RESERVES – The currency reserves of the Central Bank exceeded 65 bln EUR at the end of May, the National Bank of Romania reports. Gold reserves stood at 7,200 bln EUR. Romania’s currency and gold reserves totaled over 72,200 bln EUR at the end of last month.
ELECTION – Romanians in Italy will be able to vote in the largest number of polling stations opened abroad for the European Parliament elections slated for Sunday. Iulian Ivan, the Foreign Ministry representative for the elections abroad, says polling stations were set up depending on the number of citizens in each country. 150 stations will be available in Italy, 147 in Spain and 104 in Great Britain. No stations were organized in certain countries and cities, such as Afghanistan, Mali, Sudan, Libya, Rostov-on-Don in Russia or Odesa in Ukraine, either because no military staff are present in the area, or because the diplomatic mission on the ground was closed or relocated. Polling stations will open at 7 AM on election day and close at 10 PM, with the possibility of extending voting hours until midnight. Voters at home will also take part in the local election. We recall presidential elections are slated for September and parliamentary elections for December.
CHECKS – Random border checks will be carried out on Italy’s land, maritime and air borders over June 5-18, ahead of the G7 Summit scheduled to take place in this country, Romania’s Foreign Ministry announced. Border checks will be intensified close to the summit to be hosted by Apulia Region over June 13-15, Radio Romania’s Rome correspondent reports. Romanian citizens in Italy can request consular assistance by calling the numbers of the Romanian Embassy in Rome. Emergency requests can also be submitted to the special numbers of the consular offices in Rome, Milan, Bologna, Turin, Bari and Catania.
MEETING – Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, on Tuesday met Montenegro’s Foreign Minister, Filip Ivanovic in Bucharest. The head of state reiterated Romania’s relentless support for the EU integration efforts of Montenegro and the Western Balkans, an area of strategic importance for Euro-Atlantic space and European security and stability, the Presidency reports. President Iohannis also reiterated Romania’s readiness to provide bilateral expertise in the field of European integration.
PROTEST – Romanian farmers taking part in Tuesday’s protest in Brussels have called for an overhaul of the Green Deal, saying the terms of the current Common Agricultural Policy endanger farmers’ activity and food safety. Farmers from 9 EU Member States took part in the protest action, also demanding the lifting of the free trade agreement with Latin America, a deal the EU is yet to sign. Should the document be ratified, cheap agricultural products that don’t observe single market regulations will reach EU markets, resulting in unfair competition for community products. According to Radio Romania’s Brussels correspondent, this will put EU farmers further at a loss following facilities provided to Ukrainian products and grain across community space.
TENNIS – The pair made up of Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine on Tuesday advanced to the quarterfinals of the women’s doubles at the French Open after ousting Leylah Fernandez of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand, 6-1, 6-4. In the next round, Ruse and Kostyuk will take on the all-Russian pair Mira Andreeva / Vera Zvonareva. Also in the round of 16, Monica Niculescu of Romania and Cristina Bucșa of Spain were knocked out by Emma Navarro of the USA and Diana Schnaider of Russia at the end of three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. (VP)
