October 25, 2015

Click here for a round-up of news from Romania

Roxana Vasile, 25.10.2015, 14:17

MIGRATION CRISIS – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, alongside heads of state and government, is today attending in Brussels a mini-summit convened by the European Commission and devoted to the migration crisis in the Western Balkans. According to France Presse news agency, leaders from 10 EU member states as well as from Albania, Macedonia and Serbia, which are not members of the community block, have been invited to attend the summit. The agenda of the talks will cover, among others, the issue of relocating 160,000 refugees, agreed upon a couple of months ago, but which has been left pending, as well as the EU member states financial contribution to solve the migration crisis. Radio Romanias correspondent in Brussels quotes European sources as saying the draft agreement provides, among others, for the participating countries to no longer allow migrants to cross into a neighbouring country, in the lack of a previous agreement in that respect.

ROYAL ANNIVERSARY – Romanias former sovereign, king Mihai I, is today turning 94 years old. On this occasion, the 8th edition of a Royal Charity Concert will be organised by the Princess Margareta Foundation in Bucharest on Sunday evening. We recall that Mihai I is Romanias last king and the only surviving head of state from World War II. He ruled Romania two times, between 1927 and 1930, and between 1940 and 1947, respectively. Forced by the communists to abdicate on December 30th 1947, the former sovereign lived in exile. After the anti-totalitarian revolution of 1989, he returned to his native Romania.

ROMANIAN ARMY DAY – Military and religious ceremonies, shows, military technology exhibitions and sports competitions are among the highlights of the day, October 25th, when Romania marks Army Day. Some of the line institutions have decided to organise an open door day, for those interested to come and see how their activities unfold. The first Romanian Military Cemetery, in memory of the troops who died in the line of duty in Stalingrad, on the territory of the former USSR, during Word War II, has been inaugurated in the Russian locality of Rossoshka. In the battle of Stalingrad, the Romanian Army sustained the largest number of casualties in its history: 155,000 military were reported dead, injured or missing in action. The precise number of fatalities is still unknown.

MILITARY EXERCISES – Romanian military are taking part, until October 28th, in two multinational naval military drills led by Turkey and unfolding concurrently in several Mediterranean and Marmaris countries.The MARSEC 15 exercise is held in the Eastern Mediterranean, in Turkeys territorial waters, and comes in response to the tense situation in the Middle East and to the illegal migration phenomenon which is gaining ground at a fast pace. Taking part in the NUSRET 15 mine warfare exercise are Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, the US and Turkey. The aim of the exercise is to provide training for the planning and execution of mine warfare and to improve the interoperability in mine warfare, between warships from participating countries.

WINTER TIME – On Saturday to Sunday night, Romania switched to winter time. Clocks went back an hour to mark the end of summer time, and thus 4:00 AM became 3:00 AM. The change will mean darker evenings, which will remain until the clocks are put forward again, in March. Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the practice of turning the clock ahead in March, as warmer weather approaches and back, in October, for people to have one more hour of daylight during the warmer season and thus save energy. The daylight saving time method was first applied during WWI, in 1916, by several European countries, and taken over by Romania in 1931.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep got a favorable start in the WTA Tournament of Champions, held in Singapore. She defeated Italian Flavia Pennetta, in two sets, 6-0, 6-3, in a Red Group match. First seeded Simona Halep outclassed seven-seeded Flavia Pennetta in a match which lasted one hour and ten minutes. Halep got a swift revenge for the US Open semifinals she lost last month to 33- year- old Flavia Pennetta. Russian Maria Sharapova and Polish Agnieszka Radwanska are also playing in the Red Group. Spanish Garbine Muguruza, Czech Petra Kvitova, German Angelique Kerber and Czech Lucie Safarova are playing in the other group of the tournament. The first two players with the best results in each group will qualify for the semi-finals.