May 20, 2023
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 20.05.2023, 13:55
Education. The debates on the education bills continue in the Education Committee of the Romanian Senate, which must adopt the reports that will be sent to the plenary no later than Monday. While the higher education law has already received a favorable report from the committee, the provisions aimed at pre-university education have brought tensions between the government and the opposition. The bone of contention was represented by the oppositions desire, also supported by the student and parents associations, to eliminate a possible additional exam after the National Assessment, for half of the number of places in a high school. The two education bills should receive the decisive vote in the Senate plenary on Monday. In parallel, the countdown for the strike announced for months by the education unions has begun. Theyve said, however, that they will accept possible negotiations over the weekend and proposals from the Government. The claims are mainly salary related.
G7. The leaders of the G7 countries, gathered in Hiroshima, Japan, have called on China to put pressure on Russia to stop its aggression against Ukraine, stating at the same time that they want constructive and stable relations with Beijing, France Presse reports On Friday, on the first day of talks, the G7 leaders stated that Ukraine had the necessary budgetary support for the current year and the beginning of 2024 and renewed their commitments to provide financial and military support to Kyiv, to help it deal with the Russian aggression. In a statement, they also called for the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops and military equipment from within the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived in Hiroshima this morning, participated in the summit. In another move, the European allies welcomed the US decision to allow Ukrainian pilots to train on US-made F-16 fighter jets. According to the BBC, US leader Joe Biden was reluctant, fearing that giving Ukraine fighter jets would escalate the conflict, but has now given in to pressure from allies, allowing Ukrainian pilots to train on F-16 models. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that Britain will work with the US, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark to provide Ukraine with the air combat capabilities it needs.
Refugees. More than 4 million refugees have entered Romania since the beginning of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, last February. Most of them only transited the country to reach Western Europe, but, according to data published by the Romanian authorities, 130,000 Ukrainian refugees have benefited from protection in Romania, over 42,000 being registered in Bucharest alone.
Moldova. On Sunday morning, at the initiative of President Maia Sandu, a large demonstration will take place in Chisinau to show the citizens support for the European integration of their country. The event takes place in the context in which the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, predominantly Romanian-speaking), as a candidate country, would like to start accession negotiations by the end of this year. In order to move to this stage, the Republic of Moldova has to fulfill nine recommendations, which will be evaluated by the fall in a European Commission report. The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, will also participate in the event in Chisinau.
Elections. Elections for the unicameral parliament with 300 deputies will be held in Greece on Sunday. For the first time in the last 30 years, the ballot is exclusive, according to proportional representation, with a threshold of 3%, and opinion polls indicate six parties that will make it to parliament. In the lead is Kyriakos Mitsotakiss ruling New Democracy party, followed by Alexis Tsiprass left-wing Syriza party. If a new coalition government cannot be formed, new elections will be called for the month of June, at which, however, the granting of bonus mandates to the first party will be resumed and, in this way, it will be possible to form a new majority government or a coalition government.
Halep. The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, former world number one, faces a new case, related to irregularities in the data of her biological passport, the tennis anti-doping authority has announced. Halep, the 2018 Roland Garros and 2019 Wimbledon champion, has been provisionally suspended since last October after testing positive for roxadustat during the US Open in August 2022. In an interview with Tennis Majors published in late April, the player cited a contamination of one of her dietary supplements to explain the positive test. The new case, confirmed on Friday by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), is based on an assessment of the profile of her biological passport by a group of independent experts. The biological passport makes it possible to monitor different blood parameters over a long period of time. In a statement broadcast on Friday evening, Simona Halep says that she is “living the worst nightmare” of her life since the announcement of the suspension, on October 7, and denounces a form of “harassment” on the part of ITIA, which she accuses of trying to prove that she is guilty of something she has never done. (MI)
