Radio România Internațional

Tag: Rugby World Cup

  • February 9-13

    February 9-13

    100 days with Ilie Bolojan, after 10 years with Klaus Iohannis

    This Wednesday, Klaus Iohannis ended his second and last term as President of Romania. Ilie Bolojan, who stepped down as Senate Speaker and president of PNL took over the position of interim head of state. The Constitutional Court took note the presidency was vacated after Klaus Iohannis announced his resignation on Monday and established that the head of the Senate should step in as interim president. Ilie Gavrilă Bolojan was born 1969, in Bihor County (west). He studied mechanics and mathematics. He joined PNL in 1993. He is considered one of the best local specialists in local public administration. Over 2008-2020, he was mayor of Oradea, holding three mandates. Since 2020, he has been president of the Bihor County Council, a position he held until last year, when he became a senator. As interim president, an office he will hold for about a hundred days, Bolojan will have limited powers: he cannot address Parliament on key political issues, he cannot dissolve Parliament and he cannot call a national referendum. On December 21, 2024, Klaus Iohannis was supposed to end his term in office, but his stay at the Presidency was extended after the Constitutional Court annulled the entire process for the election of a new president. A new presidential election is slated for May, with the first round on the 4th and the second round on the 18th.

     

    The state budget for 2025, ratified on the last day of Iohannis’ term in office

    A few hours before announcing his resignation, President Iohannis signed the decrees for ratifying the State Budget Law for 2025 and the State Social Security Budget Law. The two bills were voted last week in a joint Parliament sitting. The budget is based on an economic growth rate of 2.5% and a budget deficit target of 7% of GDP. Finance Minister Tanczos Barna stated, before the plenary sitting, that the state budget is “moderate” and based on a prudent increase in revenues, “without exaggerations”. The Romanian official pointed out that the State Social Security Budget Law focuses “primarily on the payment of pensions”.

     

    A no-confidence vote is in the making

    The three parties in the self-proclaimed sovereignist opposition, AUR, SOS Romania and POT, have announced their intention to call for a vote of no-confidence against the PSD-PNL-UDMR ruling coalition. The motion could also be voted by MPs from the pro-European opposition party USR. Social-Democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu claims he has no reasons to be afraid and that he is “confident” that “the government will not fall”. Political pundits do not rule out, however, possible defections within the majority and are skeptical about the chances of Ciolacu’s Cabinet staying in power.

     

    A new Russian attack

    The Romanian Foreign Ministry firmly condemns the irresponsible attack by Russian forces on February 13, when two drones carrying explosives violated the airspace and fell on Romanian territory, near the border with Ukraine. By order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Emil Hurezeanu, the ad interim charge d’affaires of the Russian Federation in Bucharest was urgently summoned to the headquarters of the Ministry, where the Romanian side firmly condemned the repeated violations of Romania’s airspace. These illegal and irresponsible attacks must cease, while Romania has the right to take the necessary response measures, the Ministry said. Attending the 61st edition of the Munich International Security Conference, in Germany, organized over February 14-16, Minister Emil Hurezeanu calls for a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace in Ukraine The head of diplomacy from Bucharest also advocates for the continued provision of solid support for increasing the resilience of the Republic of Moldova.

     

    Bloody brawl in Urziceni

    Interior Minister, Cătălin Predoiu, states that the involvement of several state structures is needed to combat organized crime and dismantle underworld clans. According to the Romanian official, although hundreds of organized crime groups have been dismantled in recent years, they are regenerating, and solving the problem may take a long time. At the end of last week, in Urziceni (south), two people died and five were injured, following a street brawl seasoned with gunfire, involving a few dozen people. Some of the combatants were arrested and charged with aggravated murder, brawl, disturbing public order and peace, failure to comply with the weapons and munitions legislation, unauthorized use of a weapon, attempted aggravated murder. Street brawls are uncommon in Romania, generally considered a safe country.

