Radio România Internațional

Tag: Romania’s football team

RRI Sports Club – End of year rankings

Romanian athlete David Popovici has been nominated by the continental swimming forum for the title of best European swimmer of 2024. This year, at the Olympic Games, Popovici won gold in the 200-meter freestyle race and bronze in the 100-meter event, and at the European Championships, gold medals in the 100 and 200-meter freestyle events. Léon Marchand of Franceis the favorite for this title. He won four gold medals and one bronze medal at the Olympic Games and set four Olympic and two European records. Let us also note that in the high jump event, two Romanians were nominated for the title of best European athlete of the year, Constantin Popovici and Cătălin Preda respectively.

Rower Ioana Vrînceanu received the title of best athlete of the year from Steaua Bucharest Army Sports Club on Tuesday at a gala event held in Bucharest. At the Paris Olympics, she won gold in the women’s 8+1 event and silver in the women’s double sculls, alongside Roxana Anghel. In Szeged, Hungary, the two athletes also scooped the European gold in the double-scull race.

Marian Enache and Andrei Cornea were designed “Crew of the Year” by the Romanian Rowing Federation. At the Paris Olympics, they won gold in the men’s double sculls. The members of the women’s 8+1 crew, the Olympic champions, and the other athletes who won medals in Paris in the women’s double sculls, double pairs and lightweight double sculls also received awards.

2024 was also good for Romanian football. The national team qualified to a European championship again, where it reached the round of 16. Midfielder Răzvan Marin, currently playing for the Italian club Cagliari, was designated player of the year. Having scored eight goals for the national team this year, including two at EURO 2024, Marin also received the award for best midfielder. The title of best coach of the year went to Edward Iordănescu, who, as headcoach, led the national team to the European Championship in Germany. (VP)

18 December 2024
Sports Flash

The Romanian national football team was awarded a 3-0 win by default from UEFA in the match against Kosovo. The announcement came on Wednesday after Friday’s Nations League game ended before the final whistle, the visiting side walking off the field. At the same time, the Football Federation of Kosovo was fined 6,000 EUR for what UEFA has called “inappropriate behavior”. The Romanian Football Federation was also severely sanctioned, found guilty of several violations and fined a total of 128,000 EUR. The Federation received a 50,000 EUR-fine and the team will play the next home match in front of empty stands after football fans shouted anti-Hungarian chants. The Romanian Federation will have to pay another 30,000 EUR after fans conveyed “provocative political messages, inappropriate for a sporting event”. Other smaller fines were given for throwing objects from the stands onto the field, for lighting torches, for using lasers, for disturbing the national anthems and for blocking access routes. At the same time, the Federation was warned against the inappropriate behavior of the national team.

The Romanian team thus finished first in the group and will leave League C, being promoted to League B. At the same time, the footballers will have an additional chance to qualify to the 2026 World Cup, hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. The best four group winners in Nations League, excluding the teams finishing in the top two positions in preliminary groups, will take part in play-off matches for the World Cup. They will join the 12 runner-up teams from the main qualifying phase. There will be four play-off groups, each with four teams that will compete in a final tournament system, which will determine the final four teams that will qualify to the World Cup. The draw for the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup will take place on December 13, in Zurich. (VP)

21 November 2024
June 3, 2024

ELECTIONS – It’s the last week of campaign ahead of the European Parliament and local elections slated for this Sunday. Some 19 million Romanians expected to hit the nearly 19,000 polling stations in the country. 915 stations have been set up abroad, twice compared to the European Parliament elections five years ago. Polling stations will open at 7 AM and close at 10 PM, one hour later compared to previous rounds of election. The presidents of the polling stations can opt to extend the voting process until midnight, if there are still people standing in line or inside the station. According to the Permanent Election Authority, the total number of candidates for the local and European Parliament elections is close to 208,000. For the first time, voter turnout updates will be provided in real time on election day, for each separate ballot, on the website of the Permanent Election Authority. We recall Romania will also host presidential elections in September and legislative elections in December.

DISCOVERY – The bodies of the two Romanians reported missing at the end of last week following flash floods and rising river levels have been found in Italy. The bodies of two of the three missing Romanian young people who drowned on Friday in Natisone River, were found in the Udine province (northeast). Search operations to retrieve the third missing person continue. Young people were bathing in Natisone despite the ban, when water levels suddenly rose. Following information sent by Italian authorities, the Romanian Foreign Ministry confirmed two of the deceased were Romanian nationals, conveying its condolences to the bereaved families. Consular office representatives constantly maintain dialogue with the local authorities in order to obtain information regarding search operations for the third missing person, as well as with the families of the deceased citizens, ready to provide consular assistance depending on requests and in line with their attributes. The Romanian Foreign Ministry announced Romanian citizens can request consular assistance by calling the numbers of Romania’s Consular Office in Trieste.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – The Constitutional Court of Romania is today discussing a referral of the High Court of Cassation and Justice regarding the Law approving the Government’s emergency decree on extending the terms provided for insolvency prevention and insolvency procedures. The law stipulates that, in the case of economic operators in strategic branches of the national economy, who have reached an arrangement with creditors upon the entry into force of this law, the length of the agreement or the restructuring plan can be extended, at the debtor’s request and based on sound reasons, for a maximum of 5 years.

MINIMUM WAGE – The Government this week is expected to pass a bill on increasing the national minimum wage from approximately 660 EUR to 745 EUR. The draft law has already been submitted for public debate. Stakeholders can submit their proposals, suggestions and opinions regarding this bill on the website of the Labor Ministry. Currently, some 760,000 people from the total number of employees active on the labor market earn minimum wages in Romania, and that number is expected to exceed 1.8 million after the increase. In addition, the 40 EUR tax deduction is maintained until the end of the year. Talks are underway with Finance Minister, Marcel Boloș, to increase this amount to approximately 60 EUR, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said. At the same time, the Government is ready to help employers by supplementing the budget for SME Plus, a national support scheme addressing small- and medium-sized enterprises. Also, the government continues to restructure its institutions, with the head of government calling on the relevant ministers to step up the pace in order to complete the process across all ministries by the end of the month.

