July 22, 2017 UPDATE

Sinaia hosts Summer School on the Romanian exile after the war.

Newsroom, 22.07.2017, 19:23

Summer School — The mountain resort of Sinaia, in southern Romania, is hosting a Summer School on the Romanian exile after the war, which starts on Sunday and ends on July 27th. The course is organised by the Institute for the Investigation of the Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile, the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Culture Ministry and Peles National Museum. The course is aimed at better understanding the post-war communist phenomenon by young people from Romania and abroad and is addressing students who attend masters and PhD graduate programmes in Romania and abroad and who plan to worked on projects about the Romanian post-war exile.

Warsaw– Polands upper house of parliament has approved a Supreme Court overhaul, seen by the opposition as aimed to undermine democratic checks and balances. The opposition and judges groups in Poland, as well as critics in Brussels, say the legislation is a new step by the Polish government towards authoritarianism. The parliament pushed through the change to the Supreme Court, which gives the government power to select candidates for the court. Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in the capital Warsaw and other cities to protest against the draft bill. To become law, the bill needs to be signed by President Andrzej Duda. The European Union and the United have recently urged Poland to ensure any changes respect the constitution.

Hungary – Hungary will continue to promote its national interests to the detriment of Brussels’ policy, where an alliance of the elites and bureaucrats has formed, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban said on Saturday at the Summer University in Baile Tusnad, in central Romania. Orban also said that Budapest would fight to protect Poland from possible sanctions from the EU, after the Parliament in Warsaw had passed a bill imposing tighter political controls over the judicial system, which comes against EU principles and which triggered mass protests in Poland.

Air Show — Thousands of people took part in the 9th edition of the Bucharest International Air Show held on Saturday at Baneasa Airport in Romania’s capital city. Attending were professionals of the civil and military aviation from Romania, Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Britain, Germany, the US, Greece, Austria and Lithuania. Over 100 civil and military aircraft and 200 pilots and parachutists took part in this year’s Bucharest International Air Show. A General Aviation Exhibition was also opened on this occasion at Baneasa Airport.

White House – Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is the White House new press secretary, replacing Sean Spicer who has resigned. The media sees Spicers resignation as a protest over President Trump’s decision to bring in new people. Sarah Huckabee Sanders gained prominence in recent months as she has taken on more public-facing duties on President Donald Trumps communication team. During her first appearance as press secretary, Sanders said taking the job at the White House is “one of the greatest honours that any person could ever have.”

International Tennis Federation — The coach of Romania’s Fed Cup team, the former tennis player Ilie Năstase, said Saturday in a Facebook post that he is disappointed but not surprised by the recent decision of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and that he will seek justice by appealing the decision at an independent body. We remind you that on Friday the International Tennis Federation announced that Nastase was suspended from any official position he was holding until 2021 because, according to the ITF, at a match held in Romania against the UK, in April, he used insulting words against Romania’s adversaries, against a referee and a journalist. Also Ilie Năstase received a fine worth 10 thousand dollars. According to the president of the Romanian Tennis Federation, George Cosac, the ITF’s decision is too tough and the accusations leveled against Năstase exaggerated. Năstase and the Romanian Tennis Federation can appeal the decision in an independent court in 3 weeks time.

(Translated by Elena Enache)