June 19, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 19.06.2024, 19:49

Visit. The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, received, on Wednesday, his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella, who paid a formal visit to Bucharest. We have deep ties, an exceptional economic dynamic, and the soul of the relationship are the Romanian communities in Italy, who are very well integrated, said Iohannis. At the same time, the head of state expressed his appreciation for the solid community of Italian entrepreneurs in Romania. He specified that, last year, the two countries had bilateral exchanges worth 20 billion euros. In terms of security, Klaus Iohannis stated that Romania and Italy would continue to work together to strengthen NATO’s deterrence role on the eastern flank, but also on the southern one. For his part, President Mattarella stated that bilateral relations were excellent on all levels. Romania is an extremely important bilateral, European and international partner for Italy, and we want the country to join the Schengen free movement area also with the land borders, the Italian guest also said. In 2024, Romania and Italy celebrate 145 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, as well as 60 years since their elevation to embassy level.

NATO. Romania will take over, between July and December 2024, the command of a NATO Countermeasures Maritime Group, which will carry out specific missions in the Mediterranean basin, the Romanian Naval Forces have announced. Romania will participate in this group with the ship “Vice Admiral Constantin Bălescu”, which has a crew of 85 Romanian and foreign soldiers. The maritime group will also include military ships from Italy, Spain and Turkey. The main goals of this mission of the Allied Maritime Command of NATO are to ensure the immediate response capacity of the North Atlantic Alliance, to increase the interoperability between the allied naval forces, as well as to promote the image of NATO, the press release states.

Election results. The final results of the European Parliament elections have been announced by the Central Electoral Bureau and published in the Official Gazette of Romania. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) – National Liberal Party (PNL) alliance ranked first with 48.5% of the votes, followed by the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, with a little under 15%, the United Right Alliance, with 8.7%, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania with almost 6.5% and the SOS Romania party with a little over the required threshold of 5%. The independent candidate Nicolae Ştefănuţă was voted by 3.08% of Romanians and managed to obtain another European Parliament mandate. The voter turnout was 52.4%. The Central Electoral Bureau pointed out that, of the 33 MEP mandates going to Romania, 19 went to the PSD-PNL alliance, 6 to the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, 3 to the United Right Alliance and 2 to the SOS Romania Party and another 2 to the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.

Law. The Romanian Senate has adopted, as the first chamber notified, a bill to amend the Citizenship Law, initiated by the Government, which establishes that the Romanian citizenship can be granted, upon request, to a foreign person who is married and lives outside the borders with a Romanian citizen for at least 10 years. The current legislation stipulates that, in order to grant citizenship to a foreign citizen married to a Romanian citizen, he or she must live in Romania for at least five years, which represents, in the opinion of the initiator, ‘an obstacle’. The law also provides for the necessary measures needed to acquire the Romanian citizenship and for rules to prevent its fraudulent acquisition. Thus, biometric checks are provided for persons who apply for Romanian citizenship. The bill will be debated by the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body in this matter.

USA. The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminiţa Odobescu, will pay a working visit to the USA on June 20-21.. On this occasion, she will have bilateral political consultations with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, meetings with representatives of the National Security Council, opinion leaders and American think-tanks. At the same time, the head of the Romanian Diplomacy will participate in the opening of the Romania-USA Economic Forum, where, as a keynote speaker, she will emphasize the potential for the development of Romanian-American economic relations, including through bilateral cooperation in the field of energy and reconstruction efforts for Ukraine. Organized in the context of the 20th anniversary of Romania’s accession to NATO, the visit will provide an opportunity to review the progress made in the bilateral relationship, in the cooperation for strengthening Euro-Atlantic security, with an emphasis on the Black Sea region and on identifying ways to strengthening the Romania-USA Strategic Partnership.

Korea. The Romanian Minister of National Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, had a working meeting in Bucharest, on Wedesday, with his South Korean counterpart, Won-sik Shin, who paid a formal visit to Romania. The agenda of the bilateral discussions covered issues regarding the international security situation and the prospects for bilateral cooperation in the field of defense between the two states, against the backdrop of the signing, in April, in Seoul, of the Agreement between the Government of Romania and the Government of the Republic of Korea on cooperation in the field of defense. During the discussions, the Romanian Minister of Defense presented the main threats and risks from the Black Sea and Western Balkans regions against the backdrop of the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, the Romanian official highlighted Romania’s support for Ukraine. The two defense ministers laid wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Bucharest.

Football. The Romanian football champion FCSB will play in the first preliminary round of the Champions League with the San Marino team AC Virtus 1964, according to the draw held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. FCSB will play the first away match on July 9 or 10, and the decisive leg in Bucharest on July 16 or 17. The winner of the Romanian Cup, the second division Corvinul Hunedoara (south-west), will face the Hungarian vice-champion, Paksi FC, in the first preliminary round of the Europa League. Corvinul will play the first away match on July 11, with the second leg scheduled in Romania on July 18. (MI)