July 6, 2019 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news.

România Internațional, 06.07.2019, 20:00

MIGRANTS — 18 migrants, among whom 6 children, were cought on a field at Romania’s border with Hungary, while attempting illegal crossing with the help of a guide. Of them 11 are Somali, five are Iraqi and 2 are Syrian, and they were left close to the border by a Serbian. The migrants said they were trying to cross the Romanian-Hungarian border and then head to western Europe.

CODE – A new Administrative Code entered into force in Romania on Saturday. Initiated by the leftist government made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the Code stipulates that the head of state can only refuse once an appointment within the government. Also, the PM has 5 days to make a nomination and the President has 10 days to answer to it. The local councilors’ mandates will be validated by Court and not by a commission. Also, the local public authorities have the right to decide the use of a minority language within public institutions even if the share of speakers of that particluar minority language is under 20%. President Klaus Iohannis and the opposition have criticized the new Code. Iohannis argues that the adoption of the document through emergency order is a serious attack on the entire Romanian administrative system.

COMMEMORATION — Moldova commemorated on Saturday the over 100,000 victims of the Soviet purges, rounded up and taken on trains to Siberia, most of them to their deaths, in three successive waves – June 1941, July 1949 and April 1951. The biggest wave of deportations from Soviet-occupied Bessarabia, ordered by Stalin, took place on the night between June 5-6, 1949, when around 35,000 people, 11,000 of whom were children, were put in train wagons and sent in appalling conditions to labour camps in Siberia and Kazakhstan to be “politically re-educated” having been deemed “enemy elements” of the Soviet regime in the new territories. The mass deportations formed part of the last stage of the Sovietisation of the various territories seized by the Soviet Union during and after the Second World War. These were annexed by the Soviet Union after the signing of the Stalin-Hitler Pact in August 1939 and included the Baltic states, eastern Poland and part of Bukovina and Bessarabia — which had both been part of the Kingdom of Romania. The Soviets targeted intellectuals, teachers, professors and priests — as well as politicians, administrative officials and entrepreneurs. Most of the 100,000 people sent to labour camps in the Soviet Union from Bessarabia, today’s Moldova, died on the way to Siberia for lack of food and water and because of the inhumane conditions on a train journey lasting weeks.

ARC — Until the end of August, some 3 thousand students and teachers from the Romanian communities around the Romanian borders and the Diaspora have the opportunity to improve their knowledge of Romanian culture and civilisation by participating in the ARC camps in the country. The programme is organised jointly by the Ministry for the Romanians Everywhere and the Youth and Sports Ministry, in four locations — Sulina, in the Danube Delta, Oglinzi village in Neamt county, Sacelu village in Gorj county and Caprioara village in Hunedoara county. Participants come from Moldova, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Albania, North Macedonia and Hungary, but also from the Diaspora, from countries such as Italy, Greece, Portugal, Britain, France, Germany, the US, Canada, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates.

EU DIRECTIVE — The Directive on the fight against fraud to the EUs financial interests by means of criminal law enters into force today. By harmonizing the definitions, sanctions and prescription periods of the criminal offences linked to fraud to the EU budget, will help judicial and police authorities be more efficient in fighting these types of crimes. The Directive will also be the basis of the work of the European Public Prosecutors Office. “I count on Member States to fully and swiftly transpose these new rules. The European taxpayers money must be duly protected from criminals,” European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová said. The Directive is part of the Commissions strategy to strengthen the protection of the EU budget. It will improve the deterrence and effectiveness of the fight against criminals by aligning the Member States approaches. The European Public Prosecutors Office will play a key role in investigating, prosecuting and enforcing these offences. The new body is currently being set up and should be operational at the end of 2020.

TENNIS — The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep (7WTA) on Monday will play against the 15-year old American Cori Gauff, the revelation of the current edition of Wimbledon. Gauff beat the Slovenian Polona Hercog on Friday, to advance to the fourth round. Also on Friday, Halep defeated Byelorussian Victoria Azarenka (40 WTA) 6-3, 6-1 in the 3rd round. A former world leader, Halep is the only Romanian player left in the women’s singles. In the doubles the pair made up of Monica Niculescu – Irina Begu made it to the fourth round after defeating the Chinese Georgian team Xinyun Han Oksana Kalaşnikova. Also on Saturday, the team made up of Romania’s Sorana Cirstea and the Kazach Valina Voskoboeva lost to the French-Coatian team Alize Cornet/Petra Martic. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian Horia Tecau and the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer qualified to the 4rd round after defeating Fabrice Martin (France) and Hugo Nys (Monaco) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

FOOTBALL – Romanias football champions CFR Cluj and Viitorul Constanta, winner of the Romanian Cup, are today meeting in Ploiesti, southern Romania, for Romanias Supercup. CFR have reaped their fifth championship title this year, which is also their second consecutive title while Viitorul have clinched their first Cup trophy. The two sides will this month be representing Romania in the preliminaries of European cups: in the Champions League, CFR will be taking on FC Astana of Kazakhstan while in Europa League Viitorul will be up against Belgian side Anvers, coached by the former Romanian football player Ladislau Boloni. Also in the Europa League, FCSB will be playing Milsami Orhei from the neighboring Republic of Moldova, while CSU Craiova will meet FK Sabail of Azerbaijan. (Translated by Elena Enache)