June 17, 2024

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 17.06.2024, 13:20

EU. President Klaus Iohannis is attending an informal meeting of the European Council, with EU leaders to discuss the membership of the future European Commission in the wake of the recent European elections. The current head of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is tipped to win a second term, being nominated by the European People’s Party, the biggest political group in the European Parliament. EU heads of state and government are today negotiating the post of European Commission head, and each state is making its own proposals for a commissioner. Talks are also underway on the areas and duties assigned to each commissioner. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Brussels, the summit is also looking at the support for and the situation in Ukraine, following the Ukraine peace summit held in Switzerland over the weekend and Vladimir Putin’s statements on his conditions to start peace talks. So far, European reactions indicate that Moscow’s proposals fall short of the principles upheld by both Ukraine and United Nations democracies.

Visit. Prime minister Marcel Ciolacu is paying an official visit to Germany, to Bavaria, to mark the 25th anniversary of Romanian-Bavarian relations. In Munich, he is meeting members of the Romanian community there and in the afternoon will attend the Romania-Ukraine Euro 2024 football match. Later, he will attend a reception in his honour given at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich to celebrate the jubilee of Romanian-Bavarian institutional cooperation. Romania’s foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu is also attending events to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Romania and the Land of Bavaria.

Ukraine. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky says he will hold peace talks with Russia “tomorrow” if Russian troops leave Ukrainian territory, but that Vladimir Putin is not willing to end the war. At the end of the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland, where almost 100 world leaders discussed Kyiv’s peace proposals, president Zelensky said the final declaration may be used in the future peace talks. “Previous political generations have left us the U.N. Charter as a basis for the cooperation of peoples. We will pass to the next generations an effective mechanism to implement the U.N. Charter. And the communiqué adopted at the summit these days fully reflects our intention, and remains open for accession by everyone who respects the U.N. Charter,” said Volodymyr Zelensky. 93 countries attended the summit, but Russia and China were not there. The final declaration was, however, only signed by 80 countries, with Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, India, Indonesia and the Vatican among those that did not endorse the document.

Salary. The government is this week due to discuss draft legislation to adopt the European minimum wage in Romania. The bill transposes a European directive stipulating that the minimum wage in a country must account for at least 50% of the average income. The gross minimum salary in Romania currently stands at 660 euros and is set to go up to 740 euros from 1^st July.

Football. Romania are today playing Ukraine in their opening Group E match in Munich, at the European Football Championship hosted by Germany. Also tonight, Belgium are facing Slovakia in Frankfurt, in the other Group E fixture, while France are playing Austria in Dusseldorf in a Group D match. The tournament brings together 24 national sides, divided into six groups. Romania will next play Belgium on 22^nd June in Cologne and Slovakia on 26^th June in Frankfurt. This is Romania’s 6^th participation in the European Championship after 1984, 1996, 2000, 2008 and 2016. Romanian referees are also taking part in the tournament, with Istvan Kovacs as main referee, and two other assistant referees and a video assistant referee.