July 1, 2019 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 01.07.2019, 19:51
EU SUMMIT – The EU leaders summit in Brussels, aimed at reaching an agreement over the nominations for the top offices has been suspended and is to be resumed on Tuesday morning, the spokesperson for the European Council President Donald Tusk announced on Twitter. After long talks, the participants failed to reach an agreement. Previously, some diplomats had voiced optimism with regard to a potential compromise according to which the Dutch Socialist Frans Timmermans would take over the Presidency of the European Commission, the German Christian-Democrat Manfred Weber would take over the Presidency of the European Parliament, the Liberals would get the European diplomacy, for the Danish Margrethe Vestager or the Belgian Charles Michel, and the Bulgarian Kristalina Gheorghieva would take over the presidency of the European Council. The French president Emmanuel Macron has harshly criticized this deadlock. In turn, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stated that she hopes a compromise will be reached. Romania is represented at the summit by president Klaus Iohannis.
EU PRESIDENCY – On Monday, Finland took over from Romania the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. The central theme of the Finnish presidency, held under the motto “Sustainable Europe – Sustainable Future”, is to promote Europes position as a global leader in climate action. This means committing to the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, the Finnish prime minister Antti Rinne told Parliament last week. The challenges facing the European Union in the next six months include the UKs exit from the Union, now postponed again for the 31st of October.
VOTING BILL – Senators in Bucharest on Monday endorsed in an extraordinary session the bill on voting abroad. The bill will be put to vote on Wednesday in the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making forum in this matter. Under the new law, Romanian citizens voting abroad will also be able to cast their ballots by postal voting and early voting, alongside traditional voting. The voting process abroad is to last three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Also on Wednesday, the two chambers of the Romanian Parliament will meet to make nominations for the board of the National Bank. The ruling coalition in Romania and the main opposition party have announced they support Mugur Isarescu for Governor of the Central Bank. Isarescu has been holding the office since 1990.
MOLDOVA – Romania keeps supporting the European agenda of the Republic of Moldova, said the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu after the meeting he had in Bucharest on Monday with his Moldovan counterpart Nicolae Popescu. In turn, the Moldovan official gave assurances regarding Moldovas commitment to observe all the provisions included in the Association Agreement with the EU and to continue the reforms. “The Republic of Moldova is firmly and irreversibly anchored in the European space. Last year, 68% of the Republic of Moldovas exports came to Romania”, the Moldovan Foreign Minister said. His visit took place before that of Prime Minister Maia Sandu, who travels to Bucharest on Tuesday. In an interview to Radio Chisinau last week, she said that Romania supported the Republic of Moldova “both politically and financially, in all projects”, and that it is her countrys most important advocate in the process of European integration. Sworn in last month, the pro-European head of the Government in Chisinau has decided to make her first foreign trip to Bucharest, although shed said earlier she would go to Brussels first.
TENNIS – The Romanian tennis players Simona Halep and Mihaela Buzarnescu will play against each other in the second round of the Wimbledon tournament. In the first round on Monday, Halep defeated Alesandra Sasnovici of Belarus, 6-4, 7-5, and Buzarnescu defeated the American Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-4. Qualifier Ana Bogdan is up for a tough match against the British no. 1 Johanna Konta, who is seeded 19th. Sorana Cirstea will face 25th seed Amanda Anisimova of the US. Monica Niculescu, who got a wild card for Wimbledon, plays Germanys Andrea Petkovic. Qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse faces Germanys Julia Goerges in the opening round, seeded 18th. In the mens competition, Romanias Marius Copil was defeated by Argentinas Guido Pella in the first round.
