ELECTION – The
\nCentral Electoral Bureau on Saturday drew lots to set the order of the 14 candidates
\non voting ballots for the presidential election. All parliamentary parties have
\nsubmitted a candidate. The top candidates are acting president Klaus Iohannis,
\nsupported by the National Liberal Party in opposition, Social-Democrat Prime Minister
\nViorica D\u0103ncil\u0103, Dan Barna representing the Save Romania Union – Plus Alliance,
\nTheodor Paleologu, the candidate of the People’s Movement Party, Mircea
\nDiaconu, who has rallied the support of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats
\nand Pro Romania Party, and Kelemen Hunor from the Democratic Union of Ethnic
\nHungarians. Other candidates from non-parliamentary parties are C\u0103t\u0103lin Ivan,
\nNinel Peia, Sebastian-Constantin Popescu, John-Ion Banu, Ramona-Ioana
\nBruynseels and Viorel Cataram\u0103. Bogdan Stanoevici and Alexandru Cump\u0103na\u015fu are
\nindependent candidates. October 12 is the first day of the campaign, the first
\nround of the election is scheduled for November 10, and the decisive round on
\nNovember 24. According to a government resolution, Romanians living abroad will
\nbe able to vote between November 8 and 10 in the first round, and between
\nNovember 22 and 24 for the runoff.<\/p>\n
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MOTION – Liberal
\nleader Ludovic Orban announced a no-confidence motion will be filed against the
\nSocial-Democrat Government at the start of next week. The Liberals will rely on
\n237 votes, which is enough to remove the Dancila Cabinet, Orban added, who says
\nthis reflects Parliament’s clear willingness to change the Government. Chamber
\nof Deputies Speaker Social-Democrat Marcel Ciolacu expressed doubt over the
\nmotion’s chances to succeed, saying the Liberals have not presented a governing
\nprogram or come up with an alternative Prime Minister. <\/p>\n
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VISIT – Prime
\nMinister Viorica Dancila, on a visit to the United States, has told US
\ninvestors that her Government has adopted ambitious measures to boost
\nbusinesses in the fields of energy, healthcare, research, IT and
\ncommunications. According to a Government release, representatives of US
\ncompanies have appreciated the Romanian authorities openness towards dialogue and
\nincrease in the budgets for investing in healthcare, infrastructure and
\ndefense. Previously, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila met with US Energy
\nSecretary Rick Perry, on which occasion Romania and the United States signed a
\nmemorandum of understanding concerning strategic civil nuclear cooperation
\n(NCMOU). The Romanian official expressed her Government’s commitment towards
\nthe development of economic cooperation under the Strategic Partnership between
\nthe two states, grounded on a pragmatic and mutually advantageous cooperation.<\/p>\n
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EUROPALIA – The
\nEuropalia International Arts Festival will kick off on October 1 in Brussels,
\nwith Romania as guest of honor. Attending the opening ceremony will be
\nPresident Klaus Iohannis and King Philippe of Belgium. The two officials will
\nalso visit the exhibition titled Brancusi – the Sublimation of Form, the most
\nimportant event devoted to the Romanian-born sculptor Constantin Brancusi organized
\nin the last few decades, and will also be attending the Romanian Rhapsody concert
\nperformed by the RaRo-SoNoRo ensemble. The Europalia Romania Festival, held
\nover October 2019 – February 2020, comprises events in the fields of visual
\narts, performing arts, music, film, literature and cultural education, held in
\nBelgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and Great Britain.
\nRomania will be organizing over 250 events at the 27th edition of
\nthe festival. <\/p>\n
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CHIRAC – The
\nFrench Embassy in Bucharest has opened a book of condolences on its webpage for
\nanyone willing to pay homage to the former French President Jacques Chircac,
\nwho passed away Thursday aged 86. President Emmanuel Macron has declared a
\nnational mourning day on Monday, on which occasion flags will be flown at
\nhalf-mast, including at the French Embassy in Bucharest. France is in mourning
\nafter the death of Jacques Chirac, a statesman, a great European and a friend
\nof Romania, a country he visited on several occasion, especially during the
\nSummit of La Francophonie hosted by Bucharest in 2006, the French Embassy
\nwrites on its Facebook page. <\/p>\n
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TENNIS – Romanian
\ntennis player Simona Halep (WTA no. 6) on Sunday will play Rebecca Peterson of
\nSweden (53 WTA) in the first round at the Beijing Open, totaling some 8.3
\nmillion dollars in prize money. On Saturday, another Romanian, Sorana Cirstea lost
\n6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to Alison van Uytvanck of Belgium in the final of the WTA
\ntournament in Tashkent, totaling 250 thousand dollars in prize money. This was
\nSorana’s second final in Uzbekistan, following the one in 2008, when she won
\nher only title in the singles circuit. Cirstea played another two finals in WTA
\ncompetitions, in 2007 in Budapest and in 2013 in Toronto. In 2012 in Tashkent,
\nanother Romania, Irina Begu, won the title. <\/p>\n
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HANDBALL – The
\nRomanian women’s handball team is playing the Faeroe Islands on Sunday in a
\nmatch counting towards the 2020 European Championship preliminary Group 7. On
\nWednesday, in its debut match, Romania defeated 27-24 neighboring Ukraine at
\nhome. The first two teams will advance to the final tournament. At the previous
\nedition of 2018, Romania ranked 4th, losing the bronze final to the
\nNetherlands. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated by V.
\nPalcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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