June 24, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 24.06.2022, 20:02

Candidacy. The EU Leaders have granted the status of accession candidate to
Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Also, Georgia has been encouraged to
continue its reforms to be able to get this status in the future. Romania has
hailed the major step towards European integration taken by its two neighbors.

Security. The national defense and security laws, approved in the early
1990s, should get in line with the new constitutional provisions, said PM
Nicolae Ciuca in an interview with Radio Romania. There are laws that must be
adapted to the current geostrategic situation, including the responsibilities
arising from Romania’s status as member of the EU and NATO, the PM said, also
stressing that he takes full responsibility for the transparent and democratic
path that these laws will take. It’s been 33 years since the Revolution, when
we fought for democracy and freedom. We have the duty to keep making sure that
both individual freedoms and everything related to the specific elements that characterize
democratic societies will never be affected by these provisions, the PM
Nicolae Ciuca also said.

NATO. Deputy
Secretary General Mircea Geoana said on Friday that next week’s NATO Summit in
Madrid will be a historic one, and will bring good news for Romania, but also
for Ukraine, for the transatlantic relationship and for the Alliance as such. We
will focus on strengthening NATO’s presence on the eastern flank, and the
leaders will announce the size and specific contributions that various allies
will make. I anticipate that the Black Sea region will be significantly
reflected, Geoana said. He also said that President Volodymyr Zelensky’s
participation will be warmly welcomed and that supporting Ukraine in the confrontation
with the Russian aggressor must continue. It is an extremely important summit,
the official concluded.

Evaluation. Over 83% of eight
graders in Romania’s secondary schools have been admitted to high schools after
passing the national evaluation, which is a record figure of the past 10 years.
After the results were listed on Thursday, Education Minister Sorin Campeanu
said the number of students taking the aforementioned exam was also the highest
in the past 6 years.

Celebration. June 24th is the International Day of the Romanian Traditional Blouse, named ie. Starting this year Romanians will be able to celebrate
this day legally after the country’s president Klaus Iohannis issued a law,
which was already published in the Official Gazette. Under the new law,
cultural, social and artistic events can be staged in this respect while mass
media is encouraged to disseminate materials promoting this traditional piece
of clothing. Education units, cultural institutions, communication centers as
well as Romania’s diplomatic representations are invited to get involved in
various actions of promoting this event.

ITFS. Sibiu, in central
Romania, is hosting the 29th International
Theater Festival, until July 3. The chosen theme this year is ‘Beauty’. The
event will bring together theater, dance, circus, film, musical and opera
productions. The program will include street theater performances, concerts,
book launches and exhibitions. Great artists of the world stage will offer the
public the opportunity to enjoy some of the most appreciated shows in the
world, internationally recognized and rewarded with prestigious awards. The
festival will take place in both physical and hybrid format, so that some of
the performances that will take place in performance halls, in unconventional
spaces, in churches and in the central squares of Sibiu can be watched on the
official website of the festival, on the digital streaming platform,
www.scena-digitala.ro, as well as on the festival’s Facebook page and YouTube
channel.

Handball. The Romanian
national team secured its qualification into the main groups of the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship in Slovenia on Friday, after defeating Lithuania 29-
20. Romania scored its second victory in the competition, after a 26-23 win
over Angola. In another Group E match, Angola beat the Czech Republic 36-25.
Romania is the leader, with 4 points, followed by Angola – 2 points, the Czech
Republic – 2 points and Lithuania – zero. The first two ranked will qualify into the
main groups. On Saturday, Romania will face the Czech Republic, and Angola will
take on Lithuania. (MI)