March 13, 2016
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 13.03.2016, 12:00
The
president of the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest, Valeriu Zgonea is in Berlin
to participate in an international Parliamentary conference on fighting Antisemitism. Zgonea is chairing a plenary session entitled, ‘Official and
governmental responses to Antisemitism’. The conference will also be attended
by the First Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, by
German chancellor Angela Merkel, the Bundestag president, Norbert Lammert and
UNESCO director general Irina Bokova. High on the conference agenda are the
anti-Semitic discourse promoted on the Internet as well as ways of fighting
anti-Semitism in Muslim communities.
About 13 million Germans have been called to
the polls this Sunday to vote for their candidates in the regional election
staged in the states of Renania-Palatinat, Baden Württemberg and
Saxonia-Anhalt. The present ballot is considered a major election test 18
months ahead of the legislative election, which against the background of the
refugee crisis might indicate the rise of the populist right against the
traditional parties, particularly against chancellor Angela Merkel’s
conservatives, France Press reports. Over one million refugees entered Germany
last year alone, and the refugee crisis that followed has caused turmoil on the
political stage challenging the chancellor’s position as a leader for the first
time in the past ten years since she came to power. Under the circumstances,
the populist right seems to have enjoyed the support of an increasing number of
Germans nowadays, as it mainly stands for a tight border control. Founded only
three years ago the Eurosceptic Alternative for Germany has been estimated as
the main favorite in the election, accounting for between 9% and 19% of the
votes, according to the state.
A new Romanian crew has joined the patrol missions in the Mediterranean
aimed at fighting illegal migration. According to the Interior Ministry, a
helicopter of the General Inspectorate for Aviation with a crew of four will
join the international operation Poseidon Rapid Intervention by the European
Agency FRONTEX, which involves the participation of ground, sea and air units
from 26 countries. In the next two weeks, the Romanian crew will be operating
on the Greek Island of Samos. Romania has a significant contribution to FRONTEX
operations of securing the EU borders, participating in the missions of
fighting illegal migration in the maritime zone of Italy and Greece, but also
at the border between Serbia and Macedonia.
The Romanian national women’s handball side
will today be playing Norway, the defending European, Olympic and world
champions in the return game of preliminary Group 1 of the European
Championship due in December. In the first match on Wednesday, the Romanians
outperformed the Norwegians 25-20. The Romanian side, bronze medalist in the
2015 World Championship and coached by Swedish Tomas Ryde, have qualified for
the final tournament as they are they topping the group’s ranking after three
games. Norway is coming second followed by Belarus and Lithuania. Romania’s
national handball side will be playing in the pre-Olympic tournament in Aarhus,
Denmark, due over March 18th and 20th together with the host country, Uruguay
and Montenegro. The first two teams are qualified for the Olympic Games in Rio
in August.
Hundreds of people flocked on Saturday night
to visit the residence of Romania’s former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The
palace has been officially opened to public visiting and has thus been included
in the Bucharest’s circuit of museums, 26 years on from the demise of communism
in Romania. Built between 1964 and 1965, the Spring Palace, as it is known, has
over 80 rooms and visitors can see the study of the former communist dictator,
the family apartments, his private cinema hall, the swimming pool, the wine
cellar and the two gardens. The opening of the Ceausescu’s residence is part of
a government campaign called ‘Your Right to Know’.
