1 November, 2017 UPDATE

A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 01.11.2017, 19:09

Radio Romania anniversary. Radio Romania turned 89 on Wednesday. The
public radio service aired its first ever broadcast on 1st November
1928. Radio Bucharest, as it was called back then, began with short broadcasts
of several hours a day that included news, music and weather, and then
gradually also more complex programmes. Today, Radio Romania is the most
important media institution in Romania in terms of number of listeners, the
various campaigns it gets involved in and the large-scale cultural projects it
develops. Apart from its current affairs, cultural, music and village life
channels, Radio Romania also includes regional and local stations and online
stations for youth and children. Radio Romania also broadcasts abroad, its international
programmes going back to the 1930s. Today, Radio Romania International
broadcasts in 11 foreign languages, as well as Romanian and the Aromanian
dialect.

Conference.
Over 600 people are participating in a 2-day conference of Francophone women that
began in Bucharest on Wednesday. The conference is attended by officials from
48 French-speaking countries. Talks focus on women’s rights and their access to
the labour market as well as on their contribution to innovation and
entrepreneurship. The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said in the opening of
the conference that the role of women in the economy is relevant for the
present and the future. He also hailed the proposal on the creation, at the
conference, of a network of Francophone women entrepreneurs. The participants
have agreed that equal opportunities for men and women should begin with equal
access to education. Rennie
Yotova, thedirector of the Regional Centre of the Francophony
for Central and Eastern Europe, emphasised the lack of legislation in the field
of equal opportunities in many countries and the need for such legislation to
be adopted. The conclusions of the Bucharest conference will be included in a
Strategy of the Francophony for equal opportunities for men and women.

Drills.
Two Romanian military ships are joining the NATO maritime mine countermeasures
group and will be participating between October 31 and November 14 in an
operation meant to monitor maritime traffic in the Black Sea. The mission forms
part of Romania’s commitments as a NATO member state. Romania’s King Ferdinand
frigate will ensure the command of this group, which also includes the Lupu
Dinescu minesweeper, alongside ships from Bulgaria and Turkey. According to the
Romanian Navy forces, after the deterioration of the security situation in
Romania’s eastern vicinity, the number of NATO military exercises and missions
in the Black Sea has significantly increased starting in 2014.

New York attack. President Klaus Iohannis has
firmly condemned Tuesday’s attack in New York and reiterated Romania’s
solidarity with the United States in these difficult times. He also said that
Bucharest would act with every means available to fight terrorism, for which
there is no justification. The foreign ministry has also condemned the attack
and reaffirmed Romania’s firm commitments to contribute to the fight against
international terrorism, which represents an inadmissible attack on the lives
of innocent people. 8 persons were killed and 11 injured by a 29-year-old man
from Uzbekistan who arrived in the United States in 2010. The attack was
committed on behalf of the Islamic State terrorist group and had been prepared
for several weeks, the local police said. US president Donald Trump said he
would ask Congress to eliminate the diversity visa lottery programme, which was
used by the attacker to emigrate to the US.

Missile
purchase. The government is waiting for the approval of the Country’s
Supreme Defence Council to adopt a bill on the purchase by Romania of the first
Patriot missile system. According to the defence minister Mihai Fifor, the bill
was to be adopted by the government on Wednesday and then sent to Parliament within
the coming two weeks. Minister Fifor said this first system costs 764 million
dollars and that the American side signed the letter of acceptance. The
purchase of Patriot missiles is part of a project to modernise Romania’s
antiaircraft defence. To this end, in the next 10 years, Romania will spend
around 4 billion dollars on Patriot missiles.

Spain. The
former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who was sacked by Madrid and who is
currently in Brussels, has said he will not appear in Spain’s High Court on
Thursday for fear he may be arrested, his lawyer said on Wednesday. The latter
suggested he may be questioned in Belgium. Puigdemont and 13 other members of
his cabinet have been summoned in court over the coming days following an
announcement by the Spanish prosecutor’s office that they are being
investigated for the role played in the adoption of Catalonia’s illegal
declaration of independence. If Puigdemont fails to make an appearance on
Thursday, an arrest warrant could be issued. Meanwhile, the Spanish government
on Tuesday night approved a decree on calling early election in Catalonia on
the 21st of December.