November 24, 2019 UPDATE (10.30 p.m.)

Klaus Iohannis wins presidential runoff in Romania

Newsroom, 24.11.2019, 22:48

ELECTION
– The incumbent president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, supported by the governing
National Liberal Party, won the presidential runoff vote on Sunday, defeating the
former Social Democratic Prime Minister Viorica Dancila. According to partial
results, Klaus Iohannis got some 63% of
the votes. The
winner today is modern Romania, European Romania, the normal Romania Iohannis
said after the polls had closed, and promised to be a president for all
Romanians. In
turn, Viorica Dancila stated that the Social Democratic Party regained the
trust of those who had voted the party back in 2016 and promised that the Social
Democrats would do everything in their power to win next year’s local and
parliamentary elections. The turnout in the country stood at 50%. In the
Diaspora, where voting was held over three days, a record 930 thousand Romanians
had voted until 9 p.m. The highest turnouts were reported in Italy, Great
Britain, Germany, Spain and the Republic of Moldova.

FRIGATE – The ‘King Ferdinand’ frigate has returned to the
military port of Constanta after five weeks spent in the Mediterranean. The
frigate took part in the NATO-led Sea Guardian 19 operation and in the Dogu
Akdeniz 19 multinational exercise, during which it carried out joint missions
to deter illegal activities on the eastern flank of NATO and the EU, by means
of monitoring sea traffic, under Allied Maritime Command.

POPE FRANCIS – During his tour of Asia, which also included
Thailand, Pope Francis visited Japan on Saturday, where he conveyed an
emotion-evoking message against nuclear weapons. The Pope visited Nagasaki, one
of the two cities struck in the Second World War. The Pope told Japanese
bishops he hopes to meet some of the victims of the nuclear attacks, as well as
the survivors of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. Another goal of
his visit to Japan is to encourage the Catholic community in this country,
where only 1% of the population is Christian, half of which is Catholic. This
is the first visit by a Pope to Japan in the last 38 years and the second one
in history.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION – Ambassadors of EU Member States have
agreed that the new European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen should
start its activity on December 1 without a British Commissioner on the team,
after the British Government refused to make a nomination. Ambassadors have adopted
the list of the 27 Commissioners, which further requires Parliament’s vote,
slated for Wednesday. Since Brexit has been postponed for January 31, 2020,
Great Britain was bound by EU treatises to make a nomination. Boris Johnson’s
Cabinet stated that no nominations can be made ahead of a British election, as the
UK is to host early legislative elections on December 12. Following London’s
refusal, the European Commission launched infringement procedures against Great
Britain on November 14.

GAUDEAMUS – The Gaudeamus International Book Fair, organized in
Bucharest by Radio Romania, came to a close on Sunday. On the last day of the
fair, the awards of the 26th edition were presented. The Gaudeamus awards went
to the Humanitas, Polirom and ART publishers. The award for the most
sought-after book went to Radu Paraschivescu’s volume, The Man who moves
Clouds. 7 Stories, released by Humanitas publishing house. In the media
awards section, Evenimentul Zilei grabbed the award for best print publication,
Pro TV won the award for best TV station, while Europa FM won the radio award.
In the news agencies section, the award went to the national news agency
Agerpres. The Award for Excellence went to the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
of Iasi Publishing House. The Antoaneta Ralian translation prize went to
Luminita Munteanu, for her translation into Romanian of the Orhan Pamuk series,
as well as to Daniel Ionita, the coordinator of the bilingual edition of the
anthology titled Testament. 400 years of Romanian poetry, released
in Australia. 8,000 book stands were put up as part of this edition, devoted to
the 30 years since the anti-communist revolution of 1989. A total of 900
different events were scheduled, including book launches, debates and book
signing sessions.

HANDBALL – Romanian men’s handball team AHC Potaissa Turda on
Sunday qualified for Challenge Cup’s round of 16, after a draw with ZRHK TENAX
Dobele of Latvia. In the first leg, the Romanian side won 38-35 away from home.
Potaissa Turda won the Challenge Cup in 2018 after defeating the Greek side AEK
Athens. On Saturday, another Romanian club, CSM Bucharest, advanced to the
Challenge Cup’s round of 16 despite losing to HC Masheka of Belarus, 28-25 away
from home, in the second leg of the competition’s third round. Title holders
CSM Bucharest had won the first leg 34-28 on Friday.