October 11, 2015

A roundup of local and international news

Newsroom, 11.10.2015, 12:00

The Social Democratic Party, the senior partner in the
ruling coalition in Romania, today elects a new leader. More than 530,000 party
members are expected to cast their votes. This is for the first time that the
party’s leader is elected by its members. The outcome of the vote, seen a
historic moment by the Social Democrat leaders, will not be a surprise,
however, as the party’s interim leader Liviu Dragnea is the only candidate.
Dragnea took over the interim leadership of the Social Democratic Party in July
following the resignation of Victor Ponta amid a corruption scandal. Victor
Ponta still serves as the country’s prime minister. He is prosecuted for
forgery, complicity in tax evasion and money laundering. Liviu Dragnea himself
received a one-year suspended prison sentence in May from a court of first
instance for fraud during the 2012 referendum on the impeachment of the then
president Traian Basescu. After the leadership elections, the Social Democratic
Party will hold a congress on the 18th of October to confirm the
winner and elect a new leadership team.

A technical mission of the International Monetary Fund will travel to
Bucharest to discuss next year’s budget and the possibility to sign a new
agreement with Romania, as the Fund has recently made an upward revision of the
country’s economic forecast. The GDP is thus expected to grow by 3.4% this year
and by 3.9% in 2016. Romania’s fourth consecutive agreement with the
International Monetary Fund, of a precautionary-type and worth 2 billion euros,
expired last month without Romania having had to make use of the available
funds. Finance minister Eugen Teodorovici recently said Romania would
officially request a new agreement with the Fund.

An American patrol aircraft will arrive in the Romanian port of
Constanta today for a three-day exercise with the Romanian Navy. The Romanian
and American military will exercise anti-submarine operations to enhance joint
capabilities to ensure Black Sea security and stability. US army officials said
taking part in this exercise together with the NATO allies, including Romania,
is an opportunity to improve the professional skills of all those involved and
that this was a permanent mission of the US Sixth Fleet. Navy forces from
Bulgaria and Ukraine are also taking part in this Black Sea exercise.

Around 10,000 people took to the streets of Istanbul on
Saturday night blaming the government for the twin suicide attacks targeting a
peaceful opposition rally in Ankara, three weeks before early parliamentary
elections in Turkey. The Turkish government declared three days of national
mourning and rejected accusations that it was involved in the attacks, which
killed 95 people and wounded more than 200. The authorities said the Islamic
State group and the Workers’ Party in Kurdistan, known as the PKK, could have
carried out the bombing. Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis said Romania firmly
condemned the criminal attacks in Ankara and reiterated his country’s full
support for Turkey. European leaders and US president Barack Obama also
condemned the attacks.

Romania face the Faeroe Islands today in their final
qualifying game for the next year’s European Football Championship hosted by
France. On Thursday, they drew 1-all against Finland in Bucharest and are now
second in their group, one point ahead of Hungary. Northern Ireland are top of
the group. To ensure their qualification, Romania have to win against the
Faeroe Islands. Romania last qualified for the European Championship in 2008,
when they did not go past the group stage. Romania’s under-21 team on Friday
defeated Luxembourg away in a qualifying game ahead of the European Under-21
Championship of 2017. Bulgaria are leading the group, followed by Romania and
Wales.

Romania’s rugby team today play their last match, against
Italy, at the Rugby World Cup hosted by England and Wales. Romania so far lost
against Ireland and France and won against Canada, when they recovered from
15-0 down to beat Canada 17-15 and complete the biggest comeback in World Cup
history. If they are victorious against Italy today, it will be for the first
time Romania win two matches at a World Cup tournament and it will secure their
qualification for the 2019 World Cup.

Radio
Romania’s Children’s Music Choir on Saturday gave a concert in Munich at one of
the most prestigious international choral competitions entitled Let the Peoples
Sing. The Radio Children’s Choir qualified for the final along with 8 choir
ensembles from across the world and will give another concert on Sunday as part
of the Children and Youth Choirs category. This year, Radio Romania’s
Children’s Choir celebrates its 70th anniversary.