GYMNASTICS –Romanian athlete Andrei Muntean won bronze in the parallel bars final on Sunday at the Artistic Gymnastics Challenge World Cup in Koper, Slovenia. He was outranked in the final by Ukrainian Ilya Kovtun and Hsi Hung Yuan of Taiwan. Andrei Muntean is the only representative of Romania qualified in the men’s artistic gymnastics competition at the Paris Olympics.

FOOTBALL – Romania’s national football team is playing Bulgaria tomorrow and Liechtenstein on Friday, June 7 in two friendly matches ahead of the European Championship expected to kick off on June 14 in Germany. Bucharest will host both matches. Romania was drawn in Group E alongside Ukraine, Belgium and Slovakia. The national team will play Ukraine on June 17 in Munich, Belgium on June 22 in Köln, and finally Slovakia on June 26, in Frankfurt. Romania last took part in a European Championship in 2016 in France. (VP)

3 June 2024
September 5, 2021

COVID-19 – The daily number of COVID-19
infections is on the rise. The pandemic is again putting additional strain on
medical units across the country, as for several days the number of infections has
exceeded the 1,500 mark. 1,242 new cases of COVID infection were reported on
Sunday, in addition to 11 related fatalities. Over 3,000 people are being
treated for COVID-19 in hospitals across the country, while 372 people are currently
in intensive care. Health Minister Ioana Mihăilă announced additional ICU beds
will be made available in Bucharest, where the largest number of new cases was
reported. Over 6,600 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 on Saturday, while
5.1 million people have completed the vaccination scheme. On the other hand,
Romania has sent 100 thousand rapid antigen COVID tests to neighboring Moldova.
Romania’s ambassador to Chişinău, Daniel Ioniţă, said the donation reflects the
special relations between Romania and the Republic of Moldova. So far Romania
has donated 500,000 anti-COVID-19 vaccine shots to neighboring Moldova.

POLITICAL
CRISIS – President Klaus Iohannis intervened in the political crisis in
Romania, calling on the USR-PLUS alliance to resume dialogue within the ruling
coalition and come up with a viable and reasonable solution to overcome the
political deadlock. USR-PLUS didn’t back down and continued to call for the
resignation of Liberal Prime Minister, Florin Cîţu. Their decision was
motivated by the Prime Minister’s choice to dismiss the USR-PLUS Justice
Minister, Stelian Ion, who opposed one of the government’s infrastructure
projects. The president considers the Alliance’s decision to sign and file a
no-confidence motion against their own government, alongside AUR, an
ultra-nationalist party, is an insult against all Romanians. In turn, Prime
Minister Florin Cîţu also called on his junior coalition partners to show
responsibility, saying that making a new nomination for the position of Justice
Minister would immediately solve the problem. The motion filed by USR-PLUS and
AUR was signed by 122 MPs. For the document to be adopted in Parliament, a
minimum of 234 votes are required, which means USR-PLUS and AUR will need the support
of other parliamentary parties.

LIST -
The updated list of countries representing an epidemiological risk was
published on Sunday by the National Committee for Emergency Situations. Serbia,
Estonia and Albania have entered the red zone, while all arrivals from this
country will enter quarantine, unless they provide proof of vaccination or that
they had the disease. Norway, Austria and Bosnia Herzegovina have now entered
the yellow zone, in addition to Spain and Lichtenstein, where infection rates
have dropped. People coming from these areas will not enter quarantine if they
provide proof of vaccination, of a PCR negative test or if they’ve had the
disease.

DIPLOMACY
– The Romanian Ministry for Foreign Affairs over September 7-9 is organizing
the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy, the Ministry announced in a release
published on Sunday. This year’s theme is titled Diplomatic action to
consolidate Romania’s resilience. Traditionally organized around Romanian Diplomacy
Day, this year the event will be held online and will involve the participation
of the heads of Romania’s diplomatic missions and consular offices abroad.
Attending will also be the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Nicolae
Popescu, who will be paying an official visit to Bucharest, the Foreign
Minister of Greece, Nikos Denidas, who will also be in Romania for an official
visit. Keynote speeches will be delivered by Italy’s Minister for Foreign
Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, the Indian Foreign
Minister, Australia’s Minister of Trade, Tourism and Investments, as well as
European Commission and OSCE officials. European Commission vice-president for
democracy and demography, Dubravka Šuica, the Secretary General of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Helga Schmid, who will give online
presentations, as well as Thomas Garrett, the Secretary General of the
Community of Democracies, who will attend the meeting physically.

PATZAICHIN
– The several-time Olympic canoe champion Ivan Patzaichin passed away on Sunday,
aged 71, the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee writes on its Facebook page.
Ivan Patzaichin won seven medals at the Olympic Games, four gold and three
silver. He took part in five editions of the Games, from 1968 to 1984. He is
also the holder of 22 world titles. He went on to become a great coach, his
trainees winning 150 Olympic, world and European medals. He was the
vice-president of the Romanian Federation of Kayak-Canoe and the vice-president
of the Romanian Olympic Committee. Elected in 1990, Juan Antonia Samaranch, the
chairman of the International Olympic Committee, bestowed on Patzaichin the
Platinum Wreath, the highest Olympic distinction, becoming the only Romanian to
hold this title. In 2000 he was given the Faithful Servant national order in
rank of knight. In April, 2019, Ivan Patzaichin was also awarded the Golden
Wreath, the highest distinction of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee.
In 2019, the presidency awarded Patzaichin The Romanian Star national order
in rank of knight.

TENNIS -
Romanian tennis player, Simona Halep, is today playing Elina Svitolina of
Ukraine in the round of 16 at the US Open. Halep has played Svitolina 10 times
at WTA level, the head-to-head score being 5-5. Halep’s best performance at the
US Open is the semi-final played in 2015. Also at the US Open, Horia Tecău and Kevin Krawietz of Germany have
advanced to the round of 16 in the men’s doubles, after ousting Frederik
Nielsen of Denmark and Vasek Pospisil of Canada, 7-6, 7-6. Their next opponents
will be Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Andreio Molteni of Argentina.