     

    Romania secures Rugby World Cup qualification

    Romania qualified for the 2027 World Cup in Australia after grabbing victories this month against Germany, 48-10, and Belgium, 31-14, in Rugby Europe Championship 2025. The Oaks have only missed out on the World Cup once, in 2019, when they were disqualified for fielding a naturalized but ineligible Tongan player. In football, Romanian champions FCSB from Bucharest defeated Greek side PAOK Thessaloniki 2-1 on Thursday night in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 play-offs. The return leg against the Greeks, coached by Romanian Răzvan Lucescu, is scheduled for next week in Bucharest. Also on Thursday, in handball, the defending champions Dinamo Bucharest lost 26-33 the home match against the Hungarian side One Veszprem HC, in Champions League Group A. (VP)

  • September 16, 2023 UPDATE

    September 16, 2023 UPDATE






    Grains. The European
    Commission has decided not to extend the ban on grain imports from Ukraine, in
    exchange for some commitments assumed by Kyiv. Until September 18, the
    Ukrainian side must present an action plan with effective measures to control
    grain shipments. According to this plan, the Bucharest Government claims that
    it will take the appropriate decisions to protect local farmers. Farmers want
    the Government to make a unilateral decision and extend the restriction for the
    entire duration of the war, even if Brussels has a contrary position. If the
    authorities do not extend the ban, as decided by Poland, the Romanian farmers
    threaten to block the customs in the west of the country, as well as the Black
    Sea port of Constanţa (southeast). Among
    the five countries that initially requested the introduction of this ban, only
    Bulgaria has announced that it does not want to extend the embargo imposed on
    wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower imports from Ukraine.






    Schengen.
    Austria’s opposition to Romania’s accession to the Schengen
    Area is not directed against Bucharest, but against this system of free
    movement – said the Austrian Minister of European Affairs, Karoline Edtstadler.
    The reaction comes at the request of the media, after the Bucharest government
    warned that it would sue Vienna if it kept opposing Romania’s accession.
    Edtstadler has stated that she understands the position of the Romanian
    authorities, but stressed that one cannot turn a blind eye to an already
    defective system. She says that the European Union should ensure a protection
    of the external borders that works. In an interview that appeared in the
    Austrian media on Friday, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu says that, in
    the event of a new opposition, he will have to appeal this decision at the
    European Court to demand compensation for the losses caused by Romania’s
    failing to join the Schengen Area.






    Ukraine. The Russian
    anti-aircraft defense shot down two Ukrainian drones over the regions of Kaluga
    and Tver, in the west of the country , the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday. Also on Saturday, the so-called authorities installed by Moscow in
    the annexed Crimea stated that they intended to sell about 100 Ukrainian
    properties, previously nationalized, including one belonging to
    President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president of the Crimean pseudo-parliament,
    Vladimir Konstantinov, claims that the nationalized properties will be sold
    soon and that the authorities have already organized the first
    eight auctions for the assets of Ukrainian businesspeople. The sales contracts
    amounted to more than 815 million rubles (equivalent to about 8.51 million US
    dollars).








    Mourning.
    In the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, predominantly
    Romanian-speaking), Saturday was a day of national mourning, in memory of the
    first president of this state, Mircea Snegur, who died on September 13. He was
    an active supporter of the national revival movement and had an essential role
    in promoting the independence, freedom and sovereignty of the Republic of
    Moldova – reads a press release from the Presidency in Chisinau. Snegur was
    born in 1940, in the old Romanian county of Soroca (east). He was a doctor in
    agricultural sciences and an activist of the single communist party. President
    of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the republic, in August 1989 he
    agreed to support the bills that gave the Romanian language the status of an
    official language and decided to return to the Latin script and the Romanian
    tricolor flag, a fact that amplified his popularity. On August 27, 1991, Mircea
    Snegur was one of the protagonists of the great national assembly in Chisinau,
    where the Republic of Moldova proclaimed its independence from the Soviet
    Union. He was head of state between 1991 and 1996.










