June 20, 2022
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 20.06.2022, 13:55
3SI – Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, is today attending the 7th
edition of the Three Seas Initiative Summit and the 4th edition of
the Three Seas Initiative Business Forum, both hosted by Riga, Latvia. Leaders
of 3SI participant states will look at approaches to the current security
framework in Europe in the context of the war in Ukraine. Participants will
also discuss the contribution of the Three Seas Initiative by implementing
strategic interconnection projects in the three key sectors of 3SI: transport,
energy and digital infrastructure. According to the Romanian presidency,
president Klaus Iohannis will reiterate Romania’s support for Ukraine at both
bilateral and multilateral levels. At the same time, Klaus Iohannis will
highlight the importance of providing the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and
Ukraine with support in their efforts to join the European Union. The Three
Seas Initiative is a political platform bringing together 12 EU Member States
located between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Seas.
MEETING – EU Foreign Ministers are today meeting in Luxembourg to
discuss ways of getting millions of tons of grain out of Ukraine. Ukraine is
currently unable to export its grain due to the Russian blockade in the Black
Sea. Ukraine is one of the world’s largest grain exporters. Over 20 million
tons of grain are currently stockpiled in silos as a result of the Russian
invasion. Moscow denies any responsibility for the food crisis and claims
Western sanctions are responsible for the increase in food prices at global
level and the shortage of food in underdeveloped countries that rely on grain
imports.
REFUGEES – The Border Police
Inspectorate announced that 9,231 Ukrainian citizens entered on Sunday in
Romania, down by 15% compared to the previous day. Some 1.2 million Ukrainian
refugees have entered Romania since the start in the war in Ukraine on February
24. In a message marking World Refugee Day on June 20, Prime Minister Nicolae
Ciucă recalls that Romania displayed
solidarity with Ukrainian refugees and will continue to provide them with all
the necessary conditions to ensure their social and economic integration. The
Prime Minister also said that, of the total number of Ukrainian refugees who
entered Romania, 80,000 chose to stay, opting for the protection and security Romania
provides.
COMMEMORATION – Defense Minister Vasile Dîncu is today attending the unveiling of a
monument devoted to the Romanian military who died in World War I and were
entombed in Italy. The ceremony is hosted by the city of Bolzano in northern
Italy. Minister Dîncu will
also meet his Italian counterpart, Lorenzo Guerini. Representing a Latin marble
cross, the war monument was built as part of a project carried out in 2021.
BACCALAUREATE – The written tests of
the Baccalaureate exam are scheduled this week. Over 126 thousand high school
graduates have signed up for the exam, the lowest number reported since the
1989 anticommunist revolution. Today pupils took the Romanian language and
literature test. Tomorrow they will sit the specialty exam, while on Wednesday
they will take the exam in a subject of their choice. On Thursday, pupils
belonging to national minorities will take the mother tongue test.
MOTION – The Chamber of Deputies is
today debating a simple motion filed by USR in opposition against Education
Minister, Sorin Cîmpeanu,
with the vote scheduled on Wednesday. USR claims Minister Cîmpeanu is responsible for the disaster in
the education system, blaming him for the high school dropout rate and for
operating changes in the way pupils are examined without consulting
stakeholders.
ELECTION IN FRANCE – The center-Liberal presidential alliance Ensemble! has lost the absolute majority
in the Assemblée Nationale, following Sunday’s second round of the legislative
election. Emmanuel Macron’s coalition grabbed 245 seats, 40 seats short of
securing absolute majority. Ensemble! will
face two opposition forces: the left-wing alliance NUPES, made up of the
Communist, Green and Socialist parties, which grabbed 135 seats, and the
far-right party National Rally led by Marine Le Pen, which surprisingly won 89
seats. Therefore, Ensemble! has two
choices: form a minority government or a government coalition with the traditional
right, which won 61 seats. If none of the solutions works out, the ensuing
political crisis might prompt the president to dissolve Parliament and call
snap elections.
SWIMMING – Romanian swimmers Robert Glință and David Popovici on Sunday qualified
to the finals of the 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle events, respectively,
at the World Swimming Championships hosted by Budapest, Hungary. Robert Glință qualified to the 100m backstroke
event from the 8th position in the semi-finals, after finishing 13th
in the qualifying heats. David Popovici grabbed the best result in the
semi-finals, setting a new world junior record, after also grabbing the top
position in the qualifying heats. Popovici is competing in his first senior
championship. So far, Romania’s medal sheet in the World Championships includes
2 gold, 1 silver and 6 bronze. The gold medals were won by Tamara Costache in
1986 and Diana Mocanu in 2001, while the last medal was won by Camelia Potec in
2009. (VP)
