Radio România Internațional

Tag: Olympiad

  • October 17, 2018 UPDATE

    October 17, 2018 UPDATE

    JUSTICE LAWS — The European Commission is watching with concern the changes brought to the justice laws made this week by the Romanian Government, through a government ordinance, the spokesperson for the EC, Christian Wigand, said on Wednesday. The Commission will continue the dialogue with the Romanian authorities and will draw the adequate conclusions, if the changes brought to the justice laws, the Criminal Codes and the legislation on the “conflict of interest” and “corruption” does not take these concerns into consideration, Wigand went on to say. In Bucharest, the Superior Council of Magistracy has decided that the emergency ordinance should not be applied retroactively, consequently, the prosecutors of the General Prosecutors’ Office, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and the Directorate For Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism remain on their positions. In another move, also on Wednesday, the main opposition party, the National Liberal Party, announced it will table a simple motion against the justice minister Tudorel Toader, and the Save Romanian Union, also in opposition, calls on the Ombudsman to challenge the controversial ordinance at the Constitutional Court. The ordinance stipulates, among other things, that the prosecutors at the main prosecutor’s offices should have at least 10 year experience in magistracy, before getting nominated for a position in the respective prosecutor’s offices. Romania’s Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazăr, has said the new regulations will create numerous functional problems in the system, whereas the justice minister ,Tudorel Toader, the initiator of the ordinance, said he did nothing but correlated the opinions and stands expressed by the European Commission, the Venice Commission and the Superior Council of Magistracy.



    RESHUFFLE – The President of the Social Democratic Party, the senior party in the ruling coalition, Liviu Dragnea, has said there are zero chances for the current membership of the government to remain unchanged. Dragnea, who is also the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, has said the details of the government reshuffle will be established during the future session of the National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party. The date of the session will be set together with PM Viorica Dăncilă, Dragnea has announced. Last month, the education minister Valentin Popa stepped down, following a meeting with Dragnea. The portfolio is temporarily held by a caretaker, the current minister for European Funds, Rovana Plumb. That was the second resignation tendered by a member of the Dancila cabinet, after the research minister Nicolae Burnete stepped down in August.



    COOPERATION — Wednesday was the last day of the state visit paid by Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, to Italy. The president had a meeting with the mayor of Naples, Luigi de Magistris, focusing on the Romanian community in Italy, made up of approximately 1.2 million people. Klaus Iohannis hailed the fact that the Romanian community is growing more active, more involved and more capable of doing business, contributing to arts and sciences and to the development of the society that has welcomed them. Previously, he had formal meetings with his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella, the president of the Council of Ministers Giuseppe Conte, the Senate Speaker Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Roberto Fico. Also, Klaus Iohannis had a meeting with the mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, and talked with representatives of the Romanian community in Italy. The Romanian Presidential Administration has recalled that the visit paid by Iohannis to Italy took place against the background of this year’s celebration of 100 years since the Great Union and of 10 years since the ties between Romania and Italy were lifted to the level of consolidated strategic partnership. This is the first state visit paid by a Romanian head of state to Italy in the past 45 years.



    VISIT – The Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on Wednesday continued her visit to Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Dancila visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates. During the talks she had with the Emirati officials, Dancila mentioned the ethnic and religious diversity in the UAE and hailed the efforts made by the Emirati authorities to integrate religious minorities in that country. Dancila has also said that in Romania, mainly in the south-eastern region of Dobrogea, in the south-east, but not only there, religious communities, including the Muslim one, have been coexisting peacefully and in harmony for hundreds of years. On Tuesday in Dubai, during the meeting she had with Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Dancila presented the latest investment opportunities in Romania and encouraged the companies in the Arab Emirates to participate in tenders organized either for projects funded from the existing operational programmes, or for public-private partnership projects. She stated that Romania will keep paying special attention to the eastern neighbourhood of the EU, especially given that our country will be holding the presidency of the EU Council for six months. Previously, the Romanian Prime Minister had paid a visit to Turkey.



