January 18, 2020
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 18.01.2020, 13:50
FORUM – Next week, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis will pay a visit to Israel. He will attend the Fifth World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem, dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and marking 75 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz – Birkenau concentration camp. The forum is titled “Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Antisemitism” and will be held on January 23rd in Jerusalem. The presidents participation in this international forum is one in a string of actions undertaken by the Romanian state with the aim of strengthening education on the Holocaust, fighting anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, promoting the European values, tolerance and respect for fundamental freedoms and rights. On the sidelines of the forum, Klaus Iohannis will meet with his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin.
ECHR – The European Court of Human Rights has sentenced Romania for violating one of its citizens right to freedom of expression. The citizen in question will get 5000 Euro worth of moral damages from the Romanian state. In 2012, he joined a meeting against the then president Traian Basescus centre-right regime and was fined for shouting slogans during the night. According to judges in Strasbourg, a person who protested against political decision-makers during a rally cannot be sanctioned by gendarmes for public nuisance. The courts decision is final.
BREXIT – After Brexit, London will not automatically expel the European citizens who have not requested the settled status, Guy Verhofstadt, the EU Brexit spokesman has stated. He has said that he was told there will be no automatic deportation of people, after the existing grace period, if they fail to apply for settled status. According to the settlement scheme valid post-Brexit, the European citizens who prove theyve resided in the UK for at least five years get the settled status, and the others get the pre-settled status, which will turn into settled when the five years have passed. So far, some 2.4 million EU citizens have received the right to live and work in the UK after Brexit. Most of them are Polish, Romanian and Italian.
POLO – The Romanian mens water polo team has today defeated the Russian squad, in its last Group B match of the European Championships hosted by Budapest. In the first two matches, the Romanian squad was defeated by the Netherlands and Serbia, 9-8 and 15-7 respectively. Before the last match, to be played this evening, Serbia ranks first, followed by Russia, Romania and the Netherlands. The winner of the group will go straight into the quarterfinals.
TENNIS – The organizers of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, have today announced theyve introduced a scaled air quality rating system to determine when play can be suspended following criticism after days of toxic smoke during qualifying. Several players were forced to retire because the air became impossible to breathe. The air quality in Melbourne, where the Australian Open is held, is currently some of the worst in the world, due to an intense bushfire season thats burned millions of acres across the country. Four Romanian players are in the main draw of the tournament: Simona Halep, Sorana Cirstea, Irina Begu and Monica Niculescu.
