November 29, 2019

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 29.11.2019, 14:00

REVOLUTION TRIAL – The High Court of
Cassation and Justice in Bucharest has set for today the first hearing in the
Revolution Case, where former President Ion Iliescu is being prosecuted for
crimes against humanity. The indictment was sent to magistrates in April.
Investigated in the same case are former deputy Prime Minister Gelu Voican
Voiculescu and the former head of the Military Aviation, General Iosif Rus.
According to prosecutors, against the backdrop of the poor relations between
Romania and the USSR after Prague, 1968, and as a result of the general state
of public unrest, a dissident group formed with the purpose of removing
dictator Nicolae Ceausescu from power, but which sought to maintain Romania in
the Soviet sphere of influence. Prosecutors say this group was made up of
civilians and military figures, both marginalized in some way by the former
president. Its members belonged to the Ministry of Defense and the Directorate
of State Security, as well as to various civilian structures in the state.
Prosecutors also claim the group surrounding Ion Iliescu acted to take over
political and military power in December 1989. Therefore the entire military
power of Romania, the Defense and Interior ministries, the State Security
Department, as well as the patriot guards acted on behalf of the National
Salvation Front Council and its leadership starting December 22, 1989.

F-16 – Romania will be purchasing
another 5 F-16 fighter jets from Portugal, a Government bill reads. The Defense
Ministry says the bill was submitted to Parliament to be debated and adopted as
a top priority. Ministry officials claim the jets will have the same
configuration as the other 12 previously purchased by the Romanian Air Force.
The Ministry believes this measure would involve the national defense industry
in the maintenance, repair works and modernization of the aircraft.

US – ROMANIA RELATIONS – Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu has commended
US Ambassador Hans Klemm for his entire activity in Bucharest and his
substantial and effective contribution to the development and advancement of
the Strategic Partnership between the two states. Minister Aurescu and
Ambassador Klemm referred to consolidating cooperation in the field of civil
nuclear engineering and the security of 5G networks. At the same time, the
Romanian official reiterated our country’s legitimate interest in acceding to
the Visa Waiver programme, expressing hope the decreasing visa refusal rate
during Ambassador Klemm’s term in office is a positive trend that would
continue in the future as well. New-York-based lawyer Adrian Zuckerman is due
to replace Hans Klemm as US Ambassador to Bucharest. Zuckerman last week was
confirmed by the US Senate. A fluent Romanian speaker, Adrian Zuckerman moved
to the United States with his family at the age of 10.

CLIMATE CHANGE – Bucharest is today
playing host to a climate action march. Held under the slogan Climate Action
Day, the march will be organized in another 11 cities in the country: Târgu Jiu, Iaşi, Timişoara,
Constanţa, Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Sibiu, Braşov, Bacău, Târgul Ocna and Craiova. Organizers
want to raise awarenes over the effects of global warming. Some 1,000 people
attended the previous such march held on September 20 in Bucharest, and another
800 people took part in similar events in another eight cities in Romania. We
recall this Thursday MEPs passed a resolution declaring a climate emergency,
just ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) scheduled for December
2-13 in Madrid.

FOOTBALL – Romanian champions CFR Cluj on
Thursday lost 1-nil to Lazio Rome in Europa League Group E. Celtic Glasgow of
Scotland is top of the tables with 13 points, followed by CFR Cluj with 9
points, Lazio Rome with 6 points and Rennes of France with 1 point. CFR will
next take on Celtic Glasgow at home on December 12, with the Scottish side
having already secured qualification to the next phase. In other news from
football, this Saturday Bucharest hosts the 2020 European Championship draw.
Romania will host four matches next year, three in the group phase and one in
the round of 16. Our national team didn’t move past the preliminaries, but
still holds chances of qualifying, as it will play in the Nations League
playoff scheduled for March next year. Romania will play Iceland on March 26,
and if it wins it will play the winner of the match pitting Bulgaria and
Hungary in a match that will decide who will qualify to EURO 2020.

HANDBALL – The Romanian women’s
handball team is tomorrow playing Spain in the first match in Group C at the
World Cup hosted by Japan until December 15. Romania was drawn in Group C
alongside Senegal, Kazakhstan, Montenegro and Hungary. The top three teams will
advance to the next phase. From 1957 to 2017, Romania has never missed a World
Cup. Our country won silver in 2005 in Russia and bronze in 2015 in Denmark.

(Translated by
V. Palcu)