November 27, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 27.11.2024, 19:50

SCNF. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has convened for Thursday the Supreme Council of National Defense, the Presidential Administration has informed. According to the quoted source, the agenda includes an analysis of potential threats to national security generated by the actions of state and non-state cyber actors on some IT&C infrastructures, used as support during elections. The National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) has requested a detailed investigation from the European Commission on the impact of the Chinese platform TikTok in the elections in Romania this year, arguing that the social media platform would represent a significant threat to national security and the sovereignty of the Romanian state. Media investigations revealed the fact that an intense campaign to promote the winner of the first round of Sunday’s presidential election took place on TikTok.

Elections. The Constitutional Court of Romania is expected to validate the results of the first round of the presidential election by November 28, with the campaign for the second round due to begin on November 29. The Central Electoral Bureau Tuesday presented the final results of Sunday’s ballot. According to them, the non-affiliated candidate Călin Georgescu won the first election round with 22.94% of the votes. Second came the Save Romania Union leader, Elena Lasconi, with 19.18%, followed by the president of the Social Democratic Party, PM Marcel Ciolacu, with 19.15%. Ranking below them are the head of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, with 13.86%, the president of the National Liberal Party, Nicolae Ciuca with 8.79% and the former NATO deputy secretary general Mircea Geoană, who ran independently and was voted for by 6.32% of the voters. The other candidates got less than 5% each.

European Commission. The new European Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen was endorsed on Wedensday by the European Parliament (EP), gathered in plenary session in Strasbourg. Ursula von der Leyen’s new team received 370 votes “for”, 282 “against” and 36 abstentions. The new Community Executive, made up of 6 vice-presidents and 20 commissioners, also includes the Romanian Roxana Mînzatu, who holds the portfolio of Executive Vice-President for the People, Skills and Preparedness. In the debate before the vote, Ursula von der Leyen said that the freedom and sovereignty of the European Union depends “more than ever” on its “economic strength”. She stressed that the first major initiative of the new European Commission will focus on competitiveness to close the gap with the United States and China in new businesses and technologies and to enhance the EU’s security and self-reliance. She also insisted on European defense and the need to do more to compete with Russia’s military spending, in full war with Ukraine, and at a time when Donald Trump is preparing to return to the White House. The term of the new European Commission starts on December 1. Also on Wednesday, the EP voted for the EU budget for 2025 in the amount of approximately 200 billion euros.

Schengen. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis welcomed, on Wednesday, the EU ambassadors’ approval of Romania’s full accession to Schengen. The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States of the European Union (COREPER) approved Romania’s land accession to the Schengen on January 1, 2025. The final decision will be taken at the meeting of the European Union’s interior ministers on December 12, in Brussels. We recall that Romania and Bulgaria partially joined Schengen in March, by suspending air and sea border controls. However, land border controls remained in place due to opposition from Austria, motivated by Vienna’s concerns about illegal migration.

Salary. The minimum gross salary in Romania will increase, starting January 1 next year, from 3,700 to 4,050 lei (1 euro=5 lei), following talks between the government, employers and unions. The bill initiated by the Ministry of Labor had been in public debate and was approved by the Executive in Wednesday’s meeting. In this way, Romania will align with the European directive by which workers have the right to fair wages, and therefore a decent standard of living. The value of the minimum gross salary should be between 47 and 52% of the average gross earnings at national level, and the calculation formula used by the specialists of the Ministry of Labor will have to take into account several criteria, such as: purchasing power, salary growth rate and labor productivity.

US Visa. Romania has met the visa refusal rate criteria for the Visa Waiver Program. The United States Department of State published, on Wednesday, the general situation of the refusal rate of B1/B2 visas for the fiscal year 2024, and Romania stood at 2.61%, below the 3 percent threshold imposed by American legislation to access the program that allows visa-free travel to America. The announcement was welcomed by the Romanian Executive and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The United States Embassy in Bucharest specifies that meeting the refusal rate for travel visas is only one of the many criteria that determine a country’s eligibility for the visa waiver program. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Department of State, evaluates the full range of program requirements, including confirmation that the partner government grants reciprocal privileges to all U.S. citizens and residents, implements certain information-sharing agreements and understandings, and cooperates in enforcing legal provisions regarding immigration, implicitly on leaving the territory of the United States. The Visa Waiver is a US government program that allows citizens of certain countries to travel to the United States for up to 90 days for tourism, business, or transit through US territory without a visa.

Football. Romanian football champions FCSB play on Thursday on home turf against Olympiakos Piraeus, in the 5th round of Europa League. FCSB rank 8th, with 9 points (3 wins and a defeat) while Olympiakos, the defending Conference League champions, rank 11th, with 7 points. The Romanian team is also to play in the current Europa League season against Hoffenheim (December 12, away from home), Qarabag (January 23, away from home) and Manchester United (January 30, on home turf). The top 8 teams qualify in the 8th-finals, while the teams ranking 9th to 24th will take part in playoffs for the 8th-finals.