    MOTION – The Romanian Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday rejected the simple motion filed by the opposition National Liberal Party against the Minister of Culture, George Ivascu, after debates held on Monday. The Liberals said culture in Romania is in a grave situation, needing urgent solutions for the many problems it is faced with. In turn, minister George Ivascu stated that the motion included distorted information and superficial accusations, which prove nothing but ill faith.



    VISIT – The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Wednesday started a two day visit to the Republic of Moldova, the former Soviet country with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population, aimed at boosting bilateral relations. The agenda of the visit includes talks with the president of the country Igor Dodon and the pro-European prime-minister Pavel Filip, and the signing of a joint strategic cooperation declaration. Radio Chisinau reports that Erdogan’s visit is taking place against the background of a recent scandal concerning the detention and expulsion from Moldova of seven teachers from the Moldovan-Turkish High-School, accused of being members of the network headed by the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Gulen is accused by the power in Ankara of having organized the attempted coup in Turkey, two years ago.



    OLYMPIAD – Romanian pupils have won five medals — two gold, on silver and two bronze — at the International Astronomy Olympiad, held over October 6-14 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The competition brought together 80 contenders from 18 countries. Romanian pupils have had great results this year in other competitions as well: 9 prizes at the International French Language Olympiad in Ohrid, Macedonia, 5 medals from the International Physics Olympiad in Lisbon, 4 medals from the Central European Olympiad in Informatics and 4 medals from the International Earth Science Olympiad in Warsaw. (Translated by M. Ignatescu and D. Vijeu)

  • September 23, 2018 UPDATE

    September 23, 2018 UPDATE

    SOCIAL PROGRESS — Romania stagnates this year in the Global Report of Social Progress, ranking 44th out of 146 countries, just as last year, according to a release of the Initiative for Competitiveness. Romania’s social performance slightly improves in terms of access to water, shelter, environment quality, tolerance and inclusion and individual rights but deteriorates in terms of medical services, personal safety, access to knowledge and to IT&C. In terms of GDP per capita, Romania ranks 45th out of 146 countries. According to the report, a real advance of the social progress index in Romania depends on the quality of social investment, education and connection with the technology of the future, as national priorities.




    POPE – Pope Francis paid tribute on Sunday to Lithuanians who suffered and died during Soviet and Nazi occupations, on the day the country remembered the near-extermination of its Jewish community during the Holocaust. During Mass in Santakos Park, Pope Francis honored both Jewish victims of Nazi-era executions and the Lithuanians who were deported to Siberian gulags or were tortured and oppressed at home during five decades of Soviet occupation. The Pope will tour Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as they celebrate 100 years since declaring independence following World War I.




    OLYMPIAD – Romanian pupils won nine prizes at the 4th International French Language Olympiad in Ohrid, Macedonia, held between the 15th and the 19th of September. They won four first prizes (two in individual and two in team events), three second prizes and two third prizes. The International French Language Olympiad gathered pupils from 6 countries members of the International Organization of La Francophonie: Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova and Romania. The competition is enlisted in the program of the activities carried out by the Regional Office of La Francophonie for Central and Eastern Europe. Romanian pupils also got very good results at other international competitions, such as the International Physics Olympiad held in July, where they won five medals, at the Central European Olympiad in Informatics, where they won two gold and two silver medals and at the International Earth Science Olympiad in Warsaw, in August.




    BUCHAREST – Events celebrating the City of Bucharest ended on Sunday with a concert of the British singer Rod Stewart. Romania’s capital city marked 559 years since it was first mentioned in official records, as well as 100 years since the Union of December 1, 1918, when the Romanian provinces were united into a nation state. On Friday, the famous Romanian panpipe player Gheorghe Zamfir gave a memorable show and on Saturday Bucharest hosted one of the biggest 3D video-mapping shows in the world.




