9 September, 2018 UPDATE
A roundup of the main stories in Romania.
Newsroom, 09.09.2018, 18:13
Accident. The president of the Republic of
Moldova Igor Dodon, whose motorcade was involved in a road accident on Sunday,
has left the hospital together his middle son, who was also in the car when the
accident occurred. Their health condition is considered satisfactory. A truck
was also involved, which crossed into the opposite lane. According to eye
witnesses, one of the vehicles turned over after impact and several persons
needed medical assistance.
Back to school. School begins on Monday in
Romania for around three million children. The secretary of state in the
education ministry Florian Lixandru told Radio Romania that only 80% of
pre-university schools have the sanitary approval. The ministry together with
representatives of the local authorities are looking for solutions for the
other 20%, the official said. The education ministry has also promised to post
as quickly as possible the correct digital versions of the manuals of biology
and geography that contained mistakes in their print versions. The committee for
education in the Chamber of Deputies will hold a hearing next week with the
management of the publishing house that printed the manuals.
Protests. The German pianist Davide
Martello gave an outdoor concert on Saturday evening outside the government
building in the centre of Bucharest as part of an event organised on social
media under the heading A Taste of Freedom. Martello gave similar concerts in
various conflict areas around the world such as Taksim Square in Istanbul, the
Bataclan club in Paris, the so-called Euromaidan in Kiev and in Afghanistan. He
said he decided to come to Romania to support the people protesting against
corruption. Hundreds of people attended the concert held almost a month after
the anti-government demonstration of the Romanian diaspora on the 10th
of August, which was marked by violence and which ended when the riot police intervened
forcefully. Hundreds of people were wounded in the incidents. On Monday, fresh
anti-government protests are expected to take place in Bucharest, around the
country and abroad.
Dialogue. A modern budget for a stronger
European Union is the main theme of a dialogue with citizens held by the
European commissioners Phil Hogan, who is responsible for agriculture and rural
development, and Corina Creţu, who is responsible for regional policy.
The debate will be held next Friday in Cluj, in the north-west of Romania. Citizens
can attend if they fill in a registration form online by Thursday night at the
latest, or through Facebook and Twitter.
Visit. The Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte
will travel to Romania on Wednesday in the context of Romania’s presidency of
the Council of the European Union in the first part of next year, the Dutch
embassy in Bucharest said on its Facebook page. Mr Rutte is expected to have
talks with president Klaus Iohannis and prime minister Viorica Dancila about
bilateral cooperation in the political and economic areas and topical issues on
the European agenda.
Football. Romania face Serbia on Monday in their second
match as part of the newly created Nations League in football. In their first
Group 4 match on Friday against Montenegro, Romania drew nil-all. Because of a
penalty imposed by UEFA, the match played without any spectators, which was a
first for the Romanian football side. Also on Friday, Serbia defeated Lithuania
1-nil. The results in the Nations League count towards the 2020 European
Championship preliminaries.
