THE WEEK IN REVIEW
15-19 July, 2024
Leyla Cheamil, 20.07.2024, 13:00
Weather record in Romania – the longest heat wave
Romania went through the longest red code heatwave in the history of meteorological measurements. On Thursday, the last warning of this kind, restricted to the counties in the south of the country, including the capital, expired. Maximum temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, and during the tropical nights the temperatures did not drop below 25 degrees. The thermal discomfort was particularly pronounced, and the temperature-humidity index exceeded the critical threshold of 80 units. Although, for the moment, it is decreasing considerably, the excessive heat affected the health of many people. The number of those who needed emergency interventions throughout the country was of the order of tens of thousands, and there were also several deaths. The supply of drinking water has become a problem for hundreds of localities. These days, the water supply has decreased, which has led the authorities in hundreds of localities to reduce the supply to only a few hours a day, or once every several days. Also, the energy system suffered, and vegetation fires were more frequent, and on considerable surfaces.
The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, at the EPC meeting in Great Britain
The head of the Romanian state, Klaus Iohannis, pleaded, on Thursday, for cooperation in the field of energy and for the continuation of the support given to Ukraine, during the fourth meeting of the European Political Community. The event attended by leaders from over 40 countries took place in Great Britain. Klaus Iohannis said that efforts to strengthen cooperation in the field of energy and connectivity represent essential objectives for strengthening national and European resilience, in a context marked by the challenge of climate change management, but also by developments such as those in Ukraine, which reconfirmed the need of action to limit strategic dependencies. President Iohannis highlighted Romania’s efforts in supporting these areas, as well as the country’s role at the regional level, including through a more active involvement in Black Sea projects. According to the Presidential Administration, Klaus Iohannis emphasized the importance of strengthening energy connections at national and regional level and the development of energy infrastructure, which can contribute to the consolidation of energy independence at the European level. Also, on the sidelines of the meeting, there was a meeting of the leaders from Romania, Great Britain, Poland, France, and Germany with the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu. The leaders of these countries reaffirmed their determination to continue supporting Chisinau in achieving its goals of peace, prosperity, and democracy.
Two Romanians in the leadership of the EP
Two of the 14 vice-presidents of the new European Parliament are Romanian. They are Victor Negrescu and Nicolae Ștefănuță, who were elected on Tuesday, in the first session of the legislature. Victor Negrescu was a candidate from the social-democratic group, and Nicolae Ştefănuţă from the green group. Both enjoyed the support of the parliamentary majority formed around the populists, Social Democrats and Liberals from Renew. Aged 38, Victor Negrescu represented Romania as a member of the European Parliament between 2014-2017, and from 2020 to the present. He also held other administrative roles in the European legislature. Nicolae Ştefănuţă, MEP since 2019, obtained his current term by running as an independent, and is affiliated with the green group.
Measures for the management of the bear population in Romania
Summoned in an extraordinary session, the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies from Bucharest approved, on Monday, with a large majority, the draft law introduced by the UDMR (former governing partner of PSD and PNL), which amends the legislation on bear hunting, a document voted last year in the Senate . The project provides, for the years 2024 and 2025, the possibility of shooting more than 400 brown bears. This legislative action comes shortly after the recent tragedy in the mountains, when a 19-year-old girl died on a mountain trail after being attacked by a bear. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu stated that by amending the law, shooting bears will not be a free for all, as some government organizations fear, and that legislative interventions are aimed at preventing attacks on the human population and damage caused by bear attacks. For his part, UDMR senator Tánczos Barna, sponsor of the project, declared that a preventive intervention is needed, as is done in all EU member states, where there is a significant brown bear population.
President of Romania Klaus Iohannis received the athletes who will participate in the Olympic Games in Paris
President Klaus Iohannis received, on Wednesday, at Cotroceni Palace, the athletes who will represent Romania at the Olympic Games in Paris. The head of state handed the flag of the country to the Olympic team, made up of 107 athletes. Klaus Iohannis stated, on this occasion, that Olympic-level performance is built through hard work, with a lot of determination, discipline, and passion. Staying in this register, let’s remember that Nadia Comăneci appears in an illustrated book about the legends of the Summer Olympics, published a few days before the competition that is about to start in Paris. Titled “The Last Heroes. 100 moments of Olympic Legends”, the book pays tribute to exceptional athletes, and presents the unforgettable moments of each Olympics. An extraordinary episode noted in the book is the first 10 ever awarded in gymnastics, by which the 14-year-old Romanian surprised at the Montreal Games in 1976, and even the scoreboard, which was not programmed for such a score, displayed the grade one instead. Nadia received seven marks of 10 in Montreal, with which she won three gold, one silver, and one bronze medals.
