October 13, 2019
a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 13.10.2019, 14:00
OLAF — The fraudulent cases with EU funds reported in 2018 account for over 580 million euros of the EU budget, of which 320 million have been recovered, according to the annual report of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). Romania has the biggest number of fraud cases reported, 477 in the last five years, followed by Poland, France and Bulgaria. Bucharest reported fraud totalling 62 million euros, and tops the list in terms of forged documents, which is the main means of European funds fraud. Germany stands best as regards the recovered amounts, with 85 million euros, followed by France with 84. The OLAF report also shows that recovering the money usually takes several years, due to the complex legal and administrative procedures involved. OLAF investigates fraud against the EU budget, corruption and serious misconduct within the European institutions, and develops anti-fraud policy for the European Commission.
Royal House — In a speech delivered at the Dutch Institute of International Relations in the Hague, Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania, has said that Romanians are now three times richer than during communism, but that it might take another 30 years to completely erase the effects of dictatorship. Princess Margareta has also said that there is a national consensus regarding the country’s NATO and EU membership and has denounced the fact that Dutch politicians oppose Romania’s joining the Schengen area, although Bucharest has complied with all technical conditions.
St. Parascheva – The largest pilgrimage in Romania that brings huge crowds to the Eastern city of Iasi every year, continues. People go to the cathedral in Iasi every year around October 14, the feast day of St. Parascheva, to pray at the Saint’s relics. They usually spend hours in queues that can span over several kilometers, as Saint Parascheva is considered the protector of Moldavia and Bukovina and Christians believe in the miraculous powers of the relics. Saint Parascheva lived in the first half of the 11th century and was born at Epivata, nowadays Boiados in Bulgaria. Her entire body preserved and wrapped, placed in a casket with a glass top, is on display at the Iasi Metropolitan Cathedral. The Saint’s relics were brought to Iasi in 1641, during the reign of ruler Vasile Lupu.
EC — The president of the European Parliament, the Italian David Sassoli, said Saturday that it would be probably impossible for the future European Commission to take on its prerogatives as of November 1 and that the takeover would be postponed for December 1. He explained that Romania, Hungary and France need to propose another 3 commissioners whose candidacies have to be analyzed by Parliament. The confirmation vote of the entire team made up of the German Ursula von der Leyen was scheduled for October 23 in the EP during a plenary session in Strasbourg. The candidates of Romania and Hungary were rejected by the Legal Affairs Committee JURI due to suspicions of possible conflicts of interest. France’s candidate also caused integrity-related suspicions in the context of investigations into alleged fictitious jobs when she served as an MEP.
Election campaign — Saturday saw the start of the election campaign for the November presidential election. The first round will take place on November 10, and, if the case may be, the second round will be held on November 24. 14 candidates are running in the presidential race among whom the incumbent president Klaus Iohannis representing the National Liberal Party, the interim prime minister Viorica Dancila from the Social Democratic Party, Dan Barna representing the Alliance Save Romania Union-PLUS, Theodor Paleologu representing the People’s Movement Party or Kelemen Hunor from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. The Permanent Electoral Authority has already established the locations of the almost 18,750 polling stations. Also the Foreign Ministry officials forwarded to the Electoral Authority a list with an additional 270 polling stations from abroad, to complete the already approved 444 stations. In the Diaspora, the presidential election will be held for the first time during 3 days, from Friday to Sunday, for each round of voting.
Football – On Saturday, Romania’s national football squad defeated the Faeroe Islands 3-0, away from home in Group F of the European Championship preliminaries. Spain tops the group with 19 points, followed by Sweden with 14, Romania with 13, Norway with 10, Malta with 3 and Faeroe Islands with 0 points. (Translated by Elena Enache)
