SECURITY – NATO continues to play a key role in the present security context and Romania has become a positive example by taking the decision to allot 2% of the GDP to defence, Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu said on Saturday. Melescanu mentioned Romania’s role as member of the trans-Atlantic community, strongly committed to supporting dialogue and debate on the new security challenges. Melescanu emphasised the process of consolidation of the EU’s role in the field of security and defense, the evolutions within NATO and the multiple challenges that require proper strategic and operational answers.
ELECTIONS — French voters return to the polls in a two-stage parliamentary election on 11 and 18 June. The party of the French President Emmanuel Macron is likely to win almost one third of votes on Sunday, at the first round of the parliamentary elections. Recent polls suggest that Macron’s party, La République en Marche (LREM) may attract 30% of the vote, well ahead of the centre-right Republicans and far-right National Front (FN). Significantly, that would give him at least 330 of the National Assemblys 577 and possibly far more.
INTERNET – The Romanian Police has taken part, alongside similar institutions in Europe and NGOs in an exercise meant to test how fast IT companies react to online content that instigates to hate. According to a press release, in a period of six weeks over 50 such comments, videos, pages and profiles have been reported, 15 of them being removed by social platforms administrators in 24 hours since being signalled. In 2016 the European Commission announced the signing of a code of conduct that includes a series of guidelines aimed at removing the online hate-motivated content.
PRESIDENCY — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will pay a two-day visit to Berlin starting on June 19, to hold talks with his German counterpart Frank Steinmeier and with Chancellor Angela Merkel , official sources told Radio Romania. On the sidelines of the European Council in Brussels, due on June 22 and 23, Iohannis will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron. President Iohannis has ended his 5-day visit to the US with a meeting with the country’s president, Donald Trump, at the White House. President Trump called Romania a good friend of America and said the two countries share much in common, including a love of freedom. He also thanked Romania for its contribution to common defence and the fight against terrorism, saying it is a valuable ally. He also applauded Romanias efforts in clamping down on corruption. In his turn, President Iohannis said the two leaders had a very good meeting and reiterated the importance of the Strategic Partnership for Romania, which, he said, had shaped Romania as it is today and helped it become a solid democracy with solid and sustainable economic growth. Iohannis also emphasised the importance of the transatlantic relationship, saying that NATO and the European Union do not have to compete, but work together.
MAYORS — Elections for mayor will be held on Sunday in 49 Romanian localities. The positions became vacant following resignations, situations of incompatibility and invalidation of mandates, death and imprisonment. Partial elections will be held in five county seats, nine towns and 35 communes. We remind you that local and legislative elections were held in Romania in 2016.
EXPO ASTANA 2017 – Romania will take part in Astana EXPO 2017 international exposition titled The Energy of the Future, which opened on Saturday in Kazakhstans capital. More than 110 countries are taking part. The central element of the Romanian pavilion will be the ELI-NP laser project in Magurele, which is seen as the most important investment in Romanian research in the last 50 years. Romania will present itself at the exposition in Astana as a country of innovation and inventions. After 1989, Romania has taken part in all world and international expositions held under the aegis of the Bureau of International Expositions. EXPO Astana is open until the 10th of September.
FRENCH OPEN – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number 4 in the world, was defeated in Saturdays French Open final by Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (WTA’s 47th seed) in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 6-3). For Simona Halep, this is the second French Open final that she lost, after the 2014 final against Maria Sharapova. Victory on Saturday would have seen the 25-year-old Romanian replace Angelique Kerber as world number one. Thanks to the points accumulated at Roland Garros, Simona Halep will go up to the 2nd place in the WTA rankings as of Monday. Virginia Ruzici remains the only Romanian to have ever won the French Open in women’s singles, back in 1978.
(Translated by Elena Enache)