October 31, 2019 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 31.10.2019, 19:51

NOMINATION – European
Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva has said that the proposal made by the
outgoing Prime Minister Viorica Dancila for European Commissioner does not have
the support of President Klaus Iohannis, which raises serious doubts in
Brussels over its legitimacy. The EU official went on to say that the Commission
can neither accept nor refuse the proposal, and that the problem has to be
settled in Romania. We recall that Victor Negrescu is the third proposal for
European Commissioner made by Romania, after Rovana Plumb and Dan Nica.

UNEMPLOYMENT – The unemployment
rate in Romania reached 3.9% in September, up by 0.1% as against its level in
August, according to data made public by the National Statistics Institute on
Thursday. According to official statistics, the unemployment rate was 1% higher
in men as compared to women, 4.3% as against 3.3% respectively. At the same
time, the number of unemployed people aged between 15 and 74 estimated for
September 2019 was 347 thousand, as compared to 343 thousand the previous
month.

MISSION – ‘Regele Ferdinand’
Frigate of the Romanian Navy, together with a Puma Naval helicopter and a Navy
Special Operations unit are taking part until November 7th in a new NATO
mission in the Mediterranean. The goal of Operation ‘Sea Guardian 19’ is
to deter illegal activities on the southern flank of NATO and the EU, through
sea and air traffic monitoring. During the mission, the Romanian frigate will
have stopovers in Haifa, Israel, and Limassol, Cyprus. The first stop was in
the port of Aksaz, in the south of Turkey, followed by another one in
Alexandria, Egypt, where a first meeting was held on board the ship with
members of the Romanian community in Egypt.

ANNIVERSARY – On November 1st,
Radio Romania marks 91 years since its first broadcast. One of the few radio stations in the country
that has been broadcasting for decades, Radio Romania has also been
broadcasting abroad, every since the 1930s. Radio Romania International has
programmes in 11 foreign languages, in Romanian and in the Aromanian dialect.

MOLDOVA – The European Commission has approved the payment of some 25
million Euros in budget support assistance for the Republic of Moldova, to help
the former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population
implement crucial reforms in police, agriculture and rural development, and
also to combat corruption and money laundering. The fourth package approved on
Thursday demonstrates the EU’s strong and continued commitment to address
problems within vital areas for the benefit of the Moldovan people said the
European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy Johannes Hahn. The Commission
resumed its budget support to the Republic of Moldova in July, following a
nearly two-year period during which such payments had been put on hold due to a
deterioration of the rule of law situation in the country. Following the change
of government in June, the Moldovan authorities have engaged in a significant
and substantial structural reform process, which has allowed the EU to resume
its budget support and macro-financial assistance to the Republic of Moldova.

HANDBALL– Romania’s men’s
handball team Dinamo Bucharest on Wednesday evening defeated, on home turf, the
Polish team Orlen Wisla Plock, 29-20, in Champions League’s group D. With 3 wins and 2 draws in the previous
matches, Dinamo Bucharest is the leader of the group.

TENNIS
– World’s no.1 tennis player, the Australian Ashleigh Barty and the Swiss
Belinda Bencic (7WTA) on Thursday qualified for the semifinals of the Shenzhen
tournament in China, after the end of the Red Group. Barty defeated Petra
Kvitova and Bencic won the match against Kiki Bertens, after the Dutch player
abandoned for health reasons. On Wednesday, the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, the
holder of the trophy, qualified for the finals after defeating the Romanian
Simona Halep. The second player qualified in the Violet Group will be decided
on Friday, after the match between Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova. Halep
played the WTA Finals in 2014, when she was defeated by Serena Williams.