August 16, 2013
Click here for a roundup of news from Romania.
Valentin Țigău, 16.08.2013, 12:00
The participants in the Summer Camp in Izvorul Muresului (Central Romania) on Friday called for just and equitable funding to be granted for both cultural programs for the Romanians living in the counties with a large ethnic Hungarian population (Harghita, Covasna and Mures) and for preserving the identity of the Romanians living near the borders of Romania and in the Balkans. The participants have said the ethnic Romanians need schools, places of worship, magazines and radio programs in the Romanian language. “We believe that the ten million Romanians living outside Romania’s borders are part of the Romanian nation and, just like the Romanians living within the borders of the country, they have the right to preserve their national identity”, a final declaration read out by Eugen Popescu, acting president of the National Foundation for the Romanians Around the World writes.
The number of Romanians and Bulgarians working in the UK has gone up 26% in three months, according to recent official data from the national British statistics agency. 141,000 Romanians and Bulgarians got hired between April and July, as compared to 112,000 in the previous three months. The temporary labor restrictions imposed on citizens of the two countries, which joined the EU in 2007, run out at the end of this year, and numbers of migrant workers are expected to go up.
2013 is European year of citizenship, and the EU holds a multitude of events to better inform them of their rights and to be better informed on their opinion of community policies. Starting early this year, European commissioners were involved in many such events, such as public debates hosted in a number of European cities. The upcoming schedule includes 20 events soon to be held. In Bucharest, on October 28, the European commissioner for agriculture, Dacian Ciolos, will be attending one such event. According to the latest Eurobarometer figures, 74% of citizens consider themselves European, but 42% are not aware of what rights that entails.
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep continues her excellent run in the Cincinnatti tournament in the US, with prizes over 2.4 million dollars. She qualified to the quarter finals after winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 against Australian player Samantha Stosur, 11th favorite in the competition. Halep also defeated in the previous round the winner at Wimbledon this year, French player Marion Bartoli. Halep meets in the quarter finals the number one favorite in the world, Serena Williams, after earning 49,040 dollars and 225 WTA points for qualifying. The Romanian athlete has won this year three WTA competitions.
