October 25, 2024
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 25.10.2024, 13:58
DAY The Romanian Army Day is being celebrated today through a series of religious services and military ceremonies at the main army barracks across the country and in the operation theatres where the Romanian servicemen have been deployed. The series of ceremonies kicked off at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Carol Park in Bucharest in the presence of the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and the Senate President Nicolae Ciuca. The Romanian army is the main pillar of the national defence system, president Iohannis said highlighting that it must continue to benefit ‘a solid financial ground’ significantly over 2% of the GDP. The Day of 25 October has been celebrated since 1959. We recall that on 25 October 1944 the Romanian Army liberated the north-western part of the country occupied by Hungary upon the Vienna Dictate in August 1940. In WWII, Romania’s war effort consisted of the deployment of 540 thousand troops, out of which 90 thousand lost their lives, roughly 60 thousand were reported MIA and over 330 thousand got wounded. After liberating the national territory, the Romanian army continued to fight on the territories of Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Austria alongside the Allies contributing to the Great Victory on 9 May, which marked the end of WWII in Europe.
ELECTIONS The campaign for the first round of the presidential election in Romania has kicked off and is due to end on November 23. The presidential elections are scheduled this year on November 24 (the first round) and on December 8 (the second round). In between, on December 1, the parliamentary election will be held. Competing in the presidential race are 14 candidates, 10 of them backed by political parties and 4 running independently. Local and EU parliamentary elections were also held in Romania this year, on June 9.
CONGRESS Speaking at the European Farmers Congress underway in Bucharest, Romania’s Agriculture Minister, Florin Barbu, has called for a referendum on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) at European level. The Minister wants the farmers to decide in the aforementioned referendum that the CAP remain structured on two major pillars being separated from other European funds after 2027. Barbu says that the European Commission wants to integrate the CAP into the total funds allotted to every member state. Over 500 farmers from Europe are participating in the European Farmers Congress due in Bucharest over October 23-25.
FOOTBALL Romania’s football champions, FCSB, came a cropper in Glasgow on Thursday, four-nil to local side, Rangers. The Romanians managed to win the games against Latvian side RFS and the Greek champions PAOK Thessaloniki, a side coached by the Romanian Razvan Lucescu. Rangers, whose lineup includes the Romanian Ianis Hagi, is presently ranking 11th, while FCSB, with six points out of three matches, ranks 13th.
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