October 23, 2018

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 23.10.2018, 13:32

ADDRESS Romanian president Klaus
Iohannis has presented before the European Parliament on Tuesday, Romania’s
vision about the future of the European Union. Iohannis has pleaded for the
consolidation of the European project recalling that the EU has been facing multiple
challenges, which put to the test its unity and cohesion such as the refugee
and the economic crises as well as the coming to power of the populist political
forces. There is an element that unites us, Iohannis said; the European
identity, which is based on common principles, values and interests. According
to the Romanian president, the European citizens must see that we are working
on protecting and consolidating the EU symbols, such as the Euro, the free
movement and the Schengen area. Iohannis went on to say that accession to the
border-free Schengen zone is one of Romania’s fundamental goals. In turn, the
European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker said that without Romania,
the European Union is not complete

CELEBRATION On October 25th, Romania celebrates its Armed Forces
Day. On this occasion, command centers and military units all over the country will
be hosting the Doors Open Day, which includes a series of events and activities
aimed at promoting the military profession, cultural and artistic events,
symposiums, exhibitions, film screenings and themed shows. Military ceremonies,
cultural events and competitions have been scheduled in Romania’s units abroad.
October 25th was also the birthday of Romania’s former sovereign
Mihai 1st who died last year at the age of 96. On this day in 1944,
the Romanian army freed northern Transylvania, carrying the fighting to the
territories of Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Austria. Our troops had a major
contribution to the great victory on May 9th 1945, which ended World
War Two in Europe. Over 170 thousand Romanian troops were killed back then
while other hundreds of thousands were wounded or declared missing in
action.

TENNIS Romania’s tennis player Simona Halep has been on top of the WTA
ranking for 51 weeks now. The Romanian athlete now occupies the 10th
position in an all time ranking of the world’s best female tennis players on
par with Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus. Injuries have prevented Halep from
attending the 2018 WTA Finals in Singapore but she is to occupy the first
position until the end of the year, when she will have held it for 60 weeks.
The Romanian has a 15 hundred points advance from runner up Angelique Kerber of
Germany who outperformed Danish Caroline Wozniacki. Romania has five other representatives
in WTA 100: Mihaela Buzarnescu went up a position and is currently ranking 24th,
Irina Begu went down 13 notches and is now 66th, Ana Bogdan ranks 72nd,
Monica Niculescu is 82nd and Sorana Cirstea comes in the 85th
position. Begu and Buzarnescu rank 23rd
and 24th in the doubles rankings.

MOTION The Chamber of Deputies in
Bucharest is today debating upon a simple motion against the Minister of Waters
and Forests, Social-Democrat Ioan Denes, tabled by the opposition National Liberal
Party. According to the signatories of the document, Denes is illegally
managing the situation at the National Forest Administration – Romsilva, in
charge of 60% of Romania’s forests. According to the Liberals, the most
important in terms of waters management remains the issue of flooding, which is
also one of the most pressing shortcomings of the ministry that has been led by
ministers of the Social-Democratic Party since 2012.

TALKS Italy’s deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini is coming to Bucharest today for talks with his Romanian counterpart Carmen Dan. High on the agenda is the Romanian community in Italy, the largest outside Romania and the biggest foreign community in Italy. The Italian official will also hold talks with Ana Birchall, deputy Prime Minister in charge of the implementation of Romania’s strategic partnerships. Two months ago, Salvini accused Romania and Bulgaria of sending slaves to Western Europe at the same time calling for measures to curb human trafficking. The head of the far-right political party Northern League has voiced readiness to tackle with his colleagues from the two countries a series of measures aimed at keeping at bay organized crime activities. A fervent critic of Brussels policy, Salvini has also announced his intention to run for the European Commission’s president next year.

(translated by bill)