November 4, 2024

A roundup of news from Romania and the world

Newsroom, 04.11.2024, 13:55

Visit – The Romanian PM Marcel Ciolacu is paying a working visit to France today, where he will meet with his counterpart, Michel Barnier, as well as representatives of the Romanian community in the Paris region. The visit begins at the Euronaval Exhibition, the largest and oldest exhibition in the world dedicated to the naval defense industry, which opened its doors this morning near Paris. This year’s edition of the exhibition, featuring over 500 exhibitors from around the world, is dedicated to naval security and enhancing combat capabilities, in a tense geopolitical context where the industry needs to provide rapid solutions to military Navies involved in conflicts and for protecting sensitive areas. France is one of Romania’s most important trade partners and investors. The relationship between the two countries has consistently strengthened in recent years, including in the political and defense areas, thanks to the strategic partnership and France’s commitment to its role as the framework nation of NATO’s multinational battle group in Romania, following the war of aggression Russia started against Ukraine.

Floods – The Romanian Foreign Ministry is verifying, through the Romanian Embassy in Madrid and the Romanian Consulate in Castellon de la Plana, the information regarding four Romanian citizens who are reported missing following the recent weather phenomena in Spain. The rest of the individuals previously reported as missing are safe. The Valencia region, located in southeastern Spain, has been hit by devastating floods described by experts as “unprecedented,” which killed at least 217 people, including one Romanian. Dozens of others remain missing. The Spanish press also wrote on a Romanian family that lost their lives in the floods in La Torre, a district near Valencia. The ministry stated in a press release that the representatives of the diplomatic mission and the consulate office remain in constant contact with the Spanish authorities, and mobile consular teams have kept in contact with the Romanian citizens, depending on their requests.

Moldova – The incumbent president of the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population), the pro-European Maia Sandu, has won a second term in office after defeating the pro-Moscow candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo in the decisive round of presidential election held on Sunday. According to data provided by the Central Electoral Commission in Chișinău, Sandu received over 55% of the votes. She thanked the Moldovan citizens living in the Diaspora for voting for her in large numbers. The voter turnout in the diaspora, including in neighboring Romania, is considered historic, being the highest in the last 30 years. Over 320,000 Moldovan citizens voted abroad on Sunday, compared to nearly 240,000 in the first round of voting. The voter turnout in the second round of elections in the Republic of Moldova was 54.31%.

Strike – A token strike was announced by the employees of the National Archives in Romania, the first in the 192-year history of this institution. The archivists from the 42 branches across Romania are unhappy that their salaries are much lower than those from the institution’s central structures. There are differences of 2,000 lei (500 Euros) between employees with the same skills and duties, say the trade unionists. Moreover, they want to warn the authorities that funds are needed to improve the conditions in which the documents, some of which are of inestimable value, are kept. Today’s token strike could turn into an all-out strike on November 11, if the authorities do not come up with an answer to the employees’ demands.

Campaign – During this period, the campaigns for the presidential and parliamentary elections are being held simultaneously in Romania. On November 24, the first round of the presidential election will take place, on December 1 – the voting for the appointment of deputies and senators, and on December 8 – the second round of the presidential election. In the electoral campaign for the parliamentary elections, the parties, alliances or independents must convince the electorate to vote for them in order to win as many of the 466 seats of senators or deputies as possible. On the other hand, 10 candidates proposed by political parties and 4 independents are competing to become president of the country.

US election – The Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and the Republican Donald Trump remain in a tight race in the seven swing states ahead of the US presidential election, according to the final New York Times/Siena College poll. The opinion poll shows that Vice President Harris has minimal advantages in Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin and the former President Trump in Arizona. According to the survey of 7,879 likely voters conducted in the seven states between October 24 and November 2, the two are very close in Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania. In all seven states, the results were within the poll’s 3.5% margin of error. About 40% of respondents have already voted and Kamala Harris leads by 8% among them, while Donald Trump leads among those who say they are very likely to vote but have not yet, the poll shows. Both candidates participated in campaign events at the end of the week in the swing states.

Searches – 130 searches are taking place today in Bucharest and in six counties in the south of Romania, in a file regarding non-compliance with the arms and ammunition regime, qualified smuggling and drug trafficking. Also, 60 people, including the gallery leader of a football club and a singer, are brought to hearings. According to the judicial source, the investigations revealed that a foreign citizen of Turkish origin organized, together with several Romanians, a criminal group specialized in the procurement and sale of lethal firearms, without identification markings, made from components produced in Turkey. These weapons, known as ghost guns, are illegal in all European states. The traffickers brought them into Romania by road, hidden in goods transport vehicles or in the component parts of cars and they were sold through intermediaries to violent clans or individuals. So far, almost 50 such weapons have been confiscated. (LS)