May 2, 2019

Romanian PM Viorica Dancila joins leaders in politics and culture from across the world in commemorating the victims of the Holocaust; Bucharest hosts an informal meeting of the Competitiveness Council as part of its presidency of the Council of the Europ

România Internațional, 02.05.2019, 14:48

HOLOCAUST – Romanian PM Viorica Dancila joins leaders in politics and culture from across the world in commemorating the victims of the Holocaust. The March for Life is an annual event in which participants walk between the former death camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. On Wednesday, in Warsaw, in a meeting with her counterparts from countries integrated into the EU after 2004, the Romanian head of government reviewed her country’s presidency of the European Union Council. She emphasized wrapping up negotiations for 90 legislative initiatives.

COMPET – Bucharest hosts an informal meeting of the Competitiveness Council as part of its presidency of the Council of the European Union. The two day meeting, focused on domestic markets and industry, is chaired by Romanian Economy Minister Niculae Badalau, while the European Commission is being represented by Elzbieta Bienkowska, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services. Participating are ministers in charge of the economy, industry, domestic markets, and entrepreneurship from the 28 EU member countries, as well as associate members Switzerland and Norway.

CYBERCRIME – Cybercrime incidents and suspicions of cybercrime can now be reported by dialing 1191 in Romania on all provider networks. The call center servicing the number offers emergency assistance, as well as diagnosis and repair services, as announced a week ago by Minister of Communications Alexandru Petrescu. He said that the initiative comes in response to the fact that computer education and cybersecurity education are below par in Romania. The minister said that last year Romania was a source of cyberattacks, but also a target for such incidents. The risk is considered to be at an average but rising level.

CONFERENCE – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will be a guest of honor at the State of the Union conference held by the European University Institute in Florence, as the head of state of the country holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union. The meeting is being held around the topic of democracy in Europe in the 21st century, right before elections for the European Parliament.

POLL – 25.6% of Romanians responding to a privately funded poll regarding the upcoming elections for the European Parliament, scheduled for May 26, favor the National Liberal Party, the main opposition party in Romania. The Liberals are followed by the main ruling coalition party, the Social Democrats, with 21.7%, the 2020 USR PLUS opposition alliance, and the ALDE, the main ruling coalition group, with 16.4%, with other groups getting figures around or below 12%. The poll was run in April on a sample of 1,010 people, with a margin of error of 3.1%. On the same day, Romanians will be called on to vote in a referendum on justice legislation amendments introduced by President Klaus Iohannis.