    Libya. An
    aircraft of the Romanian Air Force took off, on Saturday, bound for Benghazi,
    Libya, to transport the first installment of the aid that Romania sends as free
    international assistance to that country, affected by catastrophic floods.
    According to a press release issued by the Ministry of National Defense, the
    Air Force has planned six flights on this route, in which a total of 55 tons of
    goods will be transported, consisting of food products and shelter items. The
    flights are carried out under the Civil Protection Mechanism of the European
    Union, based on the Decision of the National Committee for Emergency
    Situations.








    Rugby. The national rugby
    team of Romania meets, on Sunday, September 17, in the second match they are
    playing at the World Cup in France, the holder of the trophy, South Africa. The
    match takes place in Bordeaux (west). A week ago, also in Bordeaux, in the
    first match of the World Cup, Romania was defeated by the Irish team, with a
    score of 82-8 (33-8). The Romanian rugby players will take on Scotland on
    September 30 and Tonga on October 8, both in Lille (north).






    Tennis. Cezar Cretu
    brought the Romanian men’s tennis team the point of honor in the match against
    Taiwan, won by the Asians 3-1, on Saturday, in the first round of the Davis Cup
    World Group, in Mamaia (southeast). He defeated Tung-Lin Wu 6-4, 6-4 in a
    straight game. Also on Saturday, in the doubles match, the Victor Cornea/Cezar
    Creţu pair was defeated by the Yu Hsiou Hsu/Tsung-Hao Huang couple 6-1, 6-4,
    ensuring Taiwan’s victory. On Friday, in the first singles match, Nicholas
    David Ionel was defeated by Chun-Hsin Tseng, 6-3, 6-0, and Marius Copil was
    defeated in the second by Yu Hsiou Hsu with a score of 7- 6, 7-5. At the
    beginning of next year, Romania will play a play-off to stay in World Group I
    of the Davis Cup. (MI)



  • September 16, 2023

    September 16, 2023

    Grains. The European Commission has decided not to extend the ban on grain imports from Ukraine, in exchange for some commitments assumed by Kyiv. Until September 18, the Ukrainian side must present an action plan with effective measures to control grain shipments. According to this plan, the Bucharest Government claims that it will take the appropriate decisions to protect local farmers. Farmers want the Government to make a unilateral decision and extend the restriction for the entire duration of the war, even if Brussels has a contrary position. If the authorities do not extend the ban, as decided by Poland, the Romanian farmers threaten to block the customs in the west of the country, as well as the Black Sea port of Constanţa (southeast). Among the five countries that initially requested the introduction of this ban, only Bulgaria has announced that it does not want to extend the embargo imposed on wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower imports from Ukraine.



    Ukraine. The Russian anti-aircraft defense shot down two Ukrainian drones over the regions of Kaluga and Tver, in the west of the country , the Russian Defense Ministry has announced today. Also today, the so-called authorities installed by Moscow in the annexed Crimea have stated that they intend to sell about 100 Ukrainian properties, previously “nationalized”, including one belonging to President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president of the Crimean pseudo-parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, claims that the nationalized properties will be sold “soon” and that the authorities have already organized the first eight auctions for the assets of Ukrainian businesspeople. The sales contracts amounted to more than 815 million rubles (equivalent to about 8.51 million US dollars).



    Mourning. In the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, predominantly Romanian-speaking), today is a day of national mourning, in memory of the first president of this state, Mircea Snegur, who died on September 13. He was an active supporter of the national revival movement and had an essential role in promoting the independence, freedom and sovereignty of the Republic of Moldova – reads a press release from the Presidency in Chisinau. In all localities, as well as at diplomatic and consular missions of the Republic of Moldova abroad, the state flag has been lowered to half mast. Snegur was born in 1940, in the old Romanian county of Soroca (east). He was a doctor in agricultural sciences and an activist of the single communist party. President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the republic, in August 1989 he agreed to support the bills that gave the Romanian language the status of an official language and decided to return to the Latin script and the Romanian tricolor flag, a fact that amplified his popularity. On August 27, 1991, Mircea Snegur was one of the protagonists of the great national assembly in Chisinau, where the Republic of Moldova proclaimed its independence from the Soviet Union. He was head of state between 1991 and 1996.



