November 1, 2014 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Bogdan Matei, 01.11.2014, 19:32
Over 18 million Romanians are expected to the polls on Sunday in the first round of the presidential election. Fourteen candidates, two from political alliances, eight backed by various political groups and four independents are vying for the seat of the outgoing president Traian Basescu, whose second five-year term in office is due to end in December. Unless one of the candidates hits the half-plus-one threshold of the total number of votes, a second round of the ballot is to be staged on November 16th. According to the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest 294 polling stations have been set up for the Romanian nationals abroad. Most of these are in Italy, 51; next comes Spain with 38, the USA 22, the Republic of Moldova 21, Britain 11 and France 9. The polling stations are located on the premises of Romania’s diplomatic and consular missions, its cultural institutions, in the operation theatres in Afghanistan and in other locations offering the best conditions for the fair and smooth unfolding of the election process. According to Foreign Ministry sources, about 3.2 million Romanian nationals are linving abroad.
Radio Romania on Saturday celebrated 86 years since its first broadcast. On 1st November 1928 the first radio programme was aired by the institution which we now know as the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation. In the string of events marking this occasion, Radio Romania’s choirs and orchestras convened on Friday under the baton of Tiberiu Soare for an anniversary concert, which also involved the participation of pianist Horia Mihail. At present the public radio is a structure consisting of three national and nine regional channels, including an international channel broadcasting in 10 foreign languages, in Romanian and the aRomanian dialect. The Romanian public radio started to broadcast shows in foreign languages back in 1930s.
700 companies from 27 countries have convened in Bucharest to participate in the International trade fair of equipment and products in agriculture, horticulture, viticulture and animal husbandry — INDAGRA. Currently at its 19th edition, INDAGRA is the most complex event of its kind aimed at promoting local agriculture and the country’s farming potential, traditional bio products as well as the Romanian wines. For the first time in its existence INDAGRA has hosted the 9th edition of the China — Central and Eastern Europe Summit, with cooperation opportunities and joint project proposals high on the agenda.
Berlin, Paris and Kiev have called on Moscow not to recognize the outcome of the elections that are to be staged shortly by the pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine. The self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk boycotted the legislative election held in Ukraine last week, which was won by the pro-European groups and said they would hold their own election. The USA and the international comunity will not recognize the election in the breakaway regions of Ukraine but Moscow said it would. Moscow’s announcement has attracted a lot of criticism from Kiev and the West who said that Russia’s support for the election in the secessionist regions was undermining the peace process meant to put an end to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has so far caused the death of 4 thousand people.
Romanian Social-Democrat Corina Cretu on Saturday started her mandate of European Regional Policy Commissioner. Nominated for this position by the new president of the European executive, the charismatic Luxembourg national Jean-Claude Juncker, upon a Romanian government proposal, Mr. Cretu will have to manage a 350 billion euro budget for the period between 2014 — 2020. During the hearings in the European Parliament Mrs. Cretu has pledged a zero tolerance to fraud. Advisor to former leftist president Ion Iliescu and an MEP since 2007, Corina Cretu had been vice-president of the EU legislature. Her portfolio focuses on investment, the creation of fresh jobs, competitiveness, improving the standard of living and sustainable development. Regional policies are, according to Brussels, the EU’s solidarity with the less developed countries and regions.
Six off-road Dacia Duster cars made in Romania have been donated to be used by the medical teams fighting the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. The vehicles will be shipped to the Netherlands from where they will be taken over by a military vessel carrying aid from the EU. On Saturday state secretary with the Romanian Interior Ministry Raed Arafat said that for the time being Romania doesn’t need to apply screening measures for people coming from the affected areas in West Africa.
