January 9, 2025
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 09.01.2025, 13:55
Elections. The parties in the ruling coalition in Romania, namely the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, as well as the representatives of national minorities, have agreed that the first round of the presidential elections will take place on May 4, and the second round on May 18. The coalition also confirmed their nomination of the former Liberal leader Crin Antonescu as their joint candidate for president. In the meantime, the Bucharest Court of Appeal has published its justification for its rejection, on December 31, of a legal action against the Central Electoral Bureau in connection with the annulment, last year, by the Constitutional Court, of the electoral process for the election of president.
Commissioner. During his trip to Romania, Stéphane Séjourné, executive vice-president of the European Commission, responsible for prosperity and industrial strategy, today visited Romanian factory supplying last-generation lithium-ion batteries and customised energy storage systems for sectors and businesses from all over Europe. The visit is an opportunity to present the indispensable role played by batteries in the decarbonisation of supply chains in Europe. Séjourné also discussed the challenges facing the batteries sector, as well as Europe’s response in this regard. He will end his trip with a visit to the National Aerospace Research and Development Institute, the main research centre in the field of aerospace science in Romania. This will be an opportunity to discuss China’s unfair competition in the drone market and the increasingly relevant use of drone technologies in both civilian and military applications. On Wednesday, the European official met the minister for economy, digitalization, entrepreneurship and tourism Bogdan-Gruia Ivan, as well as Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and senate speaker Ilie Bolojan.
Exercise. Around 15,000 Romanian and allied soldiers will participate, in the first half of the year, in the multinational training operations due take place at the training grounds and military facilities in Romania, as part of the Dacia 25 and Dacian Spring 25 exercises, the defence ministry said on Wednesday. The Dacian Spring 25 exercise is the first time that France, the framework nation of the NATO Battle Group in Cincu, will deploy a multinational brigade-level structure consisting of around 4,000 soldiers and combat equipment. The Dacia 25 exercise is a major operational and tactical training operation providing the necessary framework for the integration of national and allied forces, through connection with other multinational exercises planned by the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces in Europe.
Road accidents. In Romania, speed is the second most frequent cause of serious road accidents, after irregular crossings by pedestrians. The police began to install fixed speed cameras on dozens of roads around the country. The devices will work permanently and drivers who exceed the speed limit will receive the fine at home, by mail. Such devices are already in place on the A1 and A2 motorways, as well as on national road DN2.
Tennis. The Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea will face Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the first round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, which will get under way on Monday, in Melbourne. Irina Begu will face qualifier Gabriela Ruse in the first round. Jaqueline Cristian, who went straight into the main draw, will face Croatia’s Petra Martic in the first round. Qualifier Anca Todoni will play world number five and last year’s Melbourne finalist Qinwen Zheng, of China, in the opening round.