    Libya. An aircraft of the Romanian Air Force took off, on Saturday, bound for Benghazi, Libya, to transport the first installment of the aid that Romania sends as free international assistance to that country, affected by catastrophic floods. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of National Defense, the Air Force has planned six flights on this route, in which a total of 55 tons of goods will be transported, consisting of food products and shelter items. The flights are carried out under the Civil Protection Mechanism of the European Union, based on the Decision of the National Committee for Emergency Situations.



    Rugby. The national rugby team of Romania meets, on Sunday, September 17, in the second match they are playing at the World Cup in France, the holder of the trophy, South Africa. The match takes place in Bordeaux (west). A week ago, also in Bordeaux, in the first match of the World Cup, Romania was beaten by the Irish team, with a score of 82-8 (33-8). The Romanian rugby players will take on Scotland on September 30 and Tonga on October 8, both in Lille (north).



    Tennis. The Romanian mens tennis team was defeated by the Taiwan team 3-0, in the first round of the World Group I of the Davis Cup, after the pair Victor Cornea/Cezar Creţu was defeated by the pair Yu Hsiou Hsu/Tsung-Hao Huang with 6-1, 6-4, today, in the Black Sea resort of Mamaia (south-east). On Friday, in the singles matches, Nicholas David Ionel was defeated by Chun-Hsin Tseng, 6-3, 6-0, and Marius Copil by Yu Hsiou Hsu 7-6 (7/5), 7-5. At the beginning of next year, Romania will play a play-off to stay in World Group I of the Davis Cup. (MI)


  • June 14, 2023

    June 14, 2023

    Government. 18 candidates proposed for the new Government headed by the Prime Minister Designate, the Social – Democrat Marcel Ciolacu, are being heard in Bucharest today. They are presenting their goals before the specialized committees of the Romanian Parliament. Some of the candidates would keep their previous offices. Also, new names have been included in the list of government members. The list however, proposed b the PM designate, includes only members of the Social Democratic Party and of the National Liberal Party, and no member of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, which was a junior member in the previous coalition. The government proposed by Marcel Ciolacu wants to solve the issue of special pensions, contested by a large part of civil society, to adopt the new unitary salary law and to stop prices from raising. The new government could be sworn in on Thursday, in plenary session of Parliament. We recall that the Liberal PM Nicolae Ciuca resigned to make room for his coalition partner, the Social Democrat Marcel Ciolacu, in keeping with the agreement the two parties made back in November 2021.



    Companies. The number of companies with foreign capital newly established in Romania increased, in the first four months of the year, by 4.6%, compared to the similar period in 2022, according to data centralized by the National Trade Registry Office (ONRC). The figure represents some 2,300 new companies that had a total subscribed capital of about 8.5 million dollars. According to the National Trade Registry, at the end of April 2023, in Romania there were over 246 thousand companies with foreign participation in the share capital, with a subscribed capital value of about 68 billion dollars. The largest number of companies with foreign participation is with investors from Italy, but the highest value of the social capital belongs to Dutch companies.



    AI. The European Parliament is voting today the first law on Artificial Intelligence after, on Tuesday, the bill was debated in plenary session in Strasbourg. The main thing that the MEPs emphasized was that artificial intelligence must not be used against people, must respect human rights, as well as European values. The new law was built and improved through amendments precisely in the sense of protecting citizens and, at the same time, giving researchers and business people the possibility to deal with and invest in artificial intelligence without additional burdens that would prevent them from developing this structure for the benefit of society.



    Ukraine. The United States has announced an additional military aid worth 325 million dollars for Ukraine, aimed in particular at strengthening air defense against Russia. According to the Pentagon, it is mainly about air defense equipment, ammunition and vehicles. The new tranche of aid comes at a time when the Ukrainian army has launched a counter-offensive against the Russian forces in the east and south of the country to liberate the occupied territories. On Friday, Washington announced about $2 billion in military aid, mainly air defense equipment, in the form of various orders to the defense industry. The United States is Ukraines largest donor. It has delivered or pledged to deliver $39.7 billion worth of arms to Kyiv since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.



