THE WEEK IN REVIEW

February 19-23, 2024

Roxana Vasile, 24.02.2024, 13:55

The election calendar has been finally set

After long negotiations, the parties in the governing coalition in Bucharest reached a consensus on Wednesday regarding the merging of some of this year’s elections. The PSD and PNL leaders agreed, and announced that the local and European parliamentary elections will take place alongside one another on June 9, the presidential elections in September, and those for the national parliament in December. Political stability and the continuity of the governing act are PSD’s and PNL’s arguments for merging the elections. As for local parties, the Social Democrats and Liberals will be on separate lists, but for the European Parliament they will have a joint list, something unimaginable in the relatively recent past, when they were sworn enemies. Now, the PSD and PNL are talking about a “minimal sacrifice of pride” in the interest of Romanians. The opposition considers unconstitutional the merger of the European parliamentary elections with the local ones. The United Right Alliance formed by USR, Forţa Dreptei (a Liberal splinter) and the PMP (outside Parliament) claimed an attack on democracy, which it says it will try to prevent using all legal leverage. The Alliance for the Union of Romanians, in turn, stated that democracy was officially killed by the leaders of PSD – Marcel Ciolacu and PNL – Nicolae Ciucă, whom they accuse of being desperate to stay in power for the next ten years of illusory stability.

Two years since the invasion of Ukraine, the SCDC makes decisions

Convoked by the country’s president, Klaus Iohannis, this week the Supreme Council of Defense of the Country convened in Bucharest. The main topic is the serious security situation in the Black Sea region and the implications for Romania. In this context, SCDC members ordered measures to strengthen the Romanian armed forces, as well as a set of actions aimed at strengthening the national cybersecurity system. For Romania, the war in neighboring Ukraine still poses the risk of incidents that can affect its territory and citizens, but also the dangers regarding the safety of navigation in the Black Sea – as stated in the Supreme Council of Defense of the Country. That is why its members analyzed the measures already taken to protect the integrity of the territory and the population, and discussed the additional actions that are required as a result of the worsening of the security situation in the region. At the same time, they ordered that Romania continue diplomatic efforts to stop Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, which began two years ago, on February 24, 2022.

Romania condemned the killing of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalnyi

These days, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian ambassador to Bucharest in connection with the sudden death, in a prison near the Arctic Circle, of 47-year-old Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalnyi. The responsibility for the death of Navalny rests exclusively with the Russian authorities – the representative of the Foreign Ministry told the diplomat, and demanded a transparent, independent, and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances under which the death occurred. The moral obligation of the Russian authorities to hand over the lifeless body of Aleksei Navalny to the family without delay was also mentioned. In Romania, President Klaus Iohannis and other high Romanian dignitaries expressed their sadness for the death of the Russian opposition politician. At the same time, dozens of people were present with flowers and candles in front of the Russian Embassy building in Bucharest, with the message “for democracy we must fight all the time!”.

Good news for Romanians settled in Spain

The Romanians settled in Spain received good news this week,: they will be able to have, starting this year, dual citizenship, as announced at the end of the meetings with officials in Madrid, by the President of the Senate, Nicolae Ciucă, and the President of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Titus Corlăţean. The governments of the two countries still have some technical aspects to settle, the two declared. Therefore, the document would be signed on the occasion of the visit to Romania of the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez,. Dual citizenship is an important topic for the Romanian community in Spain. Currently, they have to give up their Romanian citizenship in order to obtain that of the Iberian state. Spain has, for now, agreements on dual citizenship only with its immediate neighbors, France and Portugal. Romanians form the second largest foreign community in Spain, after the Moroccan one. Their number is believed to exceed 1 million.

Qualifications for the Paris 2024 Olympics

The Romanian men’s national water polo team is going to the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, and, according to the draw, will be part of Group A, along with Croatia, Italy, Greece, the United States, and Montenegro. The team finished this month’s World Championships in Doha, Qatar, in the tenth position, and only the presence among the top eight would have secured the Olympic ticket. South Africa, which had already qualified as the best team on its continent, declared a forfeit for Paris. Thus, Romania, the best-ranked team among the unqualified, climbed up in the Olympic line-up. On the other hand, the Romanian women’s team was defeated by the Japanese team, on Thursday, in the quarter-finals of the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan, South Korea. Romania missed out on a medal in Busan, but, once it reached the quarters stage, it got the green light for the Olympics in Paris.