FOOTBALL
– Romania’s national football team is today playing Lichtenstein in Bucharest
in the 2022 World Cup preliminaries. On Thursday, Romania defeated Iceland and
now ranks 4th in Group J with 4 points. Also today, Iceland is
playing North Macedonia while Germany will take on Armenia. Ranking first is
Armenia, followed by Germany. North Macedonia is in 3rd place.
Romania will next play North Macedonia on September 8 in Skopje. (VP)

5 September 2021
September 2, 2021

COVID-19 – 1,470
new cases of COVID infection were reported on Thursday in Romania, in addition
to 26 related fatalities. Some 2,600 patients are currently treated in hospital
for coronavirus, of whom 322 are in intensive care. The constant increase in
the number of infections has not determined Romanians to take the anti-COVID
vaccine. Less than 8,000 people got immunized on Wednesday.

POLITICS
-Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, earlier today signed the decree to
dismiss Stelian Ion from the position of Justice Minister. At the same time,
the president designated Lucian Bode, the current Interior Minister, as interim
Justice Minister. Late last night, the USR-PLUS alliance in the ruling
coalition announced it withdraws all political support for Liberal Prime
Minister Florin Cîţu. Tensions escalated after the head of government announced
the dismissal of Justice Minister, Stelian Ion, who refused to greenlight a
comprehensive infrastructure project dubbed Anghel Saligny. Stelian Ion said
today that he had identified a number of constitutional and illegal issues in
the project. USR-PLUS has called for negotiations to appoint a new Prime
Minister. Should they break down, the alliance will support the no-confidence
vote against the Prime Minister. UDMR Deputy Prime Minister Hunor Kelemen said
the Anghel Saligny project needs to be adopted before the budget adjustment,
expressing confidence that ruling coalition parties will break the political
stalemate in this matter. From the opposition, PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu told
USR-PLUS MPs they should either step down from the ruling coalition, or take
the vote of no-confidence against Florin Cîţu.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS -
Romania’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, is taking part in an
informal meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers, held in Gymnich format, hosted by
Kranj in Slovenia today and tomorrow. High on the meeting’s agenda are the
crisis in Afghanistan, the EU’s approach to the Gulf region, EU-China relations
and the migration deadlock at Belarus’s borders, which impacts border crossing
into Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. The Romanian official will express
solidarity with the aforementioned states, saying that using migration against
EU member states is unacceptable. European Ministers will also discuss in
detail the developments in Afghanistan and their impact on the EU’s strategic
interests and will analyze political options as well as possible actions in
terms of humanitarian aid and security. Minister Aurescu is also expected to
express support for a new EU strategy on Afghanistan and to stress the
importance of a concerted EU effort. The Romanian official will also underline
the importance of European and Euro-Atlantic solidarity, as well as the need
for the EU to coordinate with the UN and NATO.

ENESCU FESTIVAL
– Today, on the sixth day of the George Enescu International Music Festival,
the Radio Concert Hall will host its first concert. Under the patronage of the
Royal House of Romania, the Symphonic Orchestra of the Braşov Philharmonic will give a Royal Concert in the Music of the 21st
century series. Conducting will be Răzvan Apetrei. Also today, the Lausanne
Chamber Orchestra will give a new concert at the Romanian Athenaeum, whereas
the Bucharest Palace Hall will host a new concert in the Great World Orchestras
series. Performing tonight will be the Filarmonica della Scalla orchestra
conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada. Also today, the Nation-wide Festival
section is set to kick off. The artistic director of the Radio Symphonic
Orchestra of Prague, Alexander Liebreich, will be conducting the Transilvania
Philharmonic Orchestra of Cluj-Napoca. 32 orchestras from 14 countries are
taking part in the 2021 edition of the George Enescu Festival.

TENNIS -
Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea is today playing Shelby Rogers of the
United States in the second round at the US Open. On Wednesday, another
Romanian, Simona Halep, advanced to the third round after ousting Kristina
Kucova of Slovakia. The former world no. 1 will next play Elena Rybakina of
Kazakhstan. Sorana Cîrstea and Simona Halep are Romania’s only representatives
in the women’s singles.

FOOTBALL -
Romania’s national football team is today playing Iceland away from home in the
2022 World Cup preliminaries. On September 5, our team will play Lichtenstein
in Bucharest, while on September 8 it will take on North Macedonia in Skopje.
Romania ranks 4th in Group J, with 3 points, below Armenia with 9
points, and North Macedonia and Germany, each with 6 points. The first team
will advance to the World Cup, while teams in second position in each group
will go to the playoffs. (VP)

2 September 2021
November 26, 2020 UPDATE

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA
– The country’s Supreme Defense Council on December 3 will examine the national
anti-COVID-19 vaccination strategy, the Presidency announced on Thursday. The
strategy was previously adopted in a Government session. President Klaus
Iohannis expressed hope that, the moment the first results of the new
anti-COVID-19 vaccine come out, people will be less reluctant to take the shot.
Almost 450,000 people have had Covid-19 in Romania since the start of the
outbreak, with some 9,000 new cases and 171 new deaths reported on Thursday.
1,226 people are receiving intensive care treatment. A number of villages
around Bucharest are in lockdown. People’s health comes first and easing
restrictions too early risks undoing the progress made, said president Klaus
Iohannis. He explained that, according to statistical data, new infections have
begun to drop slightly countywide over the last six days.

COVID-19 IN THE WORLD
– Global coronavirus cases pass 60 million and the death toll 1.42 million. The
US, which is the worst hit country in the world, has recorded 13 million cases
and at least 268,000 deaths. In Europe, the president of the European
Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the first European citizens may be
vaccinated before the end of December. In a speech before the European
Parliament, she said EU member states should start preparing the logistics for
the deployment of the vaccine doses. The European Union on Wednesday signed a
contract with the American biotechnology company Moderna for 160 million doses
of its vaccine, which offers 94.5% protection. Meanwhile, most countries are
struggling with high infection rates. Despite this, France, Ireland and the UK
have announced plans to ease restrictions around Christmas, to allow people to
visit friends and families.

PLAN– The Recovery
and Resilience Plan for Romania was presented on Thursday by President Klaus
Iohannis and Prime Minister Ludovic Orban. Under the plan, Romania will be
allotted €30 billion worth of European funds, to be invested in reforms, infrastructure
and many sectors that need to be modernized and revived. The Recovery and
Resilience Plan will be submitted to public consultation before being presented
in Brussels, so that funding be released next year.

