November 19, 2016

The Romanian Foreign Ministry has launched the “Guide of the Romanian Voter Abroad

Newsroom, 19.11.2016, 13:17

STUDY – Around 60% of Romanians see their financial situation as average, with incomes that barely cover their basic needs. According to a recent study, 15% of respondents say that the money Romanians earn are often spent before the end of the month and are insufficient even for their basic needs, while 58% say they can cover their daily needs but they can hardly cover any other unexpected cost. On the other hand, 18% of Romanians can afford anything they want and can cover even costs that come up unexpectedly. Only 8% of the people interviewed say they can buy anything they want and they can even make savings. We remind you that the average salary in Romania is among the smallest in the EU, the equivalent of 280 euros per month.

GUIDE – The Romanian Foreign Ministry has launched the “Guide of the Romanian Voter Abroad” offering information to Romanian citizens in the Diaspora about how to exercise their right to vote in the December 11 legislative elections. Romanians living outside the country’s borders can cast their votes at one of the 417 polling stations available, by 111 more than at the 2012 elections and by 123 more than at the presidential elections of 2014. We remind you that two years ago, due to organisational problems, thousands of Romanians abroad were unable to cast their votes.

TOURISM – Mountain climber Alexandra Marcu, known for having conquered the world’s highest volcanoes has been declared “Ambassador of the Romanian tourism”. In January 2015 Alexandra Marcu succeeded to climb Chile’s Ojos del Salado, the highest volcano in the world measuring 6,893 meters high. Alexandra, aged 17 at that time, became the third woman in the world that has ever climbed this volcano. This is also Europe’s youngest mountain climber to conquer Pico de Orizaba of Mexico, and the youngest Romanian to get on top of the Kazbek massif in Georgia.

MOLDOVA — The Central Electoral Committee in Chisinau on 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 appeals submitted by Dodon’s 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 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.

CELEBRATION – The Bucharest subway is today celebrating 37 years since becoming operational, in 1979, after five years of construction works. At present, Bucharest’s subway network covers almost 70 kilometres and has 51 stations. Over 600 thousand people take the subway every day, accounting for 20% of the total number of people using public transport.

BOOK FAIR — The Gaudeamus International Book Fair organised by Radio Romania is under way in Bucharest. Among the dozens of cultural activities scheduled for today is the final of a national contest initiated by Radio Romania in 2002 in order to promote reading among high school students. The fair, which comes to an end on Sunday, brings together hundreds of publishers and more than 850 events. This year’s 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.

WEATHER – It is warmer than usual in Romania for this time of the year with maximums ranging between 7 and 18 degrees Celsius. The noon reading in Bucharest was 10 degrees. Fog was reported in the first part of the day in several areas. A terrible car accident that killed 3 people and injured 15 took place in the morning near the capital Bucharest. Fog also disrupted air traffic with delays being reported at the Cluj-Napoca international airport in central Romania.

(Translated by Elena Enache)