Parliament. Romanian senators and deputies will return to work on Wednesday, February 1, in the first parliamentary session of the year. Many bills in key areas are waiting to be debated and receive the final vote. Among them: the education laws and the so-called special pension laws. In parallel, the Liberals and the Social Democrats are making plans for the rotation agreed at the level of the governing coalition, that is, the rotation of prime ministers and the exchange of some ministries between the two parties. According to a protocol of the PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition, this rotation should take place at the end of May. Also, in the run-up to the 2024 election year, a bill to be voted on is the one according to which women will represent at least one third of the candidates in the local and parliamentary elections.
Election. On Saturday evening, Romanias President Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă sent congratulations to the new president of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, speaking of strengthening the relations between the two states. Several European leaders have welcomed the victory of the new Czech president, who has promised to be an independent head of state, uninfluenced by party politics, to continue and provide aid to the war-torn Ukraine and to support Kyivs accession to EU. In turn, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Petr Pavel on Twitter and said that he appreciated his support for Ukraine. In the second round of the elections, reserve general Petr Pavel, former head of the NATO Military Committee, received 58.32% of the votes, while his rival, the billionaire Andrej Babis, who held the post of prime minister between 2017 and 2021, got 41.67%, according to the final results. The voter turnout in this EU and NATO member country, with a population of 10.5 million, was 70%. Petr Pavel, aged 61, ran in the elections as an independent candidate and benefits from the support of the center-right government. He will replace Milos Zeman, a controversial politician who had maintained close ties with Moscow before making a U-turn during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has stated, in the run-up to the EU-Ukraine summit next week that Ukraine has the unconditional support of the EU bloc and that this country must resist the Russian attacks in order to defend the European values. Meanwhile, Kyiv and its Western allies are engaged in “rapid” talks on potentially equipping Ukraine with long-range missiles and military aircraft, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky said. On the ground, in the east of Ukraine, the fighting continues. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that Ukrainian forces repelled new Russian attacks in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. According to Kyiv, Russia is preparing a new wave of offensives to mark the anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Border-crossing. On January 28, in Romania, more than 151,000 people, Romanian citizens and foreigners, crossed Romanias borders. Some 74 thousand people, of which 7,627 Ukrainian citizens, entered the country. Since early February 2022, (pre-conflict period), until January 28, at national level, more than 3.42 million Ukrainian citizens entered the country.
Survey. 80% of Romanian consumers allow the use of personal data for advertising purposes, according to a recent survey. Data from the Survey on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in households and by individuals shows that 1 in 2 Europeans aged 16-74 refused to allow their personal data to be used for advertising purposes when using the internet for private reasons during the previous 3 months. Moreover, 46% reported that they allowed restricted access only to their geographic location or denied access to this information completely. The share of people refusing to allow their personal data to be used for advertising varied between EU member states. The highest rates were observed in the Netherlands (73%), Finland (70%), Denmark and Germany (both 63%), Spain (62%). Conversely, the lowest were recorded in Bulgaria (10%), Romania (20%), Greece (29%), Slovakia (30%) and Latvia (32%).
Festival. Two Romanian films, Metronome by Alexandru Belc and M.R.I. by Cristian Mungiu, are taking part in the competition of the Gothenburg International Film Festival in Sweden, which is taking place these days. According to the Romanian Cultural Institute in Stockholm, the event annually presents approximately 400 productions from around the world, with around 160,000 spectators attending. Metronome, director Alexandru Belcs debut film, presents a love story between two young people in communist Romania in 1972, and specialist critics describe it as a socio-historical analysis of a generation forced to live in a society full of mutual suspicions and mistrust. In the movie M.R.I by the renowned Cristian Mungiu, the action takes place in a village in Transylvania (centre), where the peace of the locals is disturbed when a few new workers are employed at a small factory, and frustrations, conflicts and impulses erupt to the surface through the thin veneer of apparent understanding and calm. With a history of more than 40 years, the Gothenburg festival is the most important such event in the region and offers Nordic cinema a generous and sound promotion platform through a dedicated competition and programs. (MI)