MOLDOVA – The
European Union has paid the first installment worth €50-million to the Republic
of Moldova as part of the financial agreement signed this summer. The purpose
of this loan, the total value of which amounts to €100 million, is to reduce
restrictions on external funding, lowering the balance of payments and meeting
budgetary needs, the Moldovan Finance Minister has said. Moldova’s President
elect, Maia Sandu, thanked the EU for its financial support, saying it is
crucial to keeping the economy healthy. On the other hand, the Moldovan
official said the first weeks of her mandate will be devoted to organizing the
visit to Chişinău to
be paid by Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis.

BORDER POLICE -
The Romanian Border Police have apprehended six Syrian nationals who crossed
illegally into Romania on the Bulgarian border. Five adults aged 17-35 and a
10-year-old child, the migrants were in route to a West-European country. They
have been taken into custody by Bulgarian authorities who will conduct an
investigation. 3 Moroccan nationals aged 26-36 were also detained on the
Hungarian border, also claiming they were headed for Western Europe.

MARADONA – The former
great Romanian player Gheorghe Hagi deplores the death of Diego Maradona,
saying he was unique and an inspiration to him for his love of the game. Hagi
was often compared with the Argentina star player and was even called
Maradona from the Carpathians at the peak of his career. The former
Romanian international player Miodrag Belodedici also paid tribute to Maradona,
saying he considers him to be the best player in history. Maradona died from heart
attack aged 60 at his home in Buenos Aires on Thursday. He won the World Cup
with the national side in 1986, but was eliminated from the 1994 world
championship after testing positive for
doping. After struggling with drug use, overeating and alcoholism for many
years, Maradona reinvented himself and took over the management of the
Argentinean national side in 2008. Three days of national mourning were
declared in Argentina after his death.

FIFA RANKING -
Romania went up 7 places to the 37th position in the FIFA ranking published
today, so they will be in pot two for the 2022 World Cup qualifying draw. The
leap made by Romania in the world ranking comes after its results in November:
a 5-3 win against Belarus in a friendly match, a 3-nil win against Norway
Romania was handed by UEFA and a draw against Northern Ireland in the Nations
League competition. Romania is now in Europe’s top 20. The draw for the 2022
World Cup in Qatar will take place on 7th December. (C. Mateescu & V. Palcu)

26 November 2020
Stories from Romanian Sports – Montevideo, 1930

Taking
part in the World Cup were 13 national teams, including Romania.

The Conte Verde
ocean liner, carrying the Romanian delegation on board, reached Uruguay on July
2, 1930. The team was put up in a villa provided by the Romanian community in
Montevideo, which didn’t have any heating. At the time, winter was in full
swing in South America. The delegation then moved to Artigas Hotel. On July 5,
the draw put Romania in a group with Peru and the host country, Uruguay, a
two-time Olympic champion, in 1924 and 1928. The task at hand looked very
difficult.

The match
against Peru was played on July 14. Adalbert Desu scored the first goal for
Romania early into the game. On minute 11 Romania lost Adalbert Steiner, after
a rough tackle by Luis de Souza, which sent our player straight to the
hospital. Towards the middle of the first half, Romania lost another player,
Constantin Stanciu, who sustained a knee injury after an illegal tackle by
Alberto de Negri. After half-time, having an extra man on the pitch, Peru
evened the odds. On minute 60, Stanciu returned to the pitch, obviously limping
and struggling to play. A quarter an hour before full time, Stefan Barbu’s
cross found Stanciu unmanned, who scored a historic goal. On minute 85, Nicolae
Covaci settled the final score, 3-1 for Romania.

In the next
match, Uruguay defeated Peru 1-nil, which meant Romania was top of the group
tables for a few days. In the group final Uruguay defeated Romania 4-nil. At
the middle of the first half, within a very short period of time, the host team
scored three goals, after a rapid succession of passes. The famous Romanian
striker Rudi Wetzer would write in his diary: It’s how football works. You
learn more in 6 minutes on the pitch than in 6 years in the classroom. Ever
since football was invented, this game has been played in sweaty, not starched
shirts. The citation was included in the book The Final is Played Today,
published in 1966 by Ioan Chirila.

That year
Uruguay went on to win the World Cup, after defeating Argentina 4-2 in the
final.

15 May 2020
Football falls victim to COVID-19

EURO
2020, originally scheduled to kick off in 3 months, has been postponed for June
11 – July 11, 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, UEFA has announced. 24
teams are competing in the event, and matches will be played in 12 cities in 12
countries, including the capital city Bucharest, which will play host to 4
matches. To qualify Romania must compete in the playoffs, first playing Iceland
in June. If it emerges victorious, Romania will next take on the winner of the
match pitting Bulgaria against Hungary. Postponing EURO 2020 will provide domestic
championships and inter-club competitions such as Champions League and Europa
League the opportunity to reach the end of the season by June 30, by relaxing
the competition schedule.

The measure however entails huge costs for UEFA, as
its president Aleksander Ceferin has said. The UEFA official pointed out that
the well-being of fans, technical staff and players should be the top priority.
A number of friendly matches have been cancelled as well, including the one
pitting Romania against England on June 7. Meanwhile the Romanian championship
has been postponed pending an official decision to lift the state of emergency
in mid-April, the president of the Romanian Football Federation, Razvan
Burleanu, has announced. President Burleanu also pointed out that the measure
will generate scores of financial and logistical problems to all parties
involved. The Federation is looking into various options to finalize all the 53
national football competitions. At global level, Copa America, the most
important South-American inter-state competition, has also been postponed for
2021.

(Translated
by V. Palcu)

18 March 2020
October 7, 2019

JHA – Romania’s
Justice Minister, Ana Birchall, is attending the Justice and Home Affairs
Council meeting held under the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU. For
two days, the meeting will focus on EU measures against corruption, combating
cross-border crime by means of Eurojust, electronic issues and the creation of
the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. EU officials will also discuss the
EU’s accession to the European Court of Human Rights, combating hate speech
online, the protection of personal data as well as the relation between
democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights. Minister Birchall will meet with
counterparts from Member States on the sidelines of the event.