    RESEARCH – Ministers from Romania hold the EU record in appearing at EU council meetings, being present in over 90 percent of the meetings, according to research from Danish think tank Europa. The figures – based on minutes from council meetings in the period 2015-2018 – also showed that ministers from Slovakia and Poland appeared the least, leaving their chairs to diplomats in almost every other meeting.




    ELECTION — Almost 30 Romanians are on the candidate lists of political parties in Belgium, in the local elections scheduled for October 14. They are trying to win local councilor seats in several localities, including the capital Brussels. The initiator of the “DreptLaVot” project, Ioana Banach, says in a post on the RomBel website, of the Romanian community in Belgium that more than ever before, Romanian candidates matter at these elections, given the fact that in Brussels, for instance, they account for 9% of the population.

  • September 23, 2018

    September 23, 2018

    POPE – Pope Francis has paid tribute today to Lithuanians who suffered and died during Soviet and Nazi occupations on the day the country remembers the near-extermination of its Jewish community during the Holocaust. During Mass in Santakos Park, Pope Francis honored both Jewish victims of Nazi-era executions and the Lithuanians who were deported to Siberian gulags or were tortured and oppressed at home during five decades of Soviet occupation. The Pope will tour Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as they celebrate 100 years since declaring independence following World War I.




    OLYMPIAD – Romanian pupils won nine prizes at the 4th International French Language Olympiad in Ohrid, Macedonia, held between the 15th and the 19th of September. They won four first prizes (two in individual and two in team events), three second prizes and two third prizes. The International French Language Olympiad gathered pupils from 6 countries members of the International Organization of La Francophonie: Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova and Romania. The competition is enlisted in the program of the activities carried out by the Regional Office of La Francophonie for Central and Eastern Europe. Romanian pupils also got very good results at other international competitions, such as the International Physics Olympiad held in July, where they won five medals, at the Central European Olympiad in Informatics, where they won two gold and two silver medals and at the International Earth Science Olympiad in Warsaw, in August.




    BUCHAREST – Events celebrating the City of Bucharest end today with a concert of the British singer Rod Stewart. Romania’s capital city marks 559 years since it was first mentioned in official records, as well as 100 years since the Union of December 1, 1918, when the Romanian provinces were united into a nation state. On Friday, the famous Romanian panpipe player Gheorghe Zamfir gave a memorable show and on Saturday Bucharest hosted one of the biggest 3D video-mapping shows in the world.




    RESEARCH – Ministers from Romania hold the EU record in appearing at EU council meetings, being present in over 90 percent of the meetings, according to research from Danish think tank Europa. The figures – based on minutes from council meetings in the period 2015-2018 – also showed that ministers from Slovakia and Poland appeared the least, leaving their chairs to diplomats in almost every other meeting.




    ELECTION — Almost 30 Romanians are on the candidate lists of political parties in Belgium, in the local elections scheduled for October 14. They are trying to win local councilor seats in several localities, including the capital Brussels. The initiator of the “DreptLaVot” project, Ioana Banach, says in a post on the RomBel website, of the Romanian community in Belgium that more than ever before, Romanian candidates matter at these elections, given the fact that in Brussels, for instance, they account for 9% of the population.




    TABLE TENNIS – Romanian athlete Ovidiu Ionescu qualified to the semifinals of the man’s singles at the European Table Tennis Championship held in Alicante, Spain. On Friday he defeated the European champion Emmanuel Lebesson of France, and on Saturday he beat Jonathan Groth of Denmark. Ovidiu Ionescu is today playing against Kristian Karlsson of Sweden, to get to the final.





  • July 30, 2018 UPDATE

    July 30, 2018 UPDATE

    WEATHER — The weather is unstable in Romania, particularly in the centre, east and north. The authorities have issued a code yellow alert against rainfalls, thunderstorms and gusty wind valid for those regions until Monday evening. Rain water might exceed 20 l/square meter and even 50-60 l/square meter locally. Hydrologists have issued code yellow and orange alerts for several rivers in the country, valid until Wednesday, at midnight. At least two people lost their lives because of heavy rains and flooding over the past few days, many households have been submerged and traffic has been disrupted on several national and county roads.



