November 6, 2019

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 06.11.2019, 13:55

SESSION – The new Liberal Government in
Bucharest, led by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, is today convening for its
first joint session. According to the Prime Minister, the agenda for today
includes an emergency decree on reducing the number of ministries, from 24 to
16. On Tuesday the newly-appointed ministers took over their portfolios.
Ludovic Orban promised the new Government will engage in permanent dialogue and
will take into account Romanians’ expectations. Orban’s Cabinet has replaced the
outgoing Social-Democratic Government led by Viorica Dancila after the later
did not survive a no-confidence motion in Parliament on October 10.

TRANSPORT – Romanian haulers have pointed
the serious issues reported on the Hungarian border in the last few days, where
freight trucks wait in a 25-km-long line to cross the border. One of the
biggest employers in the field has announced protests and the blocking of
crossing points for light traffic. The Europa 2002 Association of Transport Employers
from Arad say crossing the Hungarian border has never been harder, pointing the
finger at Hungarian authorities, who starting November 1 have been performing
detailed inspections of freight transport vehicles, which incrementally
increases waiting times for crossing the border.

PROTEST – Coal miners from Paroseni and
Uricani on Jiu Valley continue to protest underground for the tenth consecutive
day. Due to be laid off on January 1, miners demand the same rights as other
employees made redundant in the sector, namely monthly redundancy payments for
two years and the inclusion of this period on their seniority with the mining
company. Trade unions say the 100 miners are determined to continue their
protest, the longest in the last 15 years, until the Government passes an
emergency decree that meets their demands. The matter could be settled in today’s
Government session, which will discuss the passing of a decree. Laszlo Domokos,
the head of a miners’ syndicate, is today in Bucharest discussing the miners’
demands with representatives from the line ministry. At the end of 2017 the two
mines were listed for shutdown and remand.

TABLE TENNIS – Romania’s table tennis
team, the defending European champions, is today playing its first match at the
World Cup in Tokyo against Taiwan. Drawn in Group C, Romania will also play against
Vanuatu on Thursday. The top two teams will qualify to the quarterfinals.
Romania’s team is made up of Elizabeta Samara, Daniela Dodean Monteiro, Bernadette Szocs and
Adina Diaconu. We recall that in September Romania reaped gold at the European
Table Tennis Championships in Nantes, France, defeating Portugal in the final.

HANDBALL – The Romanian men’s handball team Dinamo Bucharest on Wednesday
is playing Kadetten Schaffhausen of Switzerland in Champions League Group D.
The match has a major stake. If it wins, Dinamo will secure mathematical qualification
to the playoff. Dinamo ranks first in the group tables with 10 points, followed
by GOG Svendborg of Denamrk with 8 points, Kadetten of Switzerland with 6
points, Wisla Plock of Poland with 5 points, Chehkovskie Medvedi of Russia with
4 points and Kristianstad of Sweden with 3 points. The top two teams will
advance to the next phase. In the women’s Champions League, CSM Bucharest has
already qualified to the main group phase, while champions SCM Ramnicu Valcea
on Sunday is playing SG BBM Bietigheim of Germany in Group C. Brest Bretagne
Handball of France is top of the tables with 6 points, followed by Buducnost of
Montenegro with 6 points, SCM Ramnicu Valcea with 2 points and SG BBM
Bietigheim with 0 points. The top three teams will qualify to the main group
phase.

(translated by V.
Palcu)