July 24, 2016

The Romanian Governments official internship programme will be launched on Monday.

Newsroom, 24.07.2016, 13:16

LEGISLATION – The Romanian Government will next week green light a bill that transposes into national law the European Directive on the single European railway area. According to a release of the Transport Ministry in Bucharest, the bill will then be sent to Parliament to be adopted by end-October. On Friday, the European Commission has referred Greece, Luxembourg and Romania to the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) for failing to transpose the Directive into national law. The EC proposed daily penalty payments of almost 30 thousand euros for Romania.

RALLY – A rally in support of democracy is to take place in Istanbul today, at the initiative of the Republican People’s Party, the main opposition party. Also, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, an Islamist-rooted party founded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has announced it would join the rally. In the meantime, the authorities continue the campaign against the people suspected of involvement in the attempted coup on July 15 or of supporting Fethullah Gulen, an Islamist cleric who lives in self-imposed exile in the US, accused by President Erdogan of having masterminded the coup. On Saturday, Turkish authorities arrested a close collaborator of Gulen. On the same day, President Erdogan ordered the closure of thousands of private schools, charities and other institutions in his first decree since imposing a state of emergency after the failed military coup.

ASYLUM – As many as 443 people have submitted asylum applications in Romania in the first half of the year, by 40% less than in the same period of 2015, the Immigration Inspectorate has announced today. Most asylum seekers come from Syria, (154), Iraq (69), Pakistan (33) and Afghanistan (21). Also, 430 international protection applications have been solved, and a form of protection was granted in 226 cases, with 132 people being granted the status of refugees and 94 people being granted subsidiary protection.

INTERNSHIP – The Romanian Government’s official internship programme will be launched on Monday at Romania’s National Library in the presence of Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and of several ministers. 200 students and graduates will be interns in 43 public institutions, of which 20 ministries. The interns come from 20 Romanian and 32 foreign universities. The Government’s internship programme is currently at its 4th edition.

MOURNING – Afghan authorities have today declared a day of national mourning, after Saturday’s bloody suicide attack in Kabul that killed over 80 people and injured another 230. The attack targeted members of the ethnic community Hazara, made up of Shia Muslims. The IS claimed the attack, one of the bloodiest in Afghanistan in the past few months.

DRILL – Several hundred Romanian and American military are participating, between July and September, in the Dacian Eagle 2016 drill at an air base near the central Romanian town of Campia Turzii. The drill is aimed at enhancing the level of training and interoperability, through joint flights. It is also an opportunity to practice standard procedures and techniques used during air operations, in keeping with the NATO standards.

OLYMPICS – Several athletes of Romania’s Olympic Team, namely members of the boxing, judo, fencing, athletics and swimming teams, have today left for Rio to attend the 31th edition of the summer Olympics, to be held between August 5th and 21st. Over 100 Romanian athletes will take part in this year’s Olympics. Brazilian Foreign Minister, Jose Serra, announced on Saturday that 45 heads of state and government would attend the opening ceremony to be held on the famous Maracana stadium. Around 85 thousand military will ensure the protection of the 10 thousand athletes and officials and also of tourists.

FOOTBALL – Romanian football coach Mircea Lucescu has won his first trophy with Zenit Sankt Petersburg, the team that he has taken over this summer. Zenit Sankt Petersburg won Russia’s Supercup, after defeating TSKA Moscow 1-nil. Thus, after 22 trophies won in Ukraine with Sahtior Donetk, Lucescu is now at his first trophy in Russia.

TENNIS – The team made up of Romanian Monica Niculescu and Belgian Yanina Wickmayer won the women’s doubles final of the WTA tournament in Washington, worth 227 thousand dollars, after defeating the Japanese team Shuto Aoyama/Risa Ozaki, 6-4, 6-3.

(Translated by Elena Enache)