October 7, 2024

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 07.10.2024, 13:55

Elections. 16 candidates were admitted to the race for the presidency of Romania. Mandatory documents must be submitted until October 10, when the list of competitors will become definitive. The first round of the presidential elections is scheduled for November 24, and the second for December 8. The presidential election campaign officially begins on October 25. More on this after the news.

Summit. Almost 800 professionals, promoters of the preservation of cultural heritage from Europe and Romania, as well as officials gathered in Bucharest for the European Cultural Heritage Summit 2024, an event organized, between October 6 and 8, by Europa Nostra – the largest and most representative heritage network in Europe. The agenda of talks covers public policy priorities at the European level, as well as in the relationship with the Romanian authorities. Specialists in the field celebrate the best built heritage conservation projects that won the “Europa Nostra” competition. Among them are two projects from Romania – The Saxon Church in Alma Vii (center) and the Church of Saint Michael in Cluj-Napoca (north-west). In total, 206 eligible applications were submitted for this year’s awards, by organizations and individuals from 38 European countries. The 26 winning projects will be awarded today.

Schengen. The Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union will present, at Thursday’s meeting of the ministers of justice and home affairs, the situation of the full application of the Schengen acquis in Romania and Bulgaria. The EU ministers of will take stock, and the discussion will focus on increasing the resilience of external borders. At the end of last year, the Council decided to eliminate controls at the air and sea borders with Romania and Bulgaria, but in order to establish the date for the elimination of controls at the internal land borders with the two states, another decision is needed that can be taken in any format. On Saturday, the head of the Bucharest government, Marcel Ciolacu, stated that there was direct communication with the Austrian authorities in this case, given that Vienna opposed Romania’s accession to Schengen, and added that the coming period would bring good news. A new meeting of the JHA Council is scheduled for early December.

Tribute. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has taken part in a tribute to the victims of the terrorist attack committed exactly one year ago by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in southern Israel and reiterated the EU’s call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the unconditional release of all hostages. The attack committed by Hamas “caused immense suffering not only to the people of Israel, but also to the innocent Palestinians”, stressed the head of the community executive, who promised humanitarian and financial assistance for the Palestinian people and Lebanon. On the other hand, Ursula von der Leyen noted that anti-Semitic incidents are increasing in Europe and pledged to allocate additional resources to combat this phenomenon. On October 7, 2023, Hamas commandos entered southern Israel, where they killed 1,205 people, mostly civilians. Another 251 people were kidnapped by Hamas that day and taken to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Defense Forces retaliated with an intense bombing campaign, followed by a complex ground operation, against Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip. According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Israeli military actions resulted in more than 41 thousand deaths among Palestinians. Thousands of protesters took to the streets over the weekend in major cities around the world, demanding an end to the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip and the Middle East.

Ceremonies. In Israel, commemoration ceremonies are taking place for those killed by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas exactly one year ago. President Isaac Herzog led a ceremony that began shortly after sunrise at the site of the Nova Music festival to mark the time the attack took place here 12 months ago. The ceremony was organized by the relatives and friends of those who were murdered and kidnapped. At the same time, commemorative events will be held in Tel Aviv and other cities in Israel, while the country is still at war in Gaza and recently also in Lebanon, where the Israeli army launched a week ago a ground offensive against the Islamist movement Hezbollah.

Tennis. On Sunday, the Romanian pair Monica Niculescu/Gabriela Ruse won the doubles title of the WTA 125 Hong Kong tennis tournament, with 115,000 dollars in prize money, after defeating the Japanese Nao Hibino/ Makoto Ninomiya 6-3, 5-7, 10-5. For Niculescu and Ruse, it is the second doubles title they have won together after the one won at the ITF tournament in Nottingham, in 2021.