September 22, 2019

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 22.09.2019, 14:15

PRESIDENTIAL RACE – The deadline for registering in the presidential election race in Romania expires Sunday at midnight. Two more candidates have joined the race for the presidential elections to be held in November. They are Kelemen Hunor, from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, and Mircea Diaconu, who has the backing of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and the Pro Romania party. The incumbent president Klaus Iohannis, on behalf of the National Liberal Party, and Dan Barna, who is backed by the USR-PLUS alliance, officially joined the race on Friday. Other candidates include the Social Democrat prime minister Viorica Dancila and Theodor Paleologu, on behalf of the Peoples Movement Party. The election campaign begins on the 12th of October, but outdoor advertising has already begun in Bucharest. Political analysts say that this pre-campaign period is different from others due to a more diversity of political figures. Also, the focus has been image, rather than slogans. The first round of the presidential elections is due on November 10th, and the second two weeks later.

VISIT – As of today, Romanias prime minister Viorica Dancila is on a one-week working visit to the United States. She is accompanied by the defence minister Gabriel Les and the finance minister Eugen Teodorovici. Dancila has stated she will have talks with vice-president Mike Pence and will attend a meeting on combating terrorism. She has also spoken about the signing of a memorandum on energy and of a document in the area of health with the World Bank. The agenda of the visit also includes meetings with American business people, whom she will present with the advantages of investing in Romania. The prime minister has also stated she plans to meet representatives of the Romanian community in the United States.

ENESCU FESTIVAL – Sunday is the last day of the George Enescu International Festival. Todays agenda includes two concerts organized by Radio Romania, which is a co-producer of the festival: the concert given by Vocalconsort Berlin and the Radio Chamber Orchestra, at the National Art Museum, and the Orchestra of the Romanian Broadcasting Corporation, accompanied by the Radio Academic Choir, performing at the Radio Hall. Other events held on the last day of the festival include the concert given by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, under the baton of Tugan Sokhiev. We recall that the George Enescu International Festival was established in 1958 to honour the memory of the great composer and violinist. This year, the festival has brought on stage 2,500 of the most prestigious musicians in the world, in 84 concerts and recitals.

ANNIVERSARY -This weekend, Romanias capital Bucharest has celebrated its 560th anniversary with workshops, street events, food shows and concerts. The already traditional iMapp Bucharest contest, which reached its 6th edition, was held on Saturday. Eight teams projected their shows on the façade of the Palace of Parliament, the second largest administrative building in the world, after the Pentagon.

NAVY – The Mircea training vessel is completing this weekend its first stops in the Danube ports in its 80 years in the service of the Romanian Navy. Its journey began on the 15th of September in Tulcea, followed by Galati, Braila, and, finally, Sulina. According to a statement from the Naval Forces, tens of thousands of people have visited the vessel this week. Mircea was built in 1938-1939 at the Blohm & Woss shipyard in Hamburg Germany, and has travelled more than 300,000 nautical miles, which is 14 times the length of the equator. It has been used by the Romanian Naval Forces as a training ship for students but also for diplomatic activities.

TENNIS – The Romanian pair made up of Simona Halep and Raluca Olaru has today qualified for the next round of the WTA tournament in Wuhan, China, with 2.8 million dollars in prize money. The Romanians defeated the Chinese Qianhui Tang and Xinyu WanG 7-6. 4-6, 10-8 and have won 105 points. (translated by M. Ignatescu)