    Security. Romania is an essential ally and strategic partner of the United Kingdom and what it is doing to help Ukraine regain its full sovereignty and enjoy its full territorial independence is at the top of the allies responses, the ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Andrew Noble said in Bucharest today. He attended an exhibition where about 35 British companies in the field of defense and security are presenting their products and activities. Representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Interior, the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Special Telecommunications Service, the Guard and Protection Service, the Romanian Parliament, the Ministry of Economy, as well as the Romanian defense industry were invited to the event. The UK is the worlds second largest defense exporter after the US, with a turnover of ­£22.8 billion in 2022, supplying equipment to support armed forces and security services around the world.



    Trump. Former US President Donald Trump, prosecuted for negligent handling of state secrets after leaving the White House, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, France Presse reports. The 76-year-old Republican is accused of endangering the security of the United States by keeping classified documents, including military plans and information about nuclear weapons. He is also accused of refusing to return documents despite court orders, leading to his indictment for illegal withholding of information relating to national security”, as well as obstruction of justice and false testimony. Since his prosecution started, Donald Trump has denounced an orchestrated “staging” to remove him from the competition against the Democratic President Joe Biden, who is running for a second term.



    Rugby. The technical staff of the Romanian national rugby team has announced an enlarged squad of 50 players for the World Cup that will be hosted by France this fall. Of the 50 athletes, 35 perform in the country, and 15 abroad, the vast majority in France. The Rugby World Cup will take place between September 8 and October 28. The “Oaks” will play in Group B. They will play the first match on September 9 against Ireland, then will meet the world champion South Africa on September 17, on September 30 will face Scotland, and on October 8 will take on Tonga. Until then, Romania will play three test matches, all in August, against the USA, Georgia and Italy. (MI)

  • July 18, 2022

    July 18, 2022

    Visit. The President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, will pay a formal visit to Romania on Tuesday, at the invitation of President Klaus Iohannis. The two leaders will assess opportunities to stimulate and strengthen sectoral aspects of bilateral cooperation in all areas of common interest, with a focus on political dialogue, home affairs, education, economic and trade. The agenda will also include an exchange of views on developments with a regional impact in the Middle East, the stage and prospects of the Peace Process, the security situation and the effects of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, a presidential communiqué reads. Also on Tuesday, President Iohannis will receive the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defense of Ireland, Simon Coveney.



    FAC. Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is attending in Brussels a meeting of the heads of diplomacy of the EU member states – the Foreign Affairs Council, where he will plead for further supporting Ukraine, including by allocating a new financial tranche through the European Peace Facility. According to a statement from the MFA, Bogdan Aurescu will support the idea of maintaining pressure on Russia and strengthening the sanctions regimem against it. The head of the Romanian diplomacy will also present the latest measures adopted by Bucharest to facilitate grain exports from Ukraine, including the opening of new border crossing points, as well as Romania’s agreement for the transit of Chilia and Bâstroe canals by ships carrying grains under third country flags. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba will also give a video speech at the meeting. At the same time, the foreign ministers are to approve a political agreement to unblock the fifth tranche, worth 500 million euros, under the European peace instrument to finance the purchase of arms supplied to Ukraine. The debate comes in the context in which the European Commission proposed, on Friday, new sanctions against Russia, including a ban on Russian gold exports to the EU.



    Ambassador. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca has today received Japan’s ambassador to Romania, Hiroshi Ueda. According to a Government communiqué, fundamental issues of bilateral relations were addressed, the Japanese side emphasizing the importance of updating the future framework of the Romanian-Japanese Strategic Partnership, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and given Japan’s direct interest in the region, in supporting the humanitarian aid for Ukraine and the neighboring states, Romania and Poland in particular. Regarding bilateral projects, objectives were reviewed such as the construction of the bridge over the Danube in Braila, which is to be completed by the end of the year, and a metro line, which will be started soon, with Japanese management. The Romanian Prime Minister once again conveyed Romania’s condolences for the tragic death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.



    Refugees. According to the Romanian Border Police Inspectorate, some 152 thousand people crossed Romania’s borders on Sunday. Of them, 11.100 were Ukrainian citizens. Since the war broke out in neighboring Ukraine, more than 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens have crossed Romania’s borders.



