Cultural events organized
\nsimultaneously in Romania, the Republic of Moldova and by the Romanian
\ncommunities abroad are today marking the Romanian Language Day, celebrated
\nevery year on August 31st. Bucharest is hosting concerts and book
\nlaunches devoted to this celebration, and Chisinau is playing host to an
\ninternational conference titled ‘Romanian Language – a Language of European
\nIntegration’. In Cernauti, western Ukraine, where half a million of ethnic
\nRomanians live, the 26th anniversary of the Society for Romania
\nCulture is being celebrated. Also, Romanian cultural institutes across the
\nworld have adapted their programs to mark Language Day, established by the
\nRomanian Parliament in 2013. The celebration coincides with the national day of the Republic of Moldova
\nand is a homage paid to the national awakening movement in the neighboring
\ncountry, a former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian-speaking
\npopulation. On August 31st, 1989, when the Soviet regime was in
\npower, the Parliament in Chisinau, picketed by some 750,000 people, accounting
\nfor one sixth of the country’s population, declared Romanian as the official
\nstate language and decided the passing to the Latin alphabet instead of the
\nCyrillic one, which had been imposed upon annexation back in 1940.<\/p>\n
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The new Fiscal Code and
\npostal voting for the Romanians living abroad are two of the priorities of the
\nRomanian Parliament’s autumn session, which starts on September 1st.
\nThe interim president of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, has stated
\nhe would like to have a session dominated by dialogue and not by the political
\nwar between power and the opposition. The Social – Democrat Prime Minister
\nVictor Ponta has also stated that the law on state employees’ salaries, which
\nprovides for higher salaries in the public sector, as well as the 2016 state
\nbudget and the procurement law could be adopted by November 1st,
\nthrough political consensus. The opposition Liberal Party, through its
\nco-president Alina Gorghiu, has called for the passing, by November 1st,
\nof the postal voting bill and believes that drafting a new law is useless, as
\nthe bill already contains the requirements formulated by the Romanian
\ncommunities abroad. The law became a hot debate issue after the disaster last
\nyear, when thousands of Romanians who live abroad could not cast their votes at
\nNovember’s presidential election, although they queued for hours in front of
\nthe insufficient polling stations.<\/p>\n
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Negotiations between trade unionists with the Romanian Air Traffic
\nServices Administration (ROMATSA) and representatives of the Transport Ministry
\nhave again ended in a deadlock. Air traffic controllers threaten with an
\nall-out strike starting on September 1st. They demand higher
\nsalaries, a lower retirement age, from 65 to 55, better working conditions as
\nwell as the resignation of the administration’s management. On July 15th
\nthey held a two-hour warning strike, an unprecedented event in the history of
\nRomanian aviation. According to
\nROMATSA, which currently has approximately 1,500 employees, Romania’s air space
\nis transited by some 3 thousand airplanes every day.<\/p>\n
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On September 14th,
\nthe EU Interior Ministers will gather in Brussels in a bid to find solutions to
\nthe current migration crisis. Talks will focus on expelling procedures, when
\nasylum applications are rejected, cooperation with third countries and measures
\nto prevent human trafficking. Austria has tightened control on its eastern
\nborders, after, a few days ago, 71 refugees were found dead in a truck
\nabandoned on a highway in the east of the country. In the past days, the
\nHungarian police has detained some 8800 immigrants, most of whom had entered
\nthe country by crossing the border with Serbia. Europe is currently facing the
\nbiggest flow of immigrants since WWII. Many of them are fleeing countries
\ndevastated by war, such as Syria and Afghanistan, and are putting their lives
\nat risk trying to reach the west.<\/p>\n
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The Israel Philharmonic
\nOrchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta will this evening perform in Bucharest, on
\nthe second day of the George Enescu international festival. The concert,
\nwhich is part of the ‘Grand Orchestras’ series, includes Chamber Symphony no.1
\nby Arnold Schoenberg and Symphony no. 8 by Anton Bruckner. Another concert is
\nhosted by the Bucharest Athenaeum, with the Romanian Liviu Prunaru conducting.
\nThe 22nd edition of the festival started on Sunday with the Romanian
\nYouth Orchestra, who performed Romanian Rhapsody no.1 by George Enescu.<\/p>\n
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Romanian
\ntennis player Simona Halep, ranking 2nd in the WTA classification,
\nwill play against Maria Erakovic of New Zeealand in the first round of the US
\nOpen, the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, which starts today at
\nFlushing Meadows in New York. Besides Simona Halep, another four women tennis
\nplayers will represent Romania at the US Open. Irina Camelia Begu, ranked 28th,
\nwill play against Olga Govortsova of Belarus, 40th ranked Monica
\nNiculescu will take on the Russian Alexandra Panova, Alexandra Dulgheru, placed
\n51st in the WTA rankings will play against the German Angelique
\nKerber, and Andreea Mitu, no. 74, will face the Czech Tereza Smitkova. As a
\nfirst, Halep has registered for the mixed doubles and she will play alongside
\nthe Romanian Horia Tecau. In the men’s doubles, Horia Tecau will pair the Dutch
\nJean-Julien Rojer, with whom he won the Wimbledon final this June. In the
\ninaugural round they will take on the pair made up of the German Andre Begemann
\nand the Austrian Oliver Marach. The Romanian \/ Indian pair made up of Florin
\nMergea and Rohan Bopanna will face the US pair Austin Krajicek\/Nicholas Monroe.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":100004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-100435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n