ready to find the necessary solutions to
ensure that the Romanian education system maintains the high standards that
have earned it recognition, including internationally.