October 7, 2019 UPDATE

Foreign Minister Manescu, US Ambassador Klemm to have regular monthly consultations

Newsroom, 07.10.2019, 20:03

JHA Romania’s Justice Minister, Ana Birchall, is attending the first Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting held under the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU. The 2-day meeting will focus on EU measures against corruption, combating cross-border crime by means of Eurojust, electronic evidence and the creation of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. EU officials will also discuss the EU’s accession to the European Court of Human Rights, combating hate speech online, the protection of personal data as well as the relation between democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights. Minister Birchall will meet with counterparts from Member States on the sidelines of the event.

MEETING The Romanian Foreign Minister Ramona Mănescu Monday had a meeting in Bucharest with the US Ambassador in Romania, Hans Klemm. The 2 officials initiated a monthly consultation process designed to cover all topics of bilateral interest. The Romanian Foreign Minister reiterated the countrys firm commitment to further broadening the cooperation between Romania and the US, including, among other things, by tapping the potential generated by the recently signed Memorandum of Agreement on cooperation in the civilian nuclear energy field. Ramona Mănescu also expressed Romanias interest in consolidating dialogue with the USA on all the topics related to regional security, including in terms of energy security. The parties also emphasised the positive effect of top-level visits to Washington and New York with respect to strengthening the strategic partnership between Romania and the US.

CHECKS Transport Minister Razvan Cuc announced additional checks and safety measures will be implemented in traffic considering that last week was marked by numerous accidents, the most serious of which killed 10 people and injured 7. The driver of a truck collided with a minibus on the oncoming lane, preliminary data indicating the possibility he might have fallen asleep while driving. A mixed task force made of representatives of the Police and the State Inspectorate for Traffic Control will examine tachographs to inspect rest hours for professional drivers.

CYBER THREATS Over half of European citizens say they aren’t sufficiently informed regarding cyber threats, 70% of enterprises stating they hold minimum knowledge regarding such risks while 80% of European enterprises having faced at least one cyber-security incident. The statement was made earlier today by Communications Minister Alexandru Popescu in Bucharest. The Romanian official said the authorities continue to invest significant resources in increasing the level of knowledge, training and pre-emptive capacity, as well as response capabilities in case of cyber-attacks. Minister Popescu went on to say that Romania has enhanced its cyber diplomacy by signing a memorandum of understanding this year with Israel, Poland and the United States regarding the cyber security of hardware and software infrastructure, of telecom networks and systems, including 5G.

NOBEL The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine on Monday was jointly awarded to William Kaelin Jr., Sir Peter Ratcliffe and Gregg Semenza for their pioneering research into how human cells respond to changing oxygen levels. The Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine is the first in the series of Nobel prizes awarded at this time of the year. Last year, the Nobel Prize went on to American researcher James P. Allison and Japanese scholar Tasuku Honjo for their achievements regarding the treatment of cancer.

FOOTBALL Romania’s national football team met in Bucharest to train for the matches to be played against the Faeroe Islands on October 12 and against Norway at home, on October 15, in the 2020 European Championship preliminaries. Spain is currently top of the tables with 18 points, followed by Sweden with 11 points, Romania with 10 points, Norway with 9 points, Malta with 3 points and the Faeroe Islands with zero points. The top two teams in each group will advance to the Championship. The draw for the 2020 European Championship will be held in Bucharest on November 30. Bucharest will host four matches, three in the group phase and one in the round of 16. Romania’s under-21 team is also playing Ukraine on Thursday at home, and Northern Ireland next Monday, also at home, as part of the 2021 European Championship preliminaries. We recall that this year Romania’s under-21 team reached the semi-finals of the European Championship hosted by Italy and San Marino.

(translated by: Vlad Palcu, Ana-Maria Popescu)