November 18, 2016 UPDATE
Romanian currency falling against US dollar; President Iohannis gets Martin Buber award in Netherlands
Newsroom, 18.11.2016, 00:06
CURRENCY – The Romanian currency, the leu, further depreciated on Friday against the US dollar, to a new all-time low. The National Bank of Romania announced an exchange rate of 4.25 leu for the dollar. Economic analysts believe the evolution of the American currency will entail an increase in the prices of Romanian imports from outside the EU, including fuels.
AWARD – The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, received in Kerkrade, the Netherlands on Friday the Martin Buber medal granted by the Euriade foundation, an NGO promoting the education of youth in the spirit of European values. The award is handed every year to personalities whose public and private work contributes to the development of friendly communities relying on humanist values, through genuine dialogue, openness, responsibility and respect for the others. Prior to the ceremony in Kerkrade, the head of state had meetings with over 100 young people from various countries, taking part in the International Festival of Dialogue, currently under way in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, a region on the borders of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The award has been granted every year since 2002. Queen Silvia of Sweden, Mikhail Gorbachev, Gary Kasparov and Helmut Schmidt are some of the personalities who have received this award over the years.
MOLDOVA – The Central Electoral Committee in Chisinau Friday night announced the official results of the presidential election in the Republic of Moldova, won by the pro-Russian Socialist Igor Dodon with 52% of the votes. The Committee dismissed the over 170 objections submitted by Dodons challenger, the pro-European reformer Maia Sandu, who claimed there had been many irregularities and requested that the election be invalidated. The Committee also rejected the more than 3,000 complaints filed by Moldovan citizens living abroad, who claimed their constitutional right to vote had been violated. According to the head of the Central Electoral Committee, Alina Rusu, quoted by Radio Romania correspondents, the respective irregularities were minor and could not have influenced the outcome of the election. Also on Friday, Dodon resigned as president of the Socialist Party, whose leadership will be taken over by the chief of the Socialist group in Parliament, Zinaida Greceanîi, a former PM during the communist rule.
BOOK FAIR – Hundreds of visitors of the Gaudeamus International Book Fair organised by Radio Romania and under way in Bucharest attended on Friday book launches, cultural events, debates, recitals, workshops and meetings with authors. The list of books launched on Friday includes “The Colour of Paradise by the contemporary Chinese poet Jidi Majia and “The Wedding by the Romanian writer and journalist of Polish descent Gabriel Klimowicz. Radio Romanias stand had a programme dedicated to children. The fair, which comes to an end on Sunday, brings together hundreds of publishers and more than 850 events. This years guest of honour is China. Gaudeamus is organised by Radio Romania, the only public radio station in the world to initiate and develop a programme of such magnitude to support print culture.
HEALTH – Romania ranks second in the EU, after Greece, in terms of antibiotic use per capita. In average, 600,000 Romanians receive antibiotic prescriptions every day, according to the latest report of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. This reflects in the high level of antibiotic-resistant bacteria occurrence, warns the president of the Romanian Microbiology Association, doctor Alexandru Rafila. The absence of measures to combat antibiotic resistance might cause up to 10 million annual deaths by infection with multi-resistant germs by 2050, reads a forecast by the World Health Organisation.
US PRESIDENT – EU leaders and the US President Barak Obama Friday pleaded for preserving trans-Atlantic cooperation within NATO. According to a news release issued by the White House, Obama and his host, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, alongside the President of France François Hollande and the Prime Ministers of UK Theresa May, of Spain Mariano Rajoy, and of Italy Matteo Renzi, also agreed to maintain sanctions against Russia. Germany is the second country, after Greece, that Obama visited as part of his last trip to Europe as President of the USA, amid concerns that his successor, the right-wing populist Donald Trump, would be a threat to democracy. After Germany, Obama is traveling to Peru, to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. Trump is to take office on January 20.
RUGBY – Romanias national rugby team is playing a friendly game in Bucharest on Saturday night against Canada. The two teams also played last year, at the World Cup in England, where the Romanians managed the most spectacular reversal of fortune in the history of the competition, winning 17-15, after 0-15 on 52 minutes. This is the second test match played this month by the Romanian rugby team, which last week defeated the US, at home, 23-10. The series of test matches in Bucharest concludes on November 26, when Romania plays Uruguay.
(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)
