October 25, 2024 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 25.10.2024, 20:21
BUCHAREST – October 25 is the Romanian Army Day, an event marked in the main garrisons in the country and in the military bases in theatres of operations where Romanian military are dispatched. In Bucharest, the ceremonies took place at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where President Klaus Iohannis said that the Romanian Army is the main pillar of the national defense system, and that it must continue to benefit from ‘a solid financial base’, considerably more than 2% of GDP. October 25 has been marked since 1959, as a moment of celebration of the Romanian Army, which, on this date, in 1944, liberated the northwestern part of the country, occupied by Hungary.
COURT – The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced, on Friday, that it will replace, for medical reasons, the Romanian Iulia Motoc, one of the magistrates appointed to judge the request to issue an arrest warrant against the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, news agencies report. In May, the ICC prosecutor sought arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, arguing that there were reasonable grounds to believe they had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The prosecutor’s request was submitted to a preliminary chamber, which included three magistrates, and the president of the panel was Iulia Motoc. It is expected that her replacement will further delay a decision regarding the possible arrest warrants in the case related to the conflict in the Gaza Strip – commentators say.
ELECTIONS – The campaign for the first round of the presidential election in Romania has kicked off and is due to end on November 23. The presidential elections are scheduled this year on November 24 (the first round) and on December 8 (the second round). In between, on December 1, the parliamentary election will be held. Competing in the presidential race are 14 candidates, 10 of them backed by political parties and 4 running independently. Local and EU parliamentary elections were also held in Romania this year, on June 9.
CONGRESS – Speaking at the European Farmers Congress underway in Bucharest, Romania’s Agriculture Minister, Florin Barbu, has called for a referendum on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) at European level. The Minister wants the farmers to decide in the aforementioned referendum that the CAP remain structured on two major pillars being separated from other European funds after 2027. Barbu says that the European Commission wants to integrate the CAP into the total funds allotted to every member state. Over 500 farmers from Europe are participating in the European Farmers Congress due in Bucharest over October 23-25.
CORRUPTION – The former general manager of the Rapid Bucharest Sports Club, one of the most popular in Romania, Bogdan Vasiliu, was detained by the anti-corruption prosecutors for bribery and abuse of office. He is accused of asking a businessman for 200,000 euros, for awarding lease contracts for the canteen and the restaurant where the club’s athletes dined. From the total amount, he would have received 30 thousand euros in his personal accounts and approximately 70 thousand euros through the accounts of the company controlled by him. According to the prosecutors, two more people were detained in the same case: a former club manager and a businessman.
EU – Romania will promote an “ambitious” European agenda and participate in the reflection processes regarding the internal reform of the European Union, Foreign Affairs Minister, Luminiţa Odobescu, said. She highlighted the “particularly complicated” international context, marked by “multiple crises and major challenges”, as well as the need to implement an “ambitious European agenda, which would contribute to increasing the EU’s global role and ensure in a sustainable way security, prosperity and the well-being” of the citizens.
