March 23, 2019

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 23.03.2019, 13:56

SURVEY
– The institutions that the Romanians trust the most
are, domestically, the army and the church, and, at international level, NATO
and the EU, according to an ISNCOP survey, conducted over March 5th
to 13th, commissioned by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. According
to the survey, the highest rate is enjoyed by the army, with 68% of the
population trusting them, followed by the church – 55%, the gendarmerie – 48%,
the police – 43%, the National Anticorruption Directorate -40% and the Presidency – 38%. At the opposite pole
there stand the political parties and parliament. As regards international
institutions, NATO ranks first with 52%, followed by the EU with 49%.

VISIT
– As of today, until Tuesday, the Romanian PM Viorica Dancila is paying a visit
to the US, where she will attend the annual conference of the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). She was invited by the AIPAC president
Morton Fridman. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Foreign
Ministry, the visit reflects the intensification of bilateral dialogue and is
part of the Romanian Government’s efforts to strengthen and develop Romania’s partnerships
with the US and Israel.

NATO – Romania
is much better prepared military-wise as compared to how it was 15 years ago,
when it joined NATO, the Romanian Defense Minister Gabriel Les has stated.
According to the Romanian official, some 1000 soldiers are currently engaged in
foreign missions. 29 Romanian soldiers have died and 180 have been wounded in
theatres of operations abroad, minister Les has recalled. The minister has participated
in the event launching the public campaign ‘Romania – 15 Years in NATO. 70
Years since the setting-up of the North-Atlantic Alliance’ and re-launching in
Romania the public information campaign ‘#WeAreNATO’.

MOLDOVA
– Romania’s ambassador to Chisinau, Daniel Ionita, has stated that the Republic
of Moldova’s international partners are in a state of strategic expectation
following the parliamentary elections held on February 24th. As regards
Romania, its stand remains the same, which means it keeps supporting Moldova’s
European path. According to the Radio Romania correspondents in Chisinau, the
ambassador has hailed the fact that trade exchanges between the two neighboring
countries reached a historic high last year, standing at over one billion
dollars. After last month’s election, out of 101 seats, the president Dodon’s
pro-Russia socialists won 35, the ruling left-of-centre Democratic Party got
30, the pro-European rightist ACUM Bloc won 26 and the populist Sor Party got
7. Also, three independent MPs were elected.

PARIS – The
‘yellow vests’ are planning more protests in Paris this weekend, with police
authorities warning violence and damage are likely. According to the Radio Romania correspondent
in Paris, government is taking strong measures to keep order and police
authorities are preparing to deploy around 5,000 officers in Paris today, as
well as anti-terror soldiers, in an attempt to prevent a repeat of last
weekend’s violence on the streets of the French capital. Demonstrations
have been banned in several locations and there is likely to be a heavy police
presence in these areas, as well as the possibility of clashes with
protesters. The Romanian Foreign Ministry warns that people who get to
these locations must have valid IDs on them and not carry any weapons or
dangerous substances.

FOOTBALL – This evening, Romania’s national football team will
play against Sweden, in Group F of the 2020 European Championship’s
preliminaries. In the same group, Malta will take on the Faroe Islands, and
Spain will play against Norway. On Tuesday, the Romanian squad will take on
Faroe on home turf. The drawing of lots for Euro 2020 will take place in
Bucharest, on November 30th. The Romanian capital will also play
host to four matches in the final tour, three in the group stage and one in the
eighth finals. In another development, Romania’s Under-21 team is training in
Spain, where it lost Thursday’s friendly match against the hosts nil-1. The
youth team will play at the 2019 European Championship in Italy and San Marino,
in Group C, alongside England, France and Croatia.

TENNIS – The Romanian tennis
player Simona Halep, no. 3 in the WTA rankings, has qualified for the third
round of the WTA tournament in Miami, the US, with some 9 million dollars in prize
money. She has defeated 6 -1, 6-3 the American Taylor Townsend. In the next
round, Halep will be playing against the Slovenian Polona Hercog. Another
Romanian player, Monica Niculescu, has qualified too, after she defeated the
Spanish Garbine Muguruza. In the next round she will take on the Danish
Caroline Wozniacki. Unfortunately, Mihaela Buzarnescu was defeated in the
second round by Alize Cornet of France.