11 June, 2017

Ukrainian citizens to travel to EU without visas. Georgian film My Happy Family wins TIFF Trophy.

Newsroom, 11.06.2017, 13:42

The Romanian prime minister Sorin Grindeanu travels to
Zagreb on Monday for talks with Croatia’s president Kolinda Grabar, prime
minister Andrej Plenkovic and Parliament speaker Gordan Jandrokovic. According
to a government press release, talks are expected to tackle bilateral and
European issues, including the future of the European Union, with both Romania
and Croatia supporting the need for the bloc’s cohesion and solidarity. The two
countries also plan to work together to join the Schengen area. An agreement
will be signed during prime minister Grindeanu’s visit on the mutual protection
of classified information, as well as a memorandum of understanding on the
cooperation between the two countries’ Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Beginning on the
11th of June, Ukrainian citizens will be able to travel to the
European Union, including Romania, without visas, if their stay does not exceed
90 days. The agreement covers all EU countries with the exception of UK and
Ireland. The Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has described the measure as a huge step towards
Europe and as proof of the efficiency of Ukraine’s reforms. The General
Inspectorate of the Romanian Border Police said Ukrainian citizens are allowed
to enter the country if they produce documents justifying the purpose of the
visit, the conditions of their stay and proof that they have the financial
means to support their stay and return to their country of origin or to another
transit state that allows them entry. The provisions of an agreement between
the Romanian and Ukrainian governments on small-scale border traffic also
remain in place.

One month after the presidential elections won by the
centrist Emmanuel Macron, French citizens again go to the ballots today in the
first round of the parliamentary elections. Macron seeks a majority in
Parliament for his new party La République en Marche!
which he founded in 2016. Opinion polls indicate this party would win almost a
third of the votes in the first round and would secure a huge majority in the
second round, which takes place next Sunday. The conservative right and its
allies would become the biggest opposition group, followed by the far-right
National Front.

The Transylvania International
Film Festival came to an end on Saturday night in Cluj Napoca with an award
gala. The festival’s trophy went to the Georgian production My Happy Family
directed by Nana Ekvtimishvili şi Simon Gross. 12 films were in competition,
including 8 by first-time directors. Guđmundur Arnar Guđmundsson won the best
director award and the public’s award for his film Heartstone. The jury’s
special prize went to Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country featuring the Romanian
actor Alec Secareanu. The famous French actor Alain Delon received a lifetime
achievement award. The 81-year-old actor travelled to Romania for the first
time to pick up his award and attend a special screening of The Pigot Affair
which he himself directed and starred in. The Romanian actress Tora Vasilescu
received an excellence award for a career spanning 40 years and tens of
remarkable roles.

Tens of events are scheduled
today on Day 3 of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, the biggest
performing arts festival in Romania and one of the biggest in the world. The
day’s events include parades, street animation and circus acts by companies
from France, Spain, South Korea, Germany and Guadalupe Island, as well as a staging of the show Gospel by the well-known Italian
director Pippo
Delbono. Almost 3,300 participants from 72 different countries come together in
Sibiu for ten days and almost 500 different performances and cultural events.
The festival’s theme this year is Love.

Romania lost
3-1 to Poland on Saturday in Warsaw in a Group E match as part of the World Cup
qualifiers. In other group matches, Kazakhstan lost to Denmark 1-3, while
Montenegro defeated Armenia 4-nil. The group’s absolute leaders are Poland,
with 16 points, followed by Montenegro and Denmark, each with 10 points,
Romania and Armenia, each with 6 points, and Kazakhstan with 2 points. Romania
will next face Armenia at home on 1st of September.