7 July 2019, UPDATE

A roundup of some of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 07.07.2019, 18:57

Reshuffle. The leadership of the
Social Democratic Party, the senior partner in the ruling coalition in
Bucharest, will begin talks on a government reshuffle. The talks may last a few
weeks, with the performance of each ministry being evaluated during this time,
explained the party’s new leader, prime minister Viorica Dancila. She said the
reshuffle may be accompanied by a government restructuring. As for the Social
Democrats’ candidate in the presidential elections this autumn, his or her name
will be established based on opinion polls and will be announced in the first
part of August. We recall that prime minister Dancila took over the leadership
of the party after the former leader Liviu Dragnea was sent to prison for acts
of corruption on the 27th of May. A day earlier, the Social Democratic
Party had lost the European elections to the National Liberal Party in opposition,
while its junior partner in the ruling coalition, the Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats, fell below the required 5% threshold.

Justice Day. Romania’s president
Klaus Iohannis said in a message on Justice Day on Sunday that recent years
have been marked by repeated attempts to subordinate the judiciary to politics through
sudden changes to the laws on the organisation of the judiciary, the status of
magistrates and the criminal legislation, but that this attack has been met
with a prompt reaction from citizens and magistrates. Justice minister Ana
Birchall has also conveyed a message saying citizens’ respect and trust must be
earned back. She also said that the future of the Romanian judiciary can only
be in Europe and the Transatlantic family, and this means assimilating the
values, principles and standards these partnerships imply. Established 25 years
ago, Justice Day is celebrated every year on the first Sunday in July.

Protest. Around 100 people staged a
protest on Sunday in Bucharest against the adoption by the government formed by
the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats of the
new administrative code by emergency order. Protesters say the order was issued
under pressure from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and
the neighbouring Hungary and that it is an act of national betrayal. They
claim the code leads to the dissolution of the authority of the state in areas
of the country with a small ethnic Romanian population and facilitates autonomy
on ethnic grounds, a goal publicly stated by the Democratic Union of Ethnic
Hungarians in Romania. Earlier, however, the code had come under harsh
criticism from Hungarian officials and the Union, who said it diminishes the
rights of the minorities and hinders the decentralisation process. President
Klaus Iohannis believes the adoption of the document by emergency order is an
attack on the entire administrative system in Romania. The Save Romania Union,
in opposition, says the code will deteriorate even further the administrative process
at a local level. The Social Democrat deputy prime minister Daniel Suciu says
the new code is not perfect, but that it will be improved in Parliament.

Diaspora. By the end of August,
3,000 pupils, students and teachers from the ethnic Romanian communities in the
neighbouring countries and around the world have a change to enhance their
knowledge of Romanian culture and civilisation in a series of special camps.
The programme is organised by the ministry for Romanians abroad and the
ministry for youth and sports and takes place at four locations: Sulina, in
Tulcea county, in the Danube Delta, in the south-east; Oglinzi, in Neamt
county, in the north-east; in Sacelu, in Gorj county; and Caprioara, in
Hunedoara county, both in the south-west. The participants come from the
historical ethnic Romanian communities in the Republic of Moldova (with a
majority Romanian-speaking population), including Transnistria, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Albania, North Macedonia
and Hungary, as well as from the diaspora, from Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal,
the UK, France, Germany, Canada, the US, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Romanian minister for Romanians abroad Natalia Intotero says the goal of
these camps is to increase awareness with respect to belonging to the Romanian
identity, enhance knowledge of Romanian language, facilitate interaction and
dialogue and promote Romania’s image.

Football. The Romanian football champions CFR
Cluj are in Kazakhstan, where they meet the local side FC Astana on Tuesday in
the first leg of the first Champions League qualifying round. On Saturday, CFR
lost the Romanian Supercup title nil-1 to FC Viitorul Constanta. The latter
will be facing the Belgian side FC
Anvers managed by the former Romanian international player Ladislau Boloni in
the Europa League. FCSB will face the Moldovan side Milsami
Orhei and CSU Craiova the Azeri side FK
Sabail, also in the Europa League.

Tennis. Romania’s Simona Halep on
Monday faces the American 15-year old Cori Gauff in the quarterfinals at
Wimbledon. A former world no. 1 and currently seeded 7th, Halep is
the only Romanian player still in competition in the women’s singles. In the women’s
doubles, the all-Romanian pair Monica Niculescu and Irina Begu have reached the
quarterfinals where they will face the pair seeded third, Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic and Hsieh Su-wei
of Taiwan. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecau and
Jean-Julien Rojer have also reached the quarterfinals and will meet the
Argentine pair Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos.