3 November 2019, UPDATE

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

Newsroom, 03.11.2019, 19:20

Parliament vote. On Monday, the Romanian Parliament
will hold a vote on the Liberal government proposed by the prime minister
designate Ludovic Orban. 233 yes votes are needed for the new government to
take office. To secure this outcome, Orban has concluded political agreements
and deals with the Save Romania Union, the Democratic Union of Ethnic
Hungarians in Romania, the People’s Movement Party, the Alliance of Liberals
and Democrats and the group of ethnic minorities. The Social Democratic Party
and the Pro Romania party both said their members would be absent from the
vote. Orban’s cabinet would replace Viorica Dancila’s Social Democratic
government which was brought down following a no-confidence vote. Ludovic Orban
has proposed a government with fewer ministries whose priorities include
picking Romania’s candidate for the position of EU commissioner, the final
budget adjustment this year and the budget for next year.

Protest. Miners from two mines in the Jiu Valley, in the
centre-west, have entered their 7th day of protests, while others,
who have barricaded themselves underground, say they will not give in unless
their demands are met. The miners, who are about to lose their jobs at the
beginning of next year when the mine closes, want the same type of social
protection as the miners laid off so far. They demand the passing of an
emergency order by the government to guarantee a monthly income for the next two
years and other rights. Their representatives will have talks on Monday with
the outgoing prime minister Viorica Dancila and the incumbent energy ministrer in an attempt to find a solution. The process to close the two mines began at
the end of 2017.

Tourism. More than 10 million people were registered in tourist facilities in Romania in the first nine months of the year, according to the latest figures published by the National Institute for Statistics. This points to a 4.4% increase compared with the same period last year. 80% of the number of tourists were Romanians. With regard to foreign tourists, most of them came from Germany, Israel, Italy, the US, Hungary, France and Britain. The places attracting the largest number of tourists were Bucharest, the Black Sea port of Constanta, Brasov (in the centre), Cluj (in the north-west), Mures (in the centre) and Prahova (in the south).

Exercise. The Romanian navy’s King
Ferdinand frigate, backed by a Puma Naval helicopter and with a special operations
naval forces unit on board, is taking part in the Sea Guardian NATO exercise
under way in the Mediterranean Sea. The Romanian vessel is carrying out
missions aimed at deterring illegal activities on the NATO and EU southern
flank coordinated by the NATO Allied Maritime Command. It will stop in the
Haifa port in Israel and in Limassol, in Cyprus, for recovery and naval
diplomacy, visits and talks with local civilian and military officials. The
vessel’s first stopover was the Aksaz port in southern Turkey before joining
the frigate Navarinon from Greece and the frigate Verni
from Bulgaria.

Fair. The 24th
edition of the Indagra international fair came to an end on Sunday in Bucharest.
This is the biggest fair for products and equipment related to agriculture,
wine-making and animal breeding in Romania. This year, it has brought together
550 exhibitors from 25 countries. Conference and seminars were held during the
fair on topics such as the innovation-based development of agriculture in
Romania, promoting Romanian products on the domestic and international market
and the access of Romanian producers to European funds. Food and wine tasting
events were also held.

Fencing.
The Romanian fencer Ana-Maria Popescu, an Olympic medalist with her team in
Rio, on Sunday won the Women’s Epee World Cup hosted by the Estonian capital
Tallinn. She defeated Russia’s Violetta Kolobova in the final, 15:13. In her
way to the final, Popescu defeated Estonia’s
Katrina Lehis in the first round, followed by Courtney Hurley of the
US in the next round, Sera Song of South Korea in the last 16, Nicol Foietta of
Italy in the quarterfinals and Yiwen Sun of China in the semifinals. Two
Chinese fencers finished second and third, Yiwen Sun and Mingye Zhu. In the
team event, Romania ranked 11th.

Tennis. The Australian tennis
player Ashleigh Barty, world no. 1, on Sunday won the WTA Finals in Shenzhen,
China. She defeated the trophy holder, world no. 8 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine
in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Before this match, Barty had lost all her five
previous matches against Svitolina. This is her third trophy this year after
Miami and Roland Garros, which takes her to a total of six titles in
professional tennis. Thanks to her results at the WTA Finals, she is sure to
remain world no. at the end of the year. Romania’s Simona Halep, who is world
no. 5, failed to reach the semifinals in Shenzen as she lost to the Czech
player Karolina Pliskova, world no. 2, in three sets, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4.