CHECKS -
Transport Minister Razvan Cuc announced additional checks and safety measures
will be implemented in traffic considering last week was marked by numerous
accidents, the most serious of which killed 10 people and injured 7. The driver
of a truck collided with a minibus on the oncoming lane, preliminary data
indicating the possibility he might have fallen asleep while driving. A mixed
task force made of representatives of the Police and the State Inspectorate for
Traffic Control will examine tachographs to inspect rest hours for professional
drivers.

CYBER THREATS -
Over half of European citizens say they aren’t sufficiently informed regarding cyber
threats, 70% of enterprises stating they hold minimum knowledge regarding such
risks while 80% of European enterprises having faced at least one
cyber-security incident. The statement was made earlier today by Communications
Minister Alexandru Popescu in Bucharest. The Romanian official said the
authorities continue to invest significant resources in increasing the level of
knowledge, training and pre-emptive capacity, as well as response capabilities
in case of cyber-attacks. Minister Popescu went on to say that Romania has
enhanced its cyber diplomacy by signing a memorandum of understanding this year
with Israel, Poland and the United States regarding the cyber security of
hardware and software infrastructure, of telecom networks and systems, including
5G.

NOBEL – The 2019
Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine on Monday was jointly awarded to William
Kaelin Jr., Sir Peter Ratcliffe and Gregg Semenza for their pioneering research
into how human cells respond to changing oxygen levels. The Nobel Prize in
Physiology and Medicine is the first in the series of Nobel prizes awarded at
this time of the year. Last year, the Nobel Prize went on to American
researcher James P. Allison and Japanese scholar Tasuku Honjo for their
achievements regarding the treatment of cancer.

FOOTBALL -
Romania’s national football team met in Bucharest to train for the matches to
be played against the Faeroe Islands on October 12 and against Norway at home,
on October 15, in the 2020 European Championship preliminaries. Spain is currently
top of the tables with 18 points, followed by Sweden with 11 points, Romania
with 10 points, Norway with 9 points, Malta with 3 points and the Faeroe
Islands with zero points. The top two teams in each group will advance to the
Championship. The draw for the 2020 European Championship will be held in
Bucharest on November 30. Bucharest will host four matches, three in the group
phase and one in the round of 16. Romania’s under-21 team is also playing
Ukraine on Thursday at home, and Northern Ireland next Monday, also at home, as
part of the 2021 European Championship preliminaries. We recall that this year
Romania’s under-21 team reached the semi-finals of the European Championship
hosted by Italy and San Marino.

HANDBALL -
Romania’s vice-champions in handball, CSM Bucharest on Sunday defeated Team
Esbjerg of Denmark 24-22 away from home in its first match counting towards
Champions League Group B. In the other group fixture, Rostov Don of Russia
defeated MKS Perla Lublin of Poland, 31-21. In the next round CSM will play
Rostov Don while MKS Perla Lublin will take on Team Esbjerg. On Friday,
Romania’s champions SCM Ramnicu Valcea grabbed its first win, 34-27 against
Germany’s SG BBM Bietigheim in Group C. In the next round SCM will play Brest
Bretagne Handball of France. Romania, France and Hungary each have two teams in
the Champions League group phase.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

7 October 2019
Sports Weekend

Romania’s national football team on
Thursday lost 1-2 to Spain on home turf in a match counting towards the 2020
European Championship preliminaries. The Romanians had to defend in the first
half, with Ciprian Tatarusanu making a few remarkable saves, keeping the sheet
clean until minute 29, when Sergio Ramos scored the first goal for Spain from
penalty kick. Halftime statistics indicated that Spain had 8 shots on goal,
with none for Romania. On minute 47 Paco Alcacer made it 2-nil for Spain, sending
a superb cross from Alba into the back of the net. Florin Andone scored for
Romania on minute 5, with a superb header from the penalty box. The Romanian
footballers upped their game in the second half, trying to even the odds.
George Puscas missed two scoring opportunities in extra time, the Spanish
goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga denying the goal each time. In the other Group F
fixtures, Norway defeated Malta 2-nil, while Sweden trounced the Faeroe Islands
4-nil away from home. Spain ranks first with 15 points, followed by Sweden with
10 points, Norway with 8 points, Romania with 7 points, Malta with 3 points and
the Faeroe Islands with zero points. Romania will next play Malta on Sunday,
September 8, in Ploiesti.

The Romanian women’s table tennis
team on Thursday advanced to the quarterfinals of the European Table Tennis
Championships in Nantes, France, after defeating Spain 3-nil in the last Group
1 fixture. The defending champions prevailed through the individual wins of
Bernadette Szocs, Elizabeta Samara and Daniela Dodean Monteiro. After defeating
Slovakia on Wednesday 3-nil, Romania is now top of the Group tables with 4
points, followed by Spain with 3 points and Slovakia with 2 points. The
Romanian men’s table tennis team failed to move past the group phase, after
losing to Sweden nil-3 on Thursday in the last Group 2 fixture. Sweden ranked
first with 4 points, followed by Romania with 3 points and Hungary with 2
points.

(Translated
by V. Palcu)

6 September 2019
Sports Weekend

Romania’s national football team on
Thursday lost 1-2 to Spain on home turf in a match counting towards the 2020
European Championship preliminaries. The Romanians had to defend in the first
half, with Ciprian Tatarusanu making a few remarkable saves, keeping the sheet
clean until minute 29, when Sergio Ramos scored the first goal for Spain from
penalty kick. Halftime statistics indicated that Spain had 8 shots on goal,
with none for Romania. On minute 47 Paco Alcacer made it 2-nil for Spain, sending
a superb cross from Alba into the back of the net. Florin Andone scored for
Romania on minute 5, with a superb header from the penalty box. The Romanian
footballers upped their game in the second half, trying to even the odds.
George Puscas missed two scoring opportunities in extra time, the Spanish
goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga denying the goal each time. In the other Group F
fixtures, Norway defeated Malta 2-nil, while Sweden trounced the Faeroe Islands
4-nil away from home. Spain ranks first with 15 points, followed by Sweden with
10 points, Norway with 8 points, Romania with 7 points, Malta with 3 points and
the Faeroe Islands with zero points. Romania will next play Malta on Sunday,
September 8, in Ploiesti.

