September 19, 2022

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 19.09.2022, 13:55

Funeral. The
funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is taking place today in London. Around 2,000
persons were invited to attend the ceremonies, including 500 foreign heads of
state and government and dignitaries, such as the kings and queens of Belgium,
The Netherlands and Spain, emperor Naruhito of Japan, the presidents of the
United States and France, Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron, and the
president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Romania’s president
Klaus Iohannis and Her Majesty Margareta, the Custodian of the Crown of Romania,
and Prince Consort Radu, as well as Princess Elena are also attending. In the
last few days, thousands of people have waited in long queues to say farewell
to the queen. The queen’s coffin is taken to Westminster Abbey for a service,
which includes a reading from British prime minister Liz Truss. Details of the
service, including the hymns, were chosen by the queen herself. The coffin will
then be taken in a procession towards the Wellington Arch, with Big Ben set to
ring once a minute. No planes will fly over London. The queen will be buried at
Windsor Castle, next to her husband, Prince Philip.

Energy.
The ruling coalition in Romania is today holding a new meeting during which it
may decide to maintain the cap of 50 bani per 1 litre of fuel beyond the end of
the month. The authorities are preparing measures to save energy in the context
of a drop in deliveries of natural gas from Russia and efforts to reduce energy
dependence. Prime minister Nicolae Ciucă said the government is considering a
programme to encourage the replacement of lightbulbs with more efficient ones.
Each ministry will also be required to present a plan of measures to reduce
energy waste. Meanwhile, Romania has reached the minimum 80% gas storage level
required by the European Union. Across the Union, this level is 84%. In another
move, the National Institute for Statistics said Romania imported over 1.3
million tonnes of oil equivalent in the first seven months of the year,
accounting for 17% less than in the same period last year.

Justice. A special parliamentary committee for the justice laws is today
giving a final vote on a bill regulating the functioning and running of the
Superior Council of Magistracy. During the debates on the articles of the bill,
which were rushed through in a marathon two-day meeting, only a few of the
almost 600 amendments proposed were adopted. The opposition says the new
legislation makes the judiciary vulnerable to political influence and asks for
the bills not to be passed until an opinion is received from the Venice
Commission, which the Save Romania Union has requested. Justice minister Cătălin
Predoiu says the legislation was drafted taking into account the opinion of the
Venice Commission. The bill on judicial organisation is the next from the
package of justice laws to be debated by the special parliamentary committee.

Belarus. The Romanian foreign ministry summoned Belarus’
chargé
d’affaires ad interim in Bucharest following comments by
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko that the United States is pushing
Europe into a military confrontation with Russia on the territory of Ukraine
and that other states, including Romania, may become directly involved. The
Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu said in a
statement that Romania firmly rejects such inadmissible statements that fuel a
rhetoric in international relations based on appeal to force and recourse to
force. The statement also says that Romania is a member of NATO and benefits
from all the security guarantees that derive from this status.

Enescu
competition. The last final of the George Enescu International Competition came
to an end in Bucharest. Alexandra Segal from Israel won the first place in the
piano competition; the young Benjamin Kruithof from Luxembourg won the cello
competition; and Romania’s Maria Marica won he violin competition. The winners
of the composition section were South Korea’s Shin Kim for symphonic music and
Italy’s Leonardo Marino for chamber music. The Enescu Competition was held this
year under the motto The Music of Hope and marked the return to concert halls
after events were held either fully or partly online for two years. (CM)