May 28, 2019

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 28.05.2019, 14:00

ELECTION – Sunday’s vote for the
European Parliament has earned MEP seats for six political parties, according to
partial results made public by the Central Election Authority. The National
Liberal Party in opposition grabbed 26.33% of the vote, followed by the Social-Democratic
Party in power with 23.16% and the 2020 Save Romania Union – Plus Alliance with
21.34% of the vote. The Pro Romania Party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians
in Romania and the People’s Movement Party will also be represented in the new
Parliament, after grabbing 6.8%, 6% and 5.6% of the vote, respectively. The
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats failed the meet the election threshold.
Voter turnout stood at a record 49%. Romanians also voted in the referendum on
the judiciary called by President Klaus Iohannis, 80% of them answering Yes.
The turnout for the referendum was 41%, above the 30% threshold required to validate
the vote.

INFORMAL
MEETING – Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis is today attending
the informal meeting of the European Council in Brussels. High on the agenda is
the result of the European Parliament election, held over May 23-26. EU leaders
will also hold preliminary talks over the new leadership of community
institutions.

PROTEST – Dozens of people on Monday evening protested in
front of the Foreign Ministry building in Bucharest, calling on Minister Teodor
Melescanu to step down for the poor organization of Sunday’s European
Parliament election in the Diaspora. Thousands of Romanians couldn’t exercise
their constitutional right to vote in the election and the referendum on the
judiciary after standing in line for hours in front of polling stations.

SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS -
The Social-Democratic Party is today convening to analyze the result obtained
in Sunday’s European Parliament election and decide on the party’s future
course after the prison sentencing of its leader, Liviu Dragnea. Prime Minister
Viorica Dancila on Monday took over as interim party leader, saying these are
difficult times for the party. Dancila said she would not step down.

POPE FRANCIS – Online registration for the visit of his Holy
Father, Pope Francis, continue until Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people
have already registered, including Christians from Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine,
Pakistan, Rwanda, South Africa, Nigeria, Madagascar, Australia, Israel, Canada,
Namibia or Reunion. Held under the motto Let’s go together!, the
visit will have its first stop in the capital city Bucharest, the largest city
in the east of the country, then Pope Francis will travel to Iasi, the
spiritual capital of Romanian Roman-Catholics, Blaj, where he will beatify 7
bishops killed in communist prisons, and the Marian shrine in Şumuleu Ciuc. In
1999, Romania was the first country with a majority Orthodox population to have
been visited by a Pope, i.e. John Paul II 20 years ago.

IMF -
A delegation of the International Monetary Fund led by IMF mission chief for Romania,
Jaewoo Lee, will be in Bucharest until June 7 for its annual assessment of the
Romanian economy under Article IV. The IMF delegation will hold talks with the
Romanian authorities regarding economic developments and policies. IMF
officials will also meet representatives of the Ministry of Public Finance, the
National Bank and government agencies, as well as representatives of the private
sector and NGOs. Romania currently has no ongoing agreement with the IMF, an
institution that monitors the evolution of our country’s economy as a compulsory
process for all member states.

NAFSA – 24
universities from Romania will be presenting their educational offer in
Washington, over May 26-31 within the annual NAFSA education fair, the most
prestigious international event of its kind, Romania’s National Council of
Rectors has announced. The conference is expected to bring together more than
10,000 participants and 3,500 universities from 100 countries. According to a release
of the National Council of Rectors, Romania offers a high-quality education
environment as well as a series of facilities in its campuses up to European
standards at better prices than in other European countries.

TENNIS -
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, no. 3 in the world, is today playing Alja
Tomljanovic of Australia (47 WTA) in the opening round at Roland Garros, the
second Grand Slam tournament of the year, where this year she returns to defend
her title. Also today Irina Begu defeated Lin Zhu of China (108 WTA), 6-1, 6-1.
On Monday, Sorana Cirstea (93 WTA) won 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 against Kaja Juvan of
Slovenia (131 WTA) and advanced to the second round. Conversely, Mihaela
Buzarnescu (30 WTA) lost 4-6, 4-6 to Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia (60 WTA).
In the men’s competition, Marius Copil (81 ATP) lost to Benoit Paire of France
in four sets. Copil is also enrolled in the men’s doubles, where together with
Rohan Bopanna of India will play Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael
Venus of New Zealand. Also in the men’s doubles, Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien
Rojer of the Netherlands will play Cristian Garin of Chile and Juan Ignacio
Londero of Argentina.
(Translated by V. Palcu)