    Drought. This week, the Government of Bucharest starts preparing a longer-term strategy to combat drought, in the context in which the effects of climate change are increasingly affecting agricultural crops. The executive wants to use European money, but also money from the state budget to develop the irrigation system and to support farmers who have been affected by the drought. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca has announced that an inter-ministerial commission has been set up to that end, which will start working this week.



    Wildfires. Part of Western Europe continued to fight devastating wildfires this weekend, a consequence of a heat wave that, according to meteorologists, could break several temperature records earlier this week. Record temperatures are expected in Portugal, France and the United Kingdom. In France, the red code alert for extreme temperatures has been activated in 15 departments and the orange code in another 51. Britain could have the hottest day today, with temperatures estimated to reach up to 41 degrees Celsius. The Met Office has issued a red heat warning in large parts of England, from York and Manchester to London and the south-east. In Spain, the heat wave that has hit the country for several consecutive days has so far killed more than 300 people, according to local media.



    Olympiads. Romanian students won four gold and one silver medal at the International Physics Olympiad, organized online by Switzerland and which brought together 369 competitors. They now rank second in the world, along with South Korea. The Chinese team won first place and the USA the third place. Romania’s mathematics team also won first place in Europe and fifth place in the world at the International Mathematical Olympiad in Oslo, with two gold and four silver medals. China and Korea came in first, followed by the United States and Vietnam. The competition in the Norwegian capital was attended by 105 countries. We recall that in May, the Romanian Olympic mathematics team won six medals and the first place in teams at the 39th edition of the Balkan Mathematical Olympiad which took place in Agros, Cyprus.



    Rugby. The Romanian rugby national team was defeated by the Uruguayan team 26-20, on Sunday, in a test match held in Montevideo. The South Americans thus got their revenge after the defeat a week ago, when the Romanians won 30-22. The national rugby team has already qualified for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which will take place in France. It is part of Group B, along with South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and the Asia-Pacific qualifying team. (MI)


  • October 9, 2015

    October 9, 2015

    The Rapid Reaction Force in Central and Eastern Europe will be doubled, to reach 40,000 strong, and the ultra-rapid response structure will be able to manage any threat within a maximum of 48 hours, the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced at the NATO summit held in Brussels on Thursday. Also, the North-Atlantic Alliance decided the setting up of two additional command centres, in Slovakia and Hungary, adding to the existing ones in Romania, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Bulgaria. The tensions between Russia and NATO have grown higher after Russian fighters conducted air strikes on Syria, in support for Bashar al-Assads regime, claiming they were attacking Islamic State positions. The US and NATO have accused Russia of having attacked positions of the insurgents supported by the West. Since March 2011, Syria has been facing a growing number of violently repressed riots and a military conflict between the security services subordinated to Bashar al-Assad, the opposition forces and terrorist groups, including the Islamic State Sunni organization. The conflicts death toll has already exceeded 250,000.



    Elections for the seat of Social Democratic Party President are due this Sunday. Over 530,000 party members are expected to the polls, to elect the new leader of the main party in the ruling coalition in Romania. The only candidate in the race is the current interim-president Liviu Dragnea. He took the reigns of the party in July 2015, when the former president and current Prime Minister of Romania, Victor Ponta, stepped down because of the corruption scandal he was involved in. The PM was prosecuted for forgery, accessory to tax evasion and money laundering. After the internal elections, the Social-Democrats will gather at the extraordinary party congress scheduled for October 18th.



    Today is the Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust in Romania. 74 years ago, on October 9th, the regime led by Marshall Ion Antonescu, an ally to Nazi Germany, started deporting the Jews in eastern Romania to the occupied Soviet territories, an action that claimed over 250 thousand lives, according to statistics. Only 10% of the deported ones came back home. The “Elie Wiesel” National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania marks the event, as well as its 10th anniversary, through a conference titled The Intellectual Elite and the Memory of the Holocaust in Romania”. Yesterday in Bucharest, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis, the Speaker of the Israeli Parliament Yuli Yoel Edelstein, members of the Jewish Communities Federation in Romania and Holocaust survivors took part in a ceremony held at the Holocaust Victims Monument.