    BREEZE 18 — Three ships belonging to the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group are currently docked at the Constanta Military Port on the Black Sea Coast, until Tuesday. The participating ships include ROS Lt. Lupu Dinescu, TCG Anamur, and FGS Rhein. The ships have made stops in the ports of Burgas, Bulgaria and Odessa in Ukraine. They participated in the multinational exercise BREEZE 18, in Bulgaria’s territorial waters and in the Black Sea international waters, and took part in joint exercises at sea, with Ukrainian ships. Exercise BREEZE provided training to the participants in various fields of maritime warfare and enhanced interoperability among NATO Navies. On Sunday, the ships were open to visitors.



    ACTIVITY REPORT — Minister for Romanians Worldwide Natalia-Elena Intotero on Monday presented the activity report for the first six months, outlining the main actions and projects carried out by the ministry she represents, as well as the ongoing projects addressing Romanians across the borders. Some 24 projects of organizations and associations of Romanians worldwide have been approved, with funding standing at over 1 million lei. The Ministry has also sent 3,200 Romanian-language books to the Republic of Moldova, and 1,000 scholarships have been awarded to Romanian children studying in Ukraine.



    GREECE — 91 people died in the wildfire that devastated the eastern coast of Attica in Greece, the latest provisional death toll made public by the Greek authorities shows. Several children are among the victims, as well as four foreign nationals-two Poles, an Irish and a Belgian citizen. An investigation carried out by the Greek fire-fighters shows a local would be at fault for starting the first fire and the Greek authorities know who he is. PM Alexis Tzipras has said he assumes full political responsibility for the tragedy, whereas the Opposition has accused the Government of being incapable of protecting the citizens’ lives. We recall the two Romanian military aircraft, one used for extinguishing fire and the other one providing logistical support, which were sent to Greece by the Bucharest authorities shortly after the wildfire broke out, completed their mission on Saturday and returned to Romania.



    UNEMPLOYMENT — The unemployment rate stood at 3.48% in late June, the lowest in the last 26 years for the second month in a row, according to data released by the National Employment Agency. The total number of unemployed people was 304 thousand, of whom 51 thousand receive unemployment benefits. Most of them are aged between 40 and 49, while the lowest number are young people aged 25-29. In terms of education, people with basic or no education hold the largest share of the total number of unemployed. The authorities say the rate goes down in the summer months, given that a large number of people get temporary employment as seasonal workers in constructions, farming or the services industry.



    INTERNET — Over 500 towns and villages in Romania have been fitted with high-speed Internet connections under the RO-NET program in the last six months, Communications and Information Society Minister Bogdan Cojocaru has said. The Romanian official hopes that over 400 thousand households as well as public institutions in the area will have high-speed Internet access by the end of September. A new project devoted to expanding broadband connections to underdeveloped areas will also be implemented, Minister Cojocaru has announced. With a budget of 64 million euros, the project is aimed at equipping 170 thousand households with Internet access.



    OLYMPIAD — Romania’s delegation has won five medals at the International Physics Olympiad this year, one gold, two silver and two bronze, the Education Ministry has announced. Students with the International Computer Science High School in Bucharest and the Mircea cel Batran National College in Constanta are the recipients of the awards. The 49th edition of the Olympiad was hosted by Lisbon, Portugal over July 21-29, bringing together 400 competitors from 90 countries. The first edition was held in 1967 in Poland, Romania being one of the five participating countries. Romania has hosted the Olympiad twice, in 1972 and 1983.



    TENNIS — Romanian tennis player Simona Halep continues to be no.1 WTA, according to the world ranking made public on Monday. She is followed by Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki and the American Sloane Stephens. Halep is no.1 for the 39th week, thus equalling the performance of French Amelie Mauresmo. Other best ranking tennis players are Mihaela Buzărnescu (24), Sorana Cârstea (54), Irina Begu (56), Monica Niculescu (60) and Ana Bogdan (87).



