November 24, 2019
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 24.11.2019, 13:50
ELECTION
– The second round of the presidential election is today taking place in
Romania. Romanians have to choose between the acting president, Klaus Iohannis,
supported by the National Liberal Party, the former Social-Democrat Prime
Minister, Viorica Dancila. In the first six hours since voting stations opened,
some 22% of the total of 18.2 million voters cast their votes. In the Diaspora
the voting process started on Friday at noon and will end on Sunday at
midnight. Some 17.500 people living abroad voted by post. The total number of
voting stations abroad stood at 838. So far some 500 thousand Romanians living
abroad have cast their votes.
FRIGATE – The King Ferdinand frigate has returned to the military port of
Constanta after five weeks spent in the Mediterranean. The frigate took part in
the NATO-led Sea Guardian 19 operation and in the Dogu Akdeniz 19 multinational
exercise, during which it carried out joint missions to deter illegal
activities on the eastern flank of NATO and the EU, by means of monitoring
maritime traffic, under Allied Maritime Command.
POPE FRANCIS
– During his tour of Asia, which also included Thailand, Pope Francis visited
Japan on Saturday, where he conveyed an emotion-evoking message against nuclear
weapons. The Pope visited Nagasaki, one of the two cities struck in the Second
World War. The Pope told Japanese bishops he hopes to meet some of the victims
of the nuclear attacks, as well as the survivors of the Fukushima nuclear power
plant disaster. Another goal of his visit to Japan is to encourage the Catholic
community in Japan, where only 1% of the population is Christian, half of which
is Catholic. This is the first visit by a Pope to Japan in the last 38 years
and the second one in history.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION – Ambassadors of EU Member States have
agreed that the new European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen should
start its activity on December 1 without a British Commissioner on the team,
after the British Government refused to make a nomination. Ambassadors have
adopted the list of the 27 Commissioners, which further requires Parliament’s
vote, slated for Wednesday. Since Brexit has been postponed for January 31,
2020, Great Britain was bound by EU treatises to make a nomination. Boris
Johnson’s Cabinet stated that no nominations can be made ahead of a British
election, as this country will host early legislative elections on December 12.
Following London’s refusal, the European Commission launched infringement
procedures against Great Britain on November 14.
GAUDEAMUS – The Gaudeamus International Book Fair, organized in Bucharest by
Radio Romania, came to an end on Sunday. On the last day of the fair, the
awards of the 26th edition were presented. On Saturday, the 4th
day of the Fair, Prof. Thierry Wolton took part in the launch of the second
volume of his trilogy A World History of Communism. In this volume, entitled
‘The Victims’, Wolton speaks about the tens of millions that suffered
imprisonment, deportation, torture and even extermination for their
anti-communist beliefs. 8,000 book stands have been put up as part of this
edition, devoted to the 30 years since the anti-communist revolution of 1989. A
total of 900 different events were scheduled, including book launches, debates
and book signing sessions.
(Translated by V.
Palcu)