The Romanian women’s table tennis
team on Thursday advanced to the quarterfinals of the European Table Tennis
Championships in Nantes, France, after defeating Spain 3-nil in the last Group
1 fixture. The defending champions prevailed through the individual wins of
Bernadette Szocs, Elizabeta Samara and Daniela Dodean Monteiro. After defeating
Slovakia on Wednesday 3-nil, Romania is now top of the Group tables with 4
points, followed by Spain with 3 points and Slovakia with 2 points. The
Romanian men’s table tennis team failed to move past the group phase, after
losing to Sweden nil-3 on Thursday in the last Group 2 fixture. Sweden ranked
first with 4 points, followed by Romania with 3 points and Hungary with 2
points.

(Translated
by V. Palcu)

6 September 2019
March 26, 2019

CONSULTATIONS – President Klaus Iohannis is today consulting
with representatives of civil society regarding the justice referendum. The
President last week said he was almost determined to call a referendum
coinciding with the European Parliament election of May 26. The president’s
announcement followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling sanctioning a
referendum on the same day as the European Parliament election.

MEETING – Romania’s Prime Minister Viorica Dancila met
with US Secretary of Trade Wilbur Ross during her visit to the United States of
America. On this occasion, Dancila highlighted the importance of consolidating
economic cooperation as part of the Strategic Partnership between the two
states. According to a Government release made public today, Viorica Dancila
presented the measures the Government has taken to ensure an appealing business
sector by increasing the budget of investment in key fields, simplifying the
legislation on public-private partnership as well as awarding tax benefits to
companies carrying out investment with a major economic impact. During her
visit talks focused on the achievements reported so far by the Romanian
Presidency of the Council of the EU on several files of major importance for
the development of the business sector, such as energy, digitization and
finance.

YOUTH -
The European Union Youth Conference kicks off today in Bucharest, organized by
the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The main topics
on the three-day agenda of the conference are the integration of young people
on the labour market and improving dialogue between the youth and the
authorities. Taking part are some 250 representatives of young people and line
ministers from Member States. Also represented are states in the Eastern
Partnership and the West Balkans, European and international bodies in the
field of youth and labour.

BREXIT – British MPs on Monday evening voted in favour
of taking control of the UK’s scheduled withdrawal from the community bloc. The
move is unprecedented, aimed at offering MPs the possibility to choose a
solution to overcome the Brexit deadlock. MPs on Wednesday will vote a series
of motions to decide whether or not they support the various Brexit scenarios,
which include the organization of a new referendum, a no-deal Brexit or
revoking Article 50. We recall Parliament has twice rejected Prime Minister
Theresa May’s negotiated agreement with the EU. At the summit organized last
week in Brussels, EU leaders accepted a postponement of Brexit, originally
slated for March 29, and gave the UK two deadlines. In the first scenario, if
Parliament finally approves the original Brexit agreement, the deadline for
leaving the EU will be May 22. In the second scenario, if the agreement falls
through, the deadline for Brexit will be April 12, during which time London is
expected to choose the direction in which it is headed. Meanwhile, Brussels
announced it has concluded its ‘no-deal’ preparations.

EU-CHINA -
Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emanuel Macron and
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker are today holding talks in Paris
with Chinese President Xi Jinping about future relations between Europe and
China. The Chinese President is on a tour of Europe to gather support for his
project The New Silk Road, aimed at linking China to Europe by means of a
thousand-billion-dollar investment by 2030. Several EU states have signed
protocols expressing their desire to join the project, and last week Europe’s
third-largest economy, Italy, currently facing severe economic imbalances, became
the first G7 country to sing. European Commission representatives have called
for the immediate establishment of a joint strategy, concerned with Chinese
investment in key sectors in Member States, such as electricity grids,
high-speed rail networks and port infrastructure.

FOOTBALL – Romania’s national football team is today playing the
Faeroe Islands at home in Group F of the 2020 European Championship
preliminaries. Romania on Saturday lost 2-1 to Sweden away from home. The group
also includes Spain, Norway, Malta. The first two teams will advance to the
championship. On Monday, Romania’s Under-21 team defeated Denmark 1-nil in a
friendly game played in Spain. Our under-21 team will play in the 2019 European
Championships hosted by Italy and San Marino in Group C, alongside England,
France and Croatia.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player world no. 3 Simona Halep has qualified in
the quarterfinals of the Miami Open in the US, a tournament with total prizes
of some 9 million dollars. The second-see ousted Venus Williams of the United
States (43 WTA) in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Halep will next take on 18th-seed
Qiang Wang of China.

(translated by V. Palcu)

26 March 2019
March 22, 2018

EUROPEAN COUNCIL SUMMIT — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is taking part in the European Council Summit underway in Brussels. According to the Presidency, Klaus Iohannis will highlight Romania’s plea for a close partnership between the EU and Great Britain post-Brexit, which should include an economic and trade component and cooperation in the fields of security, defense and foreign policy. European leaders will discuss the post-Brexit transition agreement, which covers the March 2019-December 2020 timespan. Moreover, the agenda for talks also includes the latest measures adopted in the US on the introduction of taxes on steel and aluminum imports, EU-Turkey relations and the situation for the former Russian spy Sergey Skripal.

PROTEST — Some 100 police officers are today protesting in front of the Interior Ministry building in Bucharest, disgruntled with work conditions and low salaries. Trade union representatives say the whole system needs to be reworked so that citizens should benefit from quality services. Unions have announced a 10-thousand-strong protest on Saturday, which will be followed by a march on the Government headquarters.

RULING — The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest today postponed a final ruling on the corruption investigation of Social-Democrat Mircea Cosma, the president of the Prahova County Council and his son, Vlad Cosma, for Monday, March 26. The two were sentenced in a court of first instance at 8 years and 5 years in prison respectively. The two Social Democrats were prosecuted by the anti-corruption prosecutors for bribe taking, abuse of office and influence peddling. Subsequently, Vlad Cosma accused the prosecutors of having used him to fabricate evidence against former Social-Democrat Prime Minister Victor Ponta and former Social-Democrat MP Sebastian Ghita, which caused a huge political and media scandal in Bucharest.