    (Translated by D. Vijeu & V. Palcu)

  • July 8, 2018 UPDATE

    July 8, 2018 UPDATE

    MEETING — Romania’s Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on Tuesday is to meet EU officials, including the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and vice-president Frans Timmermans, the European Commission reports. On Friday, Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announced he would meet EU Commissioner for Justice Vera Jourova in Austria. The European Commission previously announced it was closely monitoring the developments in Romania regarding the justice system and would not hesitate to take action to ensure the modifications brought to the Criminal Code observe the legislation in the field. Backed by the ruling coalition, the modifications sparked criticism from President Iohannis, the right-wing opposition and civil society, who claim that the new provisions favor criminality and are aimed at benefiting certain people, including Social-Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea.



    IMPEACHMENT — The left-wing opposition in Romania made up of the Social-Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats on Monday will decide whether they will move to impeach President Klaus Iohannis. Social-Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea, who is also the Chamber of Deputies speaker, accused the president of violating the Constitution, excessively delaying a decision to dismiss the head of the National Anticorruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi. On May 30, the Constitutional Court ruled the president must sack Kovesi, noticing a constitutional conflict between the head of state and the Government. Justice Minister Tudorel Toader had previously notified the Court after the President dismissed his request to remove Kovesi from office as ungrounded. The Court’s ruling has sparked fierce reactions from the opposition and magistrates, as well as anti-government protests.



    EXTREME WEATHER — The National Weather Administration has issued a code orange alert against heavy rain for 18 counties in the south and southwest, in place until Tuesday evening, as well as a code yellow alert for the entire country, including the capital-city Bucharest. During the interval large quantities of rainfall are expected in local areas. Hydrologists have also issued a code yellow warning against floods, in place until Monday, for the rivers in 13 counties. Temperatures are also expected to drop sharply during the interval. The National Emergency Intervention Inspectorate has announced over 20,000 firefighters with over 7,000 technical equipment are ready to intervene in calamity-stricken areas. The heavy rainfall last week caused devastating floods killing five people, destroying hundreds of homes and flooding numerous national or county roads, also affecting large areas of farmland.



    OLYMPIAD — Some 1,500 high school students from over a hundred countries on five continents are taking part in the International Mathematics Olympiad in Cluj-Napoca. The event lasts a week and is the oldest and most prestigious event of its kind. The first edition was held in 1959 in Romania. Romania and Bulgaria are the only countries that have taken part in every edition of the Olympiad. Attending the opening ceremony was President Klaus Iohannis, who expressed hope Romania would become an attraction for research in the field of mathematics.



    LIST — The Sanitary and Food Safety Authority in Romania made public a list of frozen foodstuffs sold in neighboring Hungary, infected with Listeria, a foodborne disease-causing bacteria that can lead to blood poisoning or meningitis. Nine people died in Europe after having consumed these products, with dozens of other cases reported in Great Britain, Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. The incubation period goes up to 70 days, with the risk of spreading still active. The European Food Safety Authority recommends the thermal processing of frozen ready-to-eat products.



    AWARD — Radu Jude’s I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians won the Crystal Globe award at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic, as well as the Europa Cinemas Label award, set up in 2003 to help improve the distribution and promotion of European films. This is Radu Jude’s sixth feature film, and the first Romanian film to win the grand prize in this festival.



    WIMBLEDON — The tennis pair made up of Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu and Marcin Matkowski of Poland qualified to the round of 16 of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon, after defeating Divij Sharan of India and Alicja Rosolska of Poland, 6-3, 7-5. The two will next play Henri Kontinen of Finland and Heather Watson of Great Britain. Buzarnescu has also advanced to the women’s doubles’ round of 16, alongside another Romanian, Irina Begu. She was unfortunately knocked out from the singles’ main draw, the same as world number 1 Simona Halep.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • July 8, 2018

    July 8, 2018

    MEETING — Romania’s Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on Tuesday is to meet EU officials, including the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and vice-president Frans Timmermans, the European Commission reports. On Friday, Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announced he would meet EU Commissioner for Justice Vera Jourova in Austria. The European Commission previously announced it was closely monitoring the developments in Romania regarding the justice system and would not hesitate to take action to ensure the modifications brought to the Criminal Code observe the legislation in the field. Backed by the ruling coalition, the modifications sparked criticism from President Iohannis, the right-wing opposition and civil society, who claim that the new provisions favor criminality and are aimed at benefiting certain people, including Social-Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea.



