November 29, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 29.11.2015, 20:10
On Monday in Paris Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis will attend, alongside heads of state and government
from some 145 countries, the opening of the 21st session of the
Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC). The main goal of the conference is to adopt a new international
agreement on climate change, which would be legally binding for all states, as of January 1st, 2021. On Sunday, the Romanian head of
state attended in Brussels the EU – Turkey summit. The talks focused on
migration, as Ankara plays a major role in controlling the migrant flows to
Europe, as well as on matters concerning the process of negotiation on Turkey’s
EU accession.
Over
2,600 soldiers and military specialists and 360 technical devices will
participate in the December 1st parade in Bucharest, on Romania’s
National Day. A general rehearsal was staged in the capital on Sunday. Joining the Romanian
military at the December 1st parade will be troops from the Republic of Moldova, Romania’s
neighbour with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population. Military staff
from Bulgaria, the US, Poland and Turkey, some of Romania’s NATO allies, will
also take part in the parade. The National Day is celebrated by the Romanian
diplomatic missions across the world through concerts, exhibitions, film
screenings and receptions. December 1st became Romania’s National
Day after the anti-Communist Revolution of December 1989, marking the formation
of the Romanian unitary state in 1918.
Representatives of Romanian communities
abroad have gathered in Alba Iulia and Zlatna, in central Romania, to
attend the 19th Congress of Romanian Spirituality. The congress was created by the Cultural
League for the Union of Romanians Around the World, with a view to helping
these communitie maintain ties with the mother land, promoting Romanian culture
and spirituality, and urging Romanian officials and NGOs to really support
these communities abroad. Delegates from over 30 countries are attending the
Congress.
The
Minister Delegate for Relations with Romanians Abroad, Dan Stoenescu, attended
in Spain on Saturday and Sunday a string of events devoted to Romania’s
National Day. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, during meetings with
representatives of the Romanian community in Spain, Stoenescu said that one of
his short-term priorities was to run an information campaign on postal voting,
for all Romanians abroad to know the procedures. Stoenescu also said he was
considering organizing information and consulting sessions for the Romanians living abroad, including on the means they can use to access European funding
under the Operational Programme for the Development of Human Resources. There
are three axes available under this programme: life-long professional
training, Romanian entrepreneurs in Europe and preventing early school drop-out.
On
Sunday, Romania’s national women’s handball
team defeated Cuba’s team 36-23, in a friendly game held as part of an
international tournament hosted by France. On Saturday, the Romanian players
defeated the Czech 31-26, after on Thursday they had been beaten by France, 27-29, in
the first training match before the World Championship in Denmark, which will
take place between December 5th and 20th. The Romanian team will take the last test
before the world games on Wednesday against the Swedish squad,
away from home. Romania is the only country that has participated in all the
final tournaments of the World Championships since 1957. The Romanian handball
players won gold in 1962 and silver in 1973 and 2005.
