November 16, 2024

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 16.11.2024, 13:50

Visit. On Friday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis held bilateral consultations with the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, on the occasion of the Romanian head of state’s official visit to Berlin. The German leader informed Klaus Iohannis about the telephone conversation he’d had with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, in which he asked him to stop the attacks on Ukraine. President Iohannis stressed that Germany was a reliable ally of Romania, contributing significantly to the strengthening of NATO’s Eastern Flank and to helping Ukraine resist the Russian aggression. The discussions between the two also looked at the development of economic relations, boosting investments and the strengthening of cooperation in the sphere of European affairs. Chancellor Olaf Scholz reassured Romania of Germany’s support for Schengen accession.

Award. Romanian Ambassador Gabriela Dancău was recently awarded the ‘Ambassador of the Year 2024’ Award in Italy, in recognition of her political-diplomatic, cultural and economic activity, on behalf of Romania, throughout Italy. On this occasion, Ms. Dancăusaid that the award was the result of the activity of the entire Romanian diplomatic and consular team in Italy, made up of the members of the Embassy in Rome, of the seven career consulates, four honorary and two cultural institutes. The most important actions organized by the embassy include the joint meeting, in Rome, of the Romanian and Italian governments, the signing by the prime ministers of the two countries of the joint Declaration for the development of the Consolidated Strategic Partnership or the extensive program, in the last two years, of cultural events held in the most important historical places of Italy. The ‘Ambassador of the Year’ prize is awarded annually by the Gazzetta Diplomatica publication, in memory of Giovanni Jannuzzi, an esteemed Italian diplomat.

Aid. The Romanian Ministry of Energy has welcomed the decision of the European Commission, which approved a 790 million euro aid that the Romanian state will use to cover the costs generated by the closure of four non-competitive coal minesThe measure will help Romania to gradually give up coal production, until 2032, according to the commitments assumed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The money will cover social costs for workers who have lost or will lose their jobs, as well as those related to the safety and rehabilitation works required to close the mines.

Christmas fairs. The big cities in Romania are preparing for the Winter Holidays, and this year’s Christmas markets promise to be spectacular and offer visitors a lot of activities and specific products. One of the most visited such fairs in Eastern Europe, the one in Sibiu (center), opened its doors on Friday evening. The main attraction is the tree decorated with thousands of lights in the central square of the city, but also the ice rink or the 120 little houses with seasonal products and souvenirs. The fair in Sibiu is visited annually by approximately 300,000 tourists from the country and abroad. Also in Craiova (south), on Friday evening, thousands of people participated in the opening of the Christmas Fair, the main theme of which this year is inspired by the story “Beauty and the Beast”. One of the main attractions in Craiova is Santa’s flying sleigh – the highest in Eastern Europe.

Football. The match between the Romanian national football team and Kosovo was abandoned at 0-0, on Friday evening, at the National Arena in Bucharest, in Group C2 of the Nations League, after the visiting team left the ground in the 90+ 5 minute. The match, which naturally should have been over in a few tens of seconds after the extra time granted by Danish referee Morten Krogh, instead ended grotesquely, with the Kosovo team leaving the field for no plausible reason, despite the referee’s attempts to convince them to stay and finish the game. After an interruption of about 70 minutes, Morten Krogh returned to the field and whistled the end of the match only in the presence of the Romanian footballers. The UEFA Disciplinary Committee is to give a verdict in this matter. Romania had won in Pristina, 3-0, so the Kosovo team would’ve needed at least one victory in Bucharest, in order to keep its chances of winning the group and promoting to League B. Monday will see the last matches in the group headed by Romania, without taking into account Friday night’s match: Kosovo – Lithuania and Romania – Cyprus. The 2024/25 Nations League will also have a direct effect on the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. (MI)