March 6, 2016

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 06.03.2016, 12:02

VISIT As of today, Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis is paying a formal visit
to Israel and the Palestinian territories. He will meet with Israeli and
Palestinian officials, as well as with members of the Romanian communities
living in the region. According to the Romanian President, the talks he is about
to hold in Israel with the President, the Prime Minister, the Parliament
Speaker and other officials are aimed at improving the relations between the
two countries, which have enjoyed a good collaboration in many fields. Later,
president Klaus Iohannis will also hold talks with the president of the
Palestinian Authority.

SUMMIT Romania’s PM Dacian Ciolos will attend in Brussels on
Monday the EU – Turkey summit and the informal meeting of members of the
European Council. On Tuesday, the Romanian MP will hold talks with the
President of the European Council Donald Tusk, about EU internal matters, with
focus on the economic situation, employment, the refugee crisis, the Schengen
area, the relation between the EU and Great Britain and the Energy Union. Also,
talks will be held on foreign affairs, such as the eastern neighbourhood, the
Republic of Moldova and Syria. Also on Tuesday, PM Ciolos will meet with the
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, with whom he will discuss regional
security issues: NATO’s presence in Eastern Europe, the Black Sea Region, the
strategic relation between NATO and the EU. The Prime Minister’s agenda also
includes a working visit to the Hague on Wednesday, where he will meet with his
Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte.

DIASPORA Romanian authorities are preparing several projects aimed at allowing
the Romanians working abroad to come back home, says the Minister Delegate for
Relations with Romanians Abroad, Dan Stoenescu. During the visit he has paid to
Italy lately, Stoenescu has had meetings with local authorities in Rome and
Bologna, as well as with representatives of the Romanian community in northern
Italy. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the
meetings highlighted the importance of constantly promoting the members of the
Romanian community within the Italian representative and administrative
structures. Minister Stoenescu has
appreciated the integration support
granted by the Italian authorities to the members of the Romanian
community. The significant contribution of the Romanian community to the good
functioning of the Italian society and economy has also been highlighted.

VOTING Starting April 1st, Romanians who are living abroad
can register in the Voters’ Registry, to thus announce they wish to vote at the
parliamentary elections due in December 2016. Information is available on the
Foreign Ministry’s website: www.mae.ro, under
the section titled 2016 Parliamentary Elections – voting abroad. This section
contains the most important information about the legislative background,
including with regard to postal voting, and useful information provided under
the information campaign run by the Romanian Foreign Ministry in partnership
with the Permanent Electoral
Authority.

EUROVISION Romania’s representative at the 2016 Eurovision song
contest will be chosen today by the public, through televoting. There are 6
finalists left in the race: Ovidiu Anton, Dream Walkers, Florena, Mihai
Traistariu, the Doru Todorut – Irina Baiant duet and Vanotek featuring the Code
&Georgian. Romania will participate in the second semi-final of the contest
in Stockholm on May 12th, and the final will be held two days later. The bests
results obtained by Romania at the Eurovision song contest are owed to Luminita
Anghel and Sistem in 2005 and Paula Seling and Ovidiu Cernauseanu in 2010. In
both cases Romania came in third.

TENNIS Romania has won the round against Slovenia, held in Arad, western
Romania, in the first stage of Davis Cup’s Europe-Africa Zone Group I. On
Saturday, the decisive point was won by the pair made up of Horia Tecau and
Florin Mergea, who defeated Tomislav Ternar / Alijaz Radinski 6-3, 7-6, 7-6. On
Friday, Marius Copil defeated in three sets Blaz Rola, and Adrian Ungur won the
match against Grega Zemlja. Sunday is
to see the last two singles, with Adrian Ungur taking on Blaz Rola and Marius
Copil playing against Grega Zemlja. Romania’s next adversary is Spain.