August 25, 2019 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

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Newsroom, 25.08.2019, 18:50

MEETING – The Chamber of Deputies will
convene over the coming days to debate the possibility of eliminating amnesty
and pardon as well as Emergency Decree 114, providing for a series of economic
and fiscal measures. The opposition considers the decree to be the most toxic
instrument in Romanian economy. The Social-Democrats say the decree also
provides for an increase in pensions starting September 1, as well as capping
natural gas and electricity prices for home consumers.

CANDIDACIES – About
one thousand Social Democrats from the PSD, number one in the government
coalition in Bucharest, on Saturday convened in a congress to launch the
candidacy of Romania’s incumbent Prime Minister Viorica Dancila for the
presidential election in November. The country’s incumbent president Klaus
Iohannis has also announced his intention to run for a second term in office
with support from the main opposition party, the National Liberal Party. Dan
Barna, leader of the opposition USR-PLUS, will also run for the presidential
seat and so will Calin Popescu Tariceanu, leader of ALDE, part of the present
ruling coalition. The former Culture Minister Theodor Paleologu is the
candidate of the People’s Movement Party, voted unanimously on Sunday by the
party’s national college, upon the proposal of former president Traian Basescu.

MINISTERS – Saturday’s
National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party also adopted
proposals for the ministers the Prime Minister is going to submit to president
Iohannis on Monday. The party’s secretary general, Mihai Fifor will be heading
the Interior Ministry, Ana Birchall will become Deputy Prime Minister for
Strategic Partnerships while MP Iulian Iancu will be Deputy Prime Minister in
charge of economic affairs. Dana
Girbovan had been proposed for the Justice Ministry, but the move attracted a
lot of heat from the opposition who recalled that Girbovan was a staunch
supporter of the justice reforms that had been proposed by PSD and ALDE with
the alleged intention to gain control over the magistrates and hinder the
anti-graft fight.

GOLDEN STAG – The
2019 Golden Stag trophy went to Eliza G of Italy. 12 artists from ten countries
competed for the trophy. The jury decided on Saturday to award 1st
prize to Sara De Blue of Austria, 2nd prize to Ralfs Eilands of
Latvia, and 3rd prize to Monika Marija of Lithuania. Alfie Arcuri
got the award for best interpretation of a Romanian song, awarded by the
Romanian television and radio corporations. The Golden Stag Festival started in
1968 and continued for 18 editions, the last staged in 2018. Radio Romania is
co-producer of the festival.

PROETNICA – The
Pro-Etnica Intercultural Festival came to a close on Sunday in Sighisoara. For
five days traditional ensembles of Italian, Greek, German, Roma, Macedonian,
Serbian, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Jewish communities performed live on stage. Craftsmen’s
workshops and national minority pavilions were open all throughout the
festival. The 17th edition of the Festival also introduced the
Literary Salon, a place devoted to national minority writers presenting their
works, organizing debates, readings as well as book launches.

TENNIS – Romanian
tennis player Simona Halep, world no. 4, on Tuesday will be playing Nicole
Gibbs of the US in the first round of US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament
of the year. Another four Romanians have made it to the main draw. Sorana
Cirstea (106 WTA) will play Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, Monica
Niculescu (105 WTA) will play Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, Mihaela Buzarnescu
(136 WTA) will play Andrea Petkovic of Germany, while Ana Bogdan (147) will play
Harriet Dart of Great Britain. In the men’s competition, Marius Copil (96 ATP)
will take on Ugo Humbert of France.

VOLLEYBALL – The
Romanian national women’s team on Saturday grabbed its first win in the 2019
European Championship, defeating Hungary 3-1 in Group C. On Friday, Romania had
lost nil-3. Romania will next play Croatia, Estonia and Azerbaijan.

(Translated by V.
Palcu)