EXTREME WEATHER — Interior Minister Carmen Dan called a winter task force meeting of all the authorities that deal with winter-related problems. Previously local authorities decided to shut down all schools and kindergartens on Friday in Bucharest and other counties in the south. A similar measure was adopted in late February. Meteorologists have issued a code yellow alert against strong wind and heavy snowfall in place since Thursday afternoon until Friday evening for southern Romania. On Thursday evening a new code orange alert against heavy snowfall and strong wind will take effect. Temperatures are expected to range 10 degrees below the normal average for this time of the year. The noon reading in Bucharest was 0 degrees Celsius.

COMMEMORATION — Great Britain today marks 1 year since the March 22, 2017 terrorist attack in London, which killed 35 people and wounded scores of others. A Romanian woman was also killed in the attack. Also today, 2 years ago, the Islamic State staged two attacks, on Zaventem International Airport in Brussels and at the Maelbeek subway station, killing 32 people and wounding some 300. According to a survey, one in three Belgians are still afraid to use the public transportation system.

SARKOZY — Former right-wing French President Nicolas Sarkozy was indicted and subjected to legal restriction as part of the ongoing investigation into the financing of his 2007 presidential election campaign. Sarkozy had been previously detained for 26 hours. Accusing the lack of hard evidence against him, Nicolas Sarkozy claims the case against him is purely defamatory. A May 2012 investigation suggested Sarkozy was the beneficiary of a €50-million grant from Muammar Ghaddafi’s regime to fund his election campaign. Meanwhile the investigation has brought to light new evidence. During his term as president Nicolas Sarkozy received the former Libyan leader in Paris. Sarkozy was also one of the Ghaddafi’s staunch opponents, prior to his demise and death in 2011.

TENNIS — Romanian tennis player WTA no. 1 Simona Halep is today playing Oceane Dodin of France, 98 WTA, in the second round of the Miami tournament, totalling some $8 million in prize money. Also today, Monica Niculescu is playing Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, while Sorana Cirstea is going up against Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan. Irina Begu and Mihaela Buzarnescu were knocked out in the first round.

FOOTBALL — Romania’s under-19 team on Wednesday trounced Serbia 4-nil on home turf, in Group 4 of the elite round of the European Championship. In the other group fixture, also in Ploiesti, Sweden drew nil-all against Ukraine. The next two games, Romania vs. Sweden and Ukraine vs. Serbia will be played on Saturday. The first-ranked team will qualify to the European Championship scheduled to take place in July. In another development, Romania’s senior football team is preparing for the two friendly matches against Israel on Saturday away from home and against Sweden at home on Tuesday. We recall Romania missed the chance to qualify to the World Cup this year hosted by Russia.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

22 March 2018
November 15, 2017 UPDATE

UPDATE: The US
Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, is currently in Romania. He made a stopover
in Bucharest, upon returning from a trip to Asia, the AGERPRES news agency
reports.

The US Embassy in Bucharest has confirmed the presence of the US
high ranking official in Romania, underlining however that Rex Tillerson does
not have an official agenda in Romania.

According
to diplomatic sources, the US Secretary of State was welcomed
at the airport by the Romanian foreign
minister, Teodor Meleșcanu.

The
American official will spend the night in Bucharest, after having flown back from Myanmar,
where he met with Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi and with the commander of the army, general
Min Aung Hlaing, against the backdrop of the humanitarian crisis facing the Rohingya minority.

CVM – The European Commission on Wednesday released its latest report on Romania’s progress as regards its reforms of the judiciary and the fight against corruption, two aspects monitored under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, set up in 2007, the year of Romania’s EU accession. According to this report, Romania has reported some progress in such fields as investigating conflicts of interest in the field of public procurement, although reform momentum in the course of 2017 was lost overall, slowing down the fulfilment of the remaining recommendations the Commission set out for Romania to address the unresolved identified shortcomings. Thus Romania runs the risk of re-opening issues which the January 2017 report had considered as fulfilled. Challenges to and questioning judicial independence have also been a persistent source of concern, the report also reads. I count on the Romanian Government to pursue the necessary reforms, and to avoid backtracking, so that we can work together towards the goal of ending the CVM under this Commission’s mandate, European Vice-President Frans Timmermans said. President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday said the report represents a serious warning for the current ruling coalition to consider, adding that Romania’s sustained efforts to strengthen reforms in the field of the judiciary and combat corruption might be endangered by the actions of a group of politicians who refuse to accept that their duty is to serve citizens, not personal or partisan interests. In turn, Romania’s Justice Minister Tudorel Toader believes the report highlights significant progress, and that the country can fulfil its objective to have the CVM lifted over the coming year. The Commission’s next report will be at the end of 2018.

COMMEMORATION – The city of Brasov in central Romania on Wednesday marked 30 years since the workers’ anti-communist uprising. On November 15, 1987, the employees of a factory protested against the leadership, chanting slogans against dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The state police repressed the uprising violently. Hundreds were arrested over the coming days, many of whom never returned to the city. The Prosecutor’s Office with the High Court of Cassation and Justice announced the start of a new investigation into the violence that stifled the workers’ anti-communist uprising. Classified as part of the communist-era crimes ongoing investigation, the prosecutors’ efforts will focus on crimes against humanity, perpetrated by those who systematically repressed the groups of protesters.

BUDGET ADJUSTMENT – The Romanian Government on Wednesday made a second budget adjustment this year, observing the budget deficit target of 2.9% of the GDP. According to the Finance Ministry, the adjustment will be positive and based on an economic growth that exceeded the original forecast. Additional funds will be made available to cover salaries in the primary education sector and for the child protection system. The Labour Ministry will also get additional funds for payments to disabled people and for covering child-rearing benefits. The Interior Ministry will get funds to pay the law-enforcement pensions, while the Health Ministry will be able to pay the salaries of resident medical officers. The Ministries for the Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship, of Finances, Culture, the Environment, for Regional Development and European Funds, respectively, will see their budgets slashed. In another development, Prime Minister Mihai Tudose attended a meeting with the leaders of one of the biggest trade confederations in Romania, CNSLR Frăţia, which has warned it would stage an all-out strike if net salaries will go down as a result of the newly adopted Fiscal Code. Prime Minister Tudose has repeatedly said the transfer of social security contributions from employers to employees, stipulated in the Government’s emergency decree, will not lead to income cuts.

