26 May, 2018

A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 26.05.2018, 13:53

Government. The first Romanian-Polish
intergovernmental meeting was held on Friday in Warsaw. It was agreed to
intensify political dialogue at all levels to prepare Romania’s presidency of
the EU Council, the signing of a bilateral cooperation agreement in the defence
area and holding a Romanian-Polish business forum. Talks were held as the two
countries are both celebrating their national centenary year in 2018. The
Romanian prime minister Viorica Dancila met her counterpart Mateusz
Morawiecki. She emphasised the excellent level of bilateral cooperation and
stood for expanding it in the economic, investment and energy sectors. The
Polish prime minister also noted the remarkable collaboration between the two countries
in the 99 years of diplomatic ties on a political, economic and cultural level
and reiterated his country’s support for Romania’s joining the Schengen
passport-free area.

Death. The
Romanian foreign ministry has issued a statement saying it deeply regrets the
passing of the former minister for European integration Hildegard-Carola Puwak, describing her as a personality of
the national political life. Her initiatives as minister for European
integration contributed to the fulfilment of Romania’s national strategic
objective of joining the European Union, the statement also reads. Puwak served
as a cabinet state secretary in the department for economic reform between 1993
and 1996 and then as a minister for European integration in the Nastase cabinet
between 2000 and 2003. She also served two terms as a member of Parliament and
was a member of the Social Democratic Party. She died on Friday aged 68.

Measles. The
total number of measles cases reported so far in Romania has reached 13,563,
while the death toll is 55, according to the National Centre for the
Surveillance and Control of Communicable Diseases within the National Institute
of Public Health. The 55th confirmed victim was a 3-month old baby
from Iasi county, in the north-east. 237 new cases were confirmed between the
21st and the 25th of May in 18 counties and the capital
Bucharest. The highest number of cases has been reported in Constanta, with 63,
and in Buzau, with 60.

GDPR. The General
Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has come into force across the European
Union. From now on, identification, transactional, financial, demographic,
tracking and other type of personal data belonging to private individuals using
certain services must be collected and processed responsibly by companies in
various fields of activity. The new regulation also stipulates that personal
data operators must appoint a person responsible for data protection.
Significant penalties are stipulated for infringements of the regulation.

Film festival. The Transylvania International Film Festival
is under way in Cluj Napoca, in north-western Romania, until the 3rd
of June. One of the biggest film festivals in Europe, this year it brings
together 227 titles from around the world, including feature films and short
films. A special section is dedicated to local directors. The French actress
Fanny Ardant will be handing out the Transylvania Trophy this year, while the
festival’s guest of honour is the Romanian opera singer Angela Gheorghiu.

Book fair.
Romania is the guest country at the Madrid Book Fair under way in the Spanish
capital until the 10th of June. Over 100 titles of Romanian books
translated into Spanish are available at the fair. Visitors will also have the
chance to meet popular Romanian writers and poets such as Mircea Cartarescu and
Ana Blandiana. Spanish is the language that has seen the largest number of
translations of Romanian literature, and the celebration of the Romanian
centennial year is a good opportunity to find out more about Romania’s recent history.

French Open. Romanian and world
no. 1 Simona Halep will be facing the American player Alison Riske in the
opening round of the Roland Garros Grand Slam tennis tournament which gets
under way on Sunday in Paris. Halep played two finals at the French Open and
lost both, first in 2014 and then again last year, and is seeded first this
year. Four other Romanian players feature on the main draw in the women’s
singles: world no. 34 Mihaela Buzarnescu, who will be seeded for the first time
and who plays Vania King of the US in the first round; world no. 41 Irina Begu,
who plays Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova; world no. 45 Sorana Cirstea,
who plays Australia’s Daria Gavrilova and world no. 65 Ana Bogdan, who will be
facing the Czech player Marketa Vondrousova in the opening round. Another
Romanian player, Alexandra Dulgheru, made it to the main draw after a dramatic
victory in the qualifiers. There’s only one Romanian player in the men’s
singles, world no. 95 Marius Copil, who plays Italy’s Marco Cecchinato in the
first round.

Football. Real Madrid face Liverpool today in the
Champions League football final hosted by Kiev. Real are looking for their
third consecutive title, which would be a first in the current version of the
competition. The two sides have faced each other five times before, with
Liverpool winning three times and Real twice.