December 2, 2019 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 02.12.2019, 20:23
DAY ‘More than ever Romania needs cohesion around
its national projects, unity, consensus, tolerance and solidarity’, Romanian
president Klaus Iohannis said on Monday before Parliament in a solemn session
devoted to Romania’s National Day, celebrated on December 1st. In
turn, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said that December 1st is a day
of gratitude and profound respect towards those who a century ago managed to overcome
any political and personal differences and achieved the union of the Romanian
provinces. Among those invited to attend the Parliament’s solemn session were
former heads of state, Margareta, custodian of the Romanian crown, Daniel,
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which is the largest religious
denomination in Romania, the governor of the country’s central bank, Mugur
Isarescu as well as members of the government. An official holiday after the
anti-communist revolt in 1989, December 1st marks the formation of
the Romanian Unitary State in the wake of WWI, when all the provinces with a
Romanian majority until then part of the multinational neighboring empires
united to form a single country.
HANDBALL Cristina Neagu, skipper of the Romanian women’s
handball side on Monday received the trophy for the world’s best handball
player in 2018 from the International Handball Federation. The ceremony took
place during the half time of the game pitching Japan against Congo in group D
of the world championship underway in Japan. Neagu is the first player to have
won the trophy four times after the editions of 2010, 2015 and 2016. With 110
goals, left back Neagu last year managed to get the title of the Champions
League’s top scorer for the second time in her career. During the
aforementioned competition in Japan Romania will be taking on Kazakhstan on
Tuesday after 16-31 against Spain and 29-24 against Senegal. Romania’s
champions Dinamo Bucharest secured a 32-31 win against Danish side GOG Gudme in
the men’s group D of the Champions League, where our handballers remained
undefeated with seven wins and three draws. Dinamo will be up against Sporting
Lisbon of Portugal in the competition’s playoffs in February.
JHA The Justice and Home Affairs
Council of the European Union is convening in Brussels on December 2-3. High on
the agenda are topics such as future EU policies on migration and asylum, home
security, combating terrorism, environmental crime and alternative detention
measures. On Tuesday, the new EU chief prosecutor, Romanian Laura Codruta
Kovesi will be presenting her plans and vision on the European Public
Prosecutor’s Office. The institution is set to start activity in November 2020,
by which date the chief prosecutor coordinates the setup and functioning of the
new structure. The EPPO will be investigating cross-border fraud cases at
community level. So far 22 Member States have officially joined the EPPO.
NATO London on Tuesday and Wednesday is
hosting the NATO summit, celebrating 70 years of NATO existence. High on the
agenda are the fight against terrorism, arms control and relations with Russia
and China. Representing Romania will be president Klaus Iohannis. According to
the presidency, Klaus Iohannis will highlight Romania’s contribution as a NATO
member and the need to continue determent and security efforts on the eastern
flank and in the Black Sea region.
(translated by bill)