    IMPEACHMENT — The left-wing opposition in Romania made up of the Social-Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats on Monday will decide whether they will move to impeach President Klaus Iohannis. Social-Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea, who is also the Chamber of Deputies speaker, accused the president of violating the Constitution, excessively delaying a decision to dismiss the head of the National Anticorruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi. On May 30, the Constitutional Court ruled the president must sack Kovesi, noticing a constitutional conflict between the head of state and the Government. Justice Minister Tudorel Toader had previously notified the Court after the President dismissed his request to remove Kovesi from office as ungrounded. The Court’s ruling has sparked fierce reactions from the opposition and magistrates, as well as anti-government protests.



    COMMEMORATION — The Romanian Defense Ministry on Monday is hosting events in the country and in theatres of operations abroad to commemorate Lieutenant-Commander Florin Rotaru, who on Saturday lost his life after crashing his MIG-21 Lancer into a field in Fetesti, southern Romania. Rotaru was taking part in an air show. Aged 36, the pilot was head of a fighter squadron. Military prosecutors have already launched an investigation. By order of Defense Minister Mihai Fifor, a technical expertise committee has been set up to investigate the circumstances of the air tragedy. Pending the inquiry, all training flights operated by this type of aircraft have been suspended.



    EXTREME WEATHER — The National Weather Administration has issued a code orange alert against heavy rain for 18 counties in the south and southwest, in place until Tuesday evening, as well as a code yellow alert for the entire country, including the capital-city Bucharest. During the interval large quantities of rainfall are expected in local areas. Hydrologists have also issued a code yellow warning against floods, in place until Monday, for the rivers in 13 counties. Temperatures are also expected to drop sharply during the interval. The National Emergency Intervention Inspectorate has announced over 20,000 firefighters with over 7,000 technical equipment are ready to intervene in calamity-stricken areas. The heavy rainfall last week caused devastating floods killing five people, destroying hundreds of homes and flooding numerous national or county roads, also affecting large areas of farmland.



    2018 WORLD CUP — France will play Belgium on Tuesday in St. Petersburg while England will take on Croatia on Wednesday in the 2018 World Cup semi-finals. On Saturday, England grabbed a 2-nil win over Sweden in the quarterfinals, while the host country Russia was ousted by Croatia at the penalty shootout.



    OLYMPIAD — Some 1,500 high school students from over a hundred countries on five continents are taking part in the International Mathematics Olympiad in Cluj-Napoca. The event lasts a week and is the oldest and most prestigious event of its kind. The first edition was held in 1959 in Romania. Romania and Bulgaria are the only countries that have taken part in every edition of the Olympiad. Attending the opening ceremony was President Klaus Iohannis, who expressed hope Romania would become an attraction for research in the field of mathematics.



    NEVERSEA — The Neversea music festival continues in Constanta, with an expected turnover of 200,000 guests. It is one of the biggest beach festivals in Europe, bringing together top-notch artists, including Armin Van Buureen, Scooter, Steve Angello, Nina Kraviz, The Script and John Newman. Local authorities say some 2,000 gendarmes and firefighters have been mobilized throughout the festival



    WIMBLEDON — The tennis pair made up of Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu and Marcin Matkowski of Poland qualified to the round of 16 of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon, after defeating Divij Sharan of India and Alicja Rosolska of Poland, 6-3, 7-5. The two will next play Henri Kontinen of Finland and Heather Watson of Great Britain. Buzarnescu has also advanced to the women’s doubles’ round of 16, alongside another Romanian, Irina Begu. She was unfortunately knocked out from the singles’ main draw, the same as world number 1 Simona Halep.



