June 9, 2019

A roundup of domestic and international news.

Newsroom, 09.06.2019, 14:04

MOLDOVA — There is tension and confusion in the neighboring Republic of Moldova, where two governments claim legitimacy and accuse each other of attempts to seize power. After on Saturday Parliament and the pro-Russian president Igor Dodon endorsed a new government, headed by the pro-European Maia Sandu, the Constitutional Court invalidated the decisions and appointed former prime minister Pavel Filip as interim president. The latter has called parliamentary elections on September 6. Attempts to form a parliamentary majority in the last three and a half months have failed. Neither party won a majority of seats in Februarys parliamentary elections, with the pro-European ACUM group winning 26 and the Socialist Party winning 35 of the assemblys 101 seats. Both parties want to keep the Democratic Party, led by Vlad Plahotniuc, a controversial oligarch, out of government. The former ruling party won 30 seats in February.

G20 – The Romanian finance minister Eugen Teodorovici is heading the EU Council delegation at the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held this weekend in Fukuoka, Japan. According to a news release issued by the Finance Ministry, the agenda of talks includes topics like financing for development, global economy, international taxation, global imbalances, population ageing, investments in infrastructure and financial sector issues. The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will adopt an official declaration comprising the outcomes of the meeting, the news release also says.

WHITSUNDAY – Roman-Catholic Christians celebrate the Pentecost, which in mostly Orthodox Romania is marked, among other things, through a pilgrimage to Şumuleu Ciuc, attended every year by tens of thousands of Hungarian ethnics. The Marian shrine in Şumuleu Ciuc has become the most important Catholic pilgrimage site in the region. A week ago, it was also visited by Pope Francis, who was on a pastoral visit to Romania.

ADOPTIONS — Hundreds of people from abroad, adopted from Romania in the 1990s, have succeeded in the last four years to find their biological parents due to a Facebook page. This page was opened by a Romanian from the county of Buzau, who settled in Ireland, who was trying to find her brother who had been adopted 26 years before and whom she finally found in Manchester, the UK. The Facebook page “The never forgotten Romanian children”, set up in 2015 by Ileana Cunniffe Băiescu receives daily requests from adopted people and has 60 thousand followers. She has confessed she received in four years alone, around 15 hundred requests and that around 70%-80% of the cases have been solved.

REPORT — Health and the education of their children are Romanians’ main concerns, while in terms of priorities paying the bills is on top of the list. Investment in their own education and saving money are also important for Romanians, according to a recent survey conducted by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy. Only one in five adults understand the basic financial products, which places Romania last in Europe in terms of financial education. Life insurance products are seen as complex, difficult to understand and expensive, while 40% of Romanians believe all financial products are the same. Half of the respondents have admitted to being poorly informed on the topic of insurances. The survey was conducted between May 6 and 9 and has an error margin of 2.7%.

FOOTBALL – Romania’s football team is in Malta, scheduled to play against the host national team on Monday in the Group F qualifiers for the 2020 European Championships. On Friday Romania drew against Norway, 2-all away from home. In the first 2 matches in the group, played in March, the Romanians were defeated by Sweden in Stockholm, and won at home against Faroe Islands. Spain tops the Group F standings with 9 points, followed by Sweden with 7, with Romania coming in 3rd with 4 points. The top 2 teams in each group qualify into the final tournament. The drawing for Euro 2020 takes place in Bucharest on November 30. The Romanian capital city will also host 4 final tournament matches, 3 in the group stage and one in the 8th-finals. In related news, Romania’s team will play this month in the European Under-21 Football Championships in Italy and San Marino, in Group C, alongside England, France and Croatia. (Translated by Elena Enache)