June 25, 2019

Romania's Under 21 football team has qualified for the first time to the semifinals of the world championships; Romanian Defense Minister Gabriel Les takes part in a meeting of his NATO counterparts in Brussels

Bogdan Matei, 25.06.2019, 15:11

FOOTBALL – Romanias Under 21 football team has qualified for the first time to the semifinals of the world championships. Monday night, they held France to a blank draw in their last game in Group C. in their first two tames in the group, they crushed Croatia and England, 4-1 and 4-2 respectively. They gained first place in the group, with 7 points, and an 8-3 goal average, followed by France, with 7 points and an 8-1 goal average. Both teams go to the next to last stage of the competition, where the Romanians play Germany, and the French play Spain. The qualification in the European semifinals also secures the presence of Romanian footballers to the Olympic games in Tokyo next year after 55 years of absence. Romania is in this tournament only the second time, after the 1998 Bucharest tournament.

NATO — Romanian Defense Minister Gabriel Les takes part in a series of official meetings in Brussels between June 25 and 27. He is set to attend the meeting of the meeting of his NATO member state counterparts, the global anti-ISIS coalition, as well as the meeting to celebrate 15 years since the set-up of the European Defense Agency. At the meeting of ministers, Minister Les will meet his counterparts from Georgia and France.

LUXEMBOURG — Minister for European Funds Roxana Minzatu chairs today in Luxembourg the General Affairs Council for cohesion as part of Romanias presidency of the Council of the European Union. According to a press release from the EU Council, the Romanian presidency will present to European member state ministers their achievements during the term, and information on the current stage of negotiations. Discussions will include cohesion policies for the period between 2021 and 2027, as well as future challenges. The meeting will also be attended by European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu. Romanian Energy Minister Anton Anton will chair the last meeting of the European council in charge of transportation, telecom, and energy, as part of Romanias presidency.

MINSK — Romania is 16th-placed according o to the overall nations’ competition, in the wake of this past Monday’s European Games hosted by the city of Minsk. The Romanians have walked home with one gold, one silver and three bronze medals. Gold went to Laura Georgeta Coman in the 10-meter air rifle event, the silver medal was won by Dacian Barna and Andreea Bogati in the aerobic gymnastics mixed pairs, while sambo brought the Romanians all the three bronze medals; the winners were Daniela Poroineanu in the 56-kilogram category, Anda Mihaela Valvoi in the 64-kilogram category and Alina-Petronela Paunescu in the 80 plus category. For the competition in Belarus held over June 21 and 30, Romania has a 123-strong delegation, with the athletes competing in all 15 registered sports disciplines. Results in athletics, badminton, cycling, judo, karate, table tennis, archery and shooting sports count for the qualification to the 2020 edition of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

VOTING — A special committee in the Romanian Parliament is debating a bill introduced by the Permanent Election Authority for changes in election legislation. The Foreign Minister in Bucharest also wants a few modifications, such as extending by at least three days the early voting system at diplomatic missions and consular offices, alternative voting, such as absentee ballots, and redefining the area of coverage for election polls. Last week, the members of the commission decided to set July 5th as a deadline for introducing a bill that would make it easier for Romanians residing abroad to vote. The presidency called for urgent measures to be taken to make it easier for Romanians abroad to vote. This comes as a result of the fact that tens of thousands of Romanians residing in other countries stood for hours in huge lines in order to exercise their right to vote, with many not managing to do so.