September 28, 2019 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 28.09.2019, 19:00

ELECTION – The
Central Electoral Bureau on Saturday drew lots to set the order of the 14 candidates
on voting ballots for the presidential election. All parliamentary parties have
submitted a candidate. The top candidates are acting president Klaus Iohannis,
supported by the National Liberal Party in opposition, Social-Democrat Prime Minister
Viorica Dăncilă, Dan Barna representing the Save Romania Union – Plus Alliance,
Theodor Paleologu, the candidate of the People’s Movement Party, Mircea
Diaconu, who has rallied the support of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats
and Pro Romania Party, and Kelemen Hunor from the Democratic Union of Ethnic
Hungarians. Other candidates from non-parliamentary parties are Cătălin Ivan,
Ninel Peia, Sebastian-Constantin Popescu, John-Ion Banu, Ramona-Ioana
Bruynseels and Viorel Cataramă. Bogdan Stanoevici and Alexandru Cumpănaşu are
independent candidates. October 12 is the first day of the campaign, the first
round of the election is scheduled for November 10, and the decisive round on
November 24. According to a government resolution, Romanians living abroad will
be able to vote between November 8 and 10 in the first round, and between
November 22 and 24 for the runoff.

MOTION – Liberal
leader Ludovic Orban announced a no-confidence motion will be filed against the
Social-Democrat Government at the start of next week. The Liberals will rely on
237 votes, which is enough to remove the Dancila Cabinet, Orban added, who says
this reflects Parliament’s clear willingness to change the Government. Chamber
of Deputies Speaker Social-Democrat Marcel Ciolacu expressed doubt over the
motion’s chances to succeed, saying the Liberals have not presented a governing
program or come up with an alternative Prime Minister.

VISIT – Prime
Minister Viorica Dancila, on a visit to the United States, has told US
investors that her Government has adopted ambitious measures to boost
businesses in the fields of energy, healthcare, research, IT and
communications. According to a Government release, representatives of US
companies have appreciated the Romanian authorities openness towards dialogue and
increase in the budgets for investing in healthcare, infrastructure and
defense. Previously, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila met with US Energy
Secretary Rick Perry, on which occasion Romania and the United States signed a
memorandum of understanding concerning strategic civil nuclear cooperation
(NCMOU). The Romanian official expressed her Government’s commitment towards
the development of economic cooperation under the Strategic Partnership between
the two states, grounded on a pragmatic and mutually advantageous cooperation.

EUROPALIA – The
Europalia International Arts Festival will kick off on October 1 in Brussels,
with Romania as guest of honor. Attending the opening ceremony will be
President Klaus Iohannis and King Philippe of Belgium. The two officials will
also visit the exhibition titled Brancusi – the Sublimation of Form, the most
important event devoted to the Romanian-born sculptor Constantin Brancusi organized
in the last few decades, and will also be attending the Romanian Rhapsody concert
performed by the RaRo-SoNoRo ensemble. The Europalia Romania Festival, held
over October 2019 – February 2020, comprises events in the fields of visual
arts, performing arts, music, film, literature and cultural education, held in
Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and Great Britain.
Romania will be organizing over 250 events at the 27th edition of
the festival.

CHIRAC – The
French Embassy in Bucharest has opened a book of condolences on its webpage for
anyone willing to pay homage to the former French President Jacques Chircac,
who passed away Thursday aged 86. President Emmanuel Macron has declared a
national mourning day on Monday, on which occasion flags will be flown at
half-mast, including at the French Embassy in Bucharest. France is in mourning
after the death of Jacques Chirac, a statesman, a great European and a friend
of Romania, a country he visited on several occasion, especially during the
Summit of La Francophonie hosted by Bucharest in 2006, the French Embassy
writes on its Facebook page.

TENNIS – Romanian
tennis player Simona Halep (WTA no. 6) on Sunday will play Rebecca Peterson of
Sweden (53 WTA) in the first round at the Beijing Open, totaling some 8.3
million dollars in prize money. On Saturday, another Romanian, Sorana Cirstea lost
6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to Alison van Uytvanck of Belgium in the final of the WTA
tournament in Tashkent, totaling 250 thousand dollars in prize money. This was
Sorana’s second final in Uzbekistan, following the one in 2008, when she won
her only title in the singles circuit. Cirstea played another two finals in WTA
competitions, in 2007 in Budapest and in 2013 in Toronto. In 2012 in Tashkent,
another Romania, Irina Begu, won the title.

HANDBALL – The
Romanian women’s handball team is playing the Faeroe Islands on Sunday in a
match counting towards the 2020 European Championship preliminary Group 7. On
Wednesday, in its debut match, Romania defeated 27-24 neighboring Ukraine at
home. The first two teams will advance to the final tournament. At the previous
edition of 2018, Romania ranked 4th, losing the bronze final to the
Netherlands.

(Translated by V.
Palcu)