    The Swedish Academy will today announce the winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace, the only one awarded by Norway, in keeping with the wish of the founder of these awards, Alfred Nobel. The nominees include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was recommended for her role in managing the refugee crisis in Europe, and Pope Francis, for his support in reestablishing the ties between the US and Cuba, the BBC reports. Last year, the prize went to the young Pakistani Malala Yousafzai, for her heroic fight through which she became a symbol of young womens right to education, and to the Indian Kailash Satyarthi, for the fight against child exploitation.



    The EU has decided to add 400 million Euros to the fund earmarked for the management of the migrant crisis in Europe, Associated Press reports. The decision was made at Thursdays Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels. 300 million Euros are to be used to help the Syrian refugees who are currently in countries outside the EU, namely Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Also, some of the money will be used to set up 120 positions within three European agencies: FRONTEX – the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union, EASO – the agency for implementation of the Common European Asylum System and EUROPOL. Some 56 million Euros will be used for humanitarian aid.



    Romanias national football squad on Thursday night were held to a one-all draw by the similar team of Finland. The game counted as Romanias last-but-one preliminary stage fixture ahead of EURO 2016. Finland had the lead for the most part of the game, and it was not until extra time that Romania managed to draw level, thus securing its runner-up position in the group, which entitles them to a straight qualification, one point ahead of Hungary. Northern Ireland has won the preliminary group. In order to book its ticket for Euro 2016, Romania is in dire need of a win in the match against Faeroe Island this coming Sunday, which is its last group stage fixture. In another move, Romanias national youth team in Luxembourg on Friday will be playing a game counting towards the preliminaries of the European Under-21 Championship, scheduled for 2017. In its previous group fixtures, Romania won the double-legged tie against Armenia and sustained a home defeat against Bulgaria.



    On Sunday, Romanias national rugby team will play its last game at the World Cup hosted by England and Wales, against the Italian squad. A victory would secure them qualification to the 2019 World Championships in France. The Romanian rugby players, also known as The Oaks have lost to Ireland and France this year, but managed to defeat Canada, in a match in which they overturned a 15-point deficit, which is the biggest comeback in the World Cup history.

  • Rugby World Cup 2015

    Rugby World Cup 2015

    Romania’s rugby team put on a good
    performance in their first match at the 2015 Rugby World Cup hosted by England
    despite losing 38:11 to former runner-up France.




    In the first part of the match, Romania
    even managed to dominate their opponents. France, however, scored early, in the
    8th minute of the game, with a penalty goal kicked by Morgan Parra.
    Romania’s Florin Vlaicu helped level the score in the 20th minute. A
    minute earlier, however, Romania had been close to France’s touch-in goal, but
    they were not awarded the try, as the video referee decided the ball did not
    touch the ground. In the 26th minute, it was again Vlaicu who missed
    a penalty from in front of the posts, wasting Romania’s opportunity to take the
    lead. It all came to pieces for Romania in the 29th minute, when
    Paulica Ion was sent off with a yellow card. While Romania were one man down,
    France converted two tries, leading 17:6 at half time.




    In the second half, the scoreline
    was unchanged for 26minutes. In the 67th minute, Sofiane
    Guitune scored another try, albeit a contentious one, taking the score to 24:6.
    It was all over for Romania, who lost all their self-confidence. They did,
    however, manage to score a try in the 74th minute, thanks to
    Valentin Ursache. The final scoreline, 38:11, was established one minute before
    the end of the match, when France scored another try. Looking back, Romania
    were above expectations and even had a few flashes, but were too weak to pull
    it off.





    In their next game on
    Sunday, September 27th, at Wembley, Romania will take on Ireland,
    the winner of the 2015 Six Nations Championship. On the 6th of
    October, Romania face Canada at Leicester City Stadium and a few days later, on
    the 11th of October, they play against Italy at Sandy Park, in
    Exeter.