THE VATICAN – Romania’s Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu on Tuesday had talks with Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States with the Holy See’s Secretariat of State. In 2017 Romania and the Vatican mark 90 years since the two states signed the Concordat and 80 years since the set-up of the PIO Romeno College. The two officials looked at the best ways to diversify bilateral relations and boost top-level dialogue. The two officials also discussed the forthcoming visit of Pope Francis to Romania. Teodor Melescanu expressed Romania’s deep gratitude towards the Catholic Church for hosting several communities of Orthodox or Catholic Romanians in Western Europe, as well as for the Holy See’s special support for opening a Lecturers’ Office for Romanian Literature, Culture and Civilization with the Pontifical Oriental Institute. We recall that Pope John Paul II paid a historic visit to Romania in 1999, the first a Pontiff ever made to a country with an Orthodox majority population.

FOOTBALL – Romanian’s national football team on Tuesday lost nil-3 the home friendly match against the Netherlands. In last week’s friendly match, Romania won 2-nil against Turkey. We recall that Cosmin Contra is Romania’s new coach, taking over from German Cristoph Daum, who was sacked in September. With Daum at its helm Romania failed to qualify to the 2018 World Cup, to be hosted by Russia. Also on Tuesday, Romania’s under-21 team drew nil-all against Wales away from home, in a matching counting towards the 2019 Under-21 European Championship preliminaries. With three wins and three draws, Romania ranks first in the group, which also includes Bosnia Herzegovina, Switzerland, Wales, Portugal and Lichtenstein.

15 November 2017
November 15, 2017

CVM — The European Commission today released its latest report on Romania’s progress as regards its reforms of the judiciary and the fight against corruption, two aspects monitored under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, set up in 2007, the year of Romania’s EU accession. According to this report, Romania has reported some progress in such fields as investigating conflicts of interest in the field of public procurement, although reform momentum in the course of 2017 was lost overall, slowing down the fulfillment of the remaining recommendations the Commission set out for Romania to address the unresolved identified shortcomings. Thus Romania runs the risk of re-opening issues which the January 2017 report had considered as fulfilled. Challenges to and questioning judicial independence have also been a persistent source of concern, the report also reads. I count on the Romanian Government to pursue the necessary reforms, and to avoid backtracking, so that we can work together towards the goal of ending the CVM under this Commissions mandate, European Vice-President Frans Timmermans said. President Klaus Iohannis today said the report represents a serious warning for the current ruling coalition to consider, adding that Romania’s sustained efforts to strengthen reforms in the field of the judiciary and combat corruption might be endangered by the actions of a group of politicians who refuse to accept that their duty is to serve citizens, not personal or partisan interests. In turn, Romania’s Justice Minister Tudorel Toader believes the report highlights significant progress, and that the country can fulfill its objective to have the CVM lifted over the coming year. The Commission’s next report will be at the end of 2018.

COMMEMORATION — The city of Brasov in central Romania today marks 30 years since the workers’ anti-communist uprising. The employees of a factory at the time protested against the leadership, chanting slogans against dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The state police repressed the uprising violently. Hundreds were arrested over the coming days, many of whom never returned to the city. The Prosecutor’s Office with the High Court of Cassation and Justice announced the start of a new investigation into the violence that stifled the workers’ anti-communist uprising. Classified as part of the “communist-era crimes” ongoing investigation, the prosecutors’ efforts will focus on crimes against humanity, perpetrated by those who systematically repressed the groups of protesters.

BUDGET ADJUSTMENT — The Government is today discussing the second budget adjustment this year. According to the Finance Ministry, the adjustment will be positive and based on an economic growth that exceeded the original forecast. Additional funds will be made available to cover salaries in the primary education sector and for the child protection system. The Labour Ministry will also get additional funds for payments to disabled people and for covering child-rearing benefits. The Interior Ministry will get funds to pay the law-enforcement pensions, while the Health Ministry will be able to pay the salaries of resident medical officers. The Ministries of Culture, the Environment, Regional Development, European Funds and the Finance Ministry will see their budgets slashed. In another development, Prime Minister Mihai Tudose is attending a meeting with the leaders of one of the biggest trade confederations in Romania, CNSLR Frăţia, which has warned it would stage an all-out strike if net salaries will go down as a result of the newly adopted Fiscal Code. Prime Minister Tudose has repeatedly said the transfer of social security contributions from employers to employees, stipulated in the Government’s emergency decree, will not lead to income cuts.

THE VATICAN — Romania’s Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu on Tuesday had talks with Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States with the Holy Sees Secretariat of State. In 2017 Romania and the Vatican mark 90 years since the two states signed the Concordat and 80 years since the setup of the PIO Romeno College. The two officials looked at the best ways to diversify bilateral relations and boost top-level dialogue. The two officials also discussed the forthcoming visit of Pope Francis to Romania. Teodor Melescanu expressed Romania’s deep gratitude towards the Catholic Church for hosting several communities of Orthodox or Catholic Romanians in Western Europe, as well as for the Holy See’s special support for opening a Lecturers’ Office for Romanian Literature, Culture and Civilization with the Pontifical Oriental Institute. We recall that Pope John Paul II paid a historic visit to Romania in 1999, the first a Pontiff ever made to a country with an Orthodox majority population.

FOOTBALL — Romanian’s national football team on Tuesday lost nil-3 the home friendly match against the Netherlands. In last week’s friendly match, Romania won 2-nil against Turkey. We recall that Cosmin Contra is Romania’s new coach, taking over from German Cristoph Daum, who was sacked in September. With Daum at its helm Romania failed to qualify to the 2018 World Cup, to be hosted by Russia. Also on Tuesday, Romania’s under-21 team drew nil-all against Wales away from home, in a matching counting towards the 2019 Under-21 European Championship preliminaries. With three wins and three draws, Romania ranks first in the group, which also includes Bosnia Herzegovina, Switzerland, Wales, Portugal and Lichtenstein. (Translated by V. Palcu)

15 November 2017