June 25, 2023 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 25.06.2023, 19:20

Baccalaureate. 12th
grade graduates start, on Monday, the written tests of the baccalaureate exam,
with the Romanian language and literature. On Tuesday, they will be sitting the
mandatory examination of the profile, and on Thursday the test of choice for profile
and specialization. On June 29, students who belong to national minorities will
sit the test in their native language and literature. Next week, the first
results of the national assessment will be announced for students who have
completed the eighth grade. Due to the general strike in education,
registrations for the National Assessment and Baccalaureate were extended until
June 16.

Parliament.
An intense week is expected in the Romanian
Parliament this coming week. It is the last of the current session and the
parties in the majority coalition – the Social Democratic Party and the
National Liberal Party – have asked for maximum mobilization to finalize some
of the most sensitive bills, in particular the one on the elimination of parliamentarians’
special pensions and the one on the reform of service pensions, which also
triggered the recent protests of the magistrates. The elimination of parliamentarians’
special pensions would be decided on Monday, in plenary session, after the
committees gave a favorable opinion on the matter. Any special pension is an
injustice. Parliamentarians’ special pensions are privileges and must be
eliminated, said deputy Cristian Seidler, from the opposition Save Romania
Union.

Foreign
Affairs. The Romanian Foreign
Affairs Minister Luminiţa Odobescu participates, on Monday, in the meeting of
the EU foreign ministers, hosted by Luxembourg. The agenda includes in-depth discussions on
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, EU-Latin America and Caribbean relations
and digital diplomacy. Regarding Current Affairs , the High Representative
Josep Borrell will refer to the latest support measures for the Republic of
Moldova adopted at the EU level, as well as to the recent developments in
Tunisia, the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, and the Armenia-Azerbaijan
relationship. Luminiţa Odobescu will emphasize the need to continue the support
for Ukraine at all levels, as much as it will be necessary, highlighting
Romania’s contribution to the European efforts. She will also stress the
importance of continuing the support for increasing the resilience of the
Republic of Moldova and will also reiterate Romania’s support regarding Moldova’s
and Ukraine’s European path.

SITF. Seaside Stories,
directed by Radu Afrim, the winner of the UNITER award for the best show, was
part of Sunday’s program of the International Theater Festival in Sibiu. In the
Outdoor section, the audience had the opportunity to watch the Pioneer’s Last
Word, a modern show based on Hip Hop street dance culture, with a rich and
energetic repertoire. Also on Sunday, the band Mahala Rai Banda gave a huge
show in the Big Square. The 30th edition of SITF started on Friday
and is the biggest such event in Romania. The festival is hosting 800 events in
approximately 80 locations, enjoying the participation of 5,000 artists and guests from 75 countries.

Moscow. The forces of
the Russian paramilitary group Wagner started leaving positions in Russia as
ordered by their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who turned back after directly
defying the authority of President Vladimir Putin, FP reports. After a day of
spectacular armed rebellion, Prigozhin is bound for Belarus, and the charges against
him will be withdrawn, the Kremlin announced. FP recalls that the Wagner troops
were heading for the capital on Saturday, after occupying during the morning
the headquarters of the Russian army in Rostov (southwest), the sensitive
center of operations in Ukraine. The Wagner leader claimed that the Russian
strikes caused a very large number of casualties in the group’s ranks and
accused Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of being responsible for that.
According to the Washington Post and New York Times, the American intelligence
services had warned the White House about the imminence of a Wagner revolt in
Russia a day before it broke out. Faced with the biggest challenge since he
came to power in late 1999, President Putin tried to keep his hand strong in
the face of this unprecedented rebellion, denouncing a ‘treason’ and evoking
the specter of a ‘civil war’.

Polo. Romania’s national women’s water polo team
ended Group B of the 2024 European Championships preliminaries with victories,
after beating Turkey, on Sunday, in the Otopeni pool, near Bucharest. The tricolors,
already qualified for the final tournament, defeated Sweden (14-9), Switzerland
(7-5) and Turkey (16-5). In the other match on Sunday, Switzerland beat Sweden
9-6. Romania leads the group with 9 points, followed by Turkey, with 6 points,
Switzerland, 3 points, Sweden, 0 points. The first two places go to the final
tournament, which will take place in Netanya (in Israel), between January 3-16.

Football. Romania failed
to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Under-21 European Football
Championship, which is hosting together with Georgia, after the second defeat
suffered in group B, 0-1 against Ukraine, on Saturday evening, in Bucharest. In
the first game, the national team lost 2-0 against Spain. The Iberians won
against Croatia and qualified further along with the Ukrainians. In the last
stage, on Tuesday, Spain will face Ukraine, and Croatia take on Romania. The
final tournament takes place between June 21 and July 8 and brings together 16
teams, divided into four groups. Two are hosted by Romania, in Bucharest and
Cluj-Napoca (north-west), and two by Georgia. In Romania, two quarter-finals
and a semifinal will take place. The top three finishers qualify for the
Olympic Games in Paris next year. (MI)