    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • October 25, 2017 UPDATE

    October 25, 2017 UPDATE

    ARMY DAY – It is essential to ensure the necessary equipment for the Romanian Army, and the funds earmarked to this end must be spent efficiently, President Klaus Iohannis said on Romanian Army Day celebrated on Wednesday. He pointed out that at present Romania looks more confidently towards the future thanks to its NATO and EU membership and to the strength of its partnership with the US, which he described as valuable, efficient and pragmatic. On Romanian Army Day, the national flag was flown at the headquarters of military institutions and on board Romanian vessels, and ceremonies and commemorations were held in all garrisons in the country and in the countries were Romania has accredited military attaches. Special ceremonies were organized in Carei (north-west), the last Romanian town freed from Hungarian occupation in World War II, 73 years ago. According to historians, the Romanian troops deliberately waited for the day of October 25 to launch the final attack, so as to dedicate the victory to King Mihai I on his birthday.




    JUDICIARY – The Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader Wednesday presented the bill modifying the laws on the judiciary to the special committee in Parliament. He emphasised that as far as the appointment of high-ranking prosecutors is concerned, the Ministry expected an opinion from the Venice Commission on this aspect. Minister Toader also announced his proposal to make the judicial inspection corps an autonomous institution, subordinated to neither the Higher Council of Magistrates not to the Justice Ministry, and mentioned that a special law must be endorsed within 6 months, to regulate the status of that institution. Also, in terms of the liability of magistrates, the Justice Minister said judges would be subject to pecuniary liability for errors made in bad faith. The ruling coalition decided last week that the bill modifying the laws on the judiciary should be tabled as a parliamentary initiative rather than a government draft law. Next week the bill will be discussed by the special parliamentary committee, and then it will be send to the Chamber of Deputies. The decision-making body for this law is the Senate.




    KING MIHAI I – King Mihai I of Romania turned 96 on Wednesday, and had a private birthday celebration at his residence in Switzerland. On behalf of Romanias former sovereign, Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Crown, decorated Romanian and foreign personalities and collaborators of the Romanian Royal House, in a ceremony in Bucharest. On Wednesday evening the Romanian Athenaeum hosted the 10th annual concert organised by the charity Princess Margareta of Romania. King Mihai I is suffering from two severe forms of cancer, and last spring he withdrew from public life. In 1947, only 7 years after taking the throne, Mihai I was forced by the communist regime to abdicate and to leave the country. He was only able to return to Romania after the 1989 anti-communist Revolution, and he regained his Romanian citizenship and some of his estate. King Mihai I lobbied for Romanias NATO and EU accession, as a special ambassador.




    OLYMPIAD – The city of Cluj-Napoca, in north-western Romania, will host between July 3rd and 14th next year the International Mathematical Olympiad, the Romanian Education Ministry has announced. Expected to take part in the prestigious competition organized for the 4th time in Romania, are around 600 students from more than 100 countries. The International Mathematical Olympiad was launched by Romania in 1959, and the first editions only involved participants from the former Communist bloc countries. The first Western country took part in the 1969 edition, and since the 1970s the number of Western participants has increased. Romania holds the record as a host country, having organized the 1969, 1979 and 1999 editions. Romania and Bulgaria are the only countries to have taken part in all editions so far, and in an unofficial ranking of nations, Romania comes third.




    TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number 1 in the world, was defeated on Wednesday by the Danish player Caroline Wozniacki (6 WTA), 6-0, 6-2, in her second Red Group match in the WTA Finals in Singapore. Wozniacki has secured her spot in the semi-finals, whereas Halep has to win the last match in the group, against Elina Svitolina (Ukraine, 4 WTA), to move on in the competition. In the White Group, the Czech Karolina Pliskova (3 WTA) has 2 wins and has already qualified into the semi-finals.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)