September 27, 2019

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 27.09.2019, 13:48

Bucharest Stock Exchange – The Bucharest Stock Exchange was promoted to Emerging Market status by FTSE Russell, in recognition of the progress made by the Romanian capital market in the past years. The Bucharest Stock Exchange was expecting the promotion for 10 years, and it had been included in a monitoring list. With this rating, Romania now has access to investments 30 times bigger as compared to the previous period. Its a historic decision, as the Romanian capital market has thus joined a more select club, the equivalent of the investment grade category, and now has the chance to contribute more to capitalizing the real Romanian economy, said the Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici, who is currently on a working visit to the USA. FTSE is a world provider of stock market indices and associated data services. More on this after the news.

New York – The Romanian Government will carry on actions to combat anti-Semitism, xenophobia and intolerance, said the Romanian PM Viorica Dancila during the talks she had in New York with Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Committee, Arthur Schneier, the Senior Rabbi of New York, and Malcolm Hoenlein, the vice president of the American Jewish Congress. The Romanian official has stated that the Romanian executive will continue to carry out actions aimed at preserving the memory of the Holocaust and combating nationalism, including by establishing a National Jewish and Holocaust History Museum and also by developing study programs on the Holocaust. PM Dancila also stressed the importance of the Strategic Partnership with the US and the business opportunities in Romania.

European Commission – The European Commission is expecting a letter from the president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, including the decisions made by the EP and the recommendations made by the Legal Affairs Committee with regard to the candidates proposed by Romania and Hungary, Rovana Plumb and Laszlo Trocsanyi respectively. On Thursday, in the hearings at the Legal Affairs Committee, the two were not green-lighted to move to the next step, because of some conflicts of interests. The Social Democrat MEP Rovana Plumb, proposed for the office of European Commissioner for Transport, had been asked to clarify some controversial aspects in her declaration of assets, more specifically about a loan to finance an election campaign. President Klaus Iohannis has called on the PM Dancila to immediately withdraw the nomination of Rovana Plumb for the post of European Commissioner.

Community of Democracies – The Romanian Foreign Minister Ramona Manescu has announced that a ministerial meeting of the Community of Democracies will be held in June 2020, in Romania, to mark 20 years since the signing of the founding document of the prestigious forum, namely the Warsaw Declaration. On Thursday, the Romanian minister participated in the extraordinary meeting of the Community of Democracies, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The Community of Democracies is an inter-governmental structure, whose main goals are to promote peaceful and inclusive societies, for sustainable development, access to justice for all and the creation of efficient, responsible and inclusive institutions, at all levels. Romania has taken over from Poland the presidency of the Community, and it will hold it until September 15, 2021. According to Ramona Manescu, during its two-year term, Bucharest will promote the participation of young people in the decision-making process, as well as an active implication of the private sector in reaching the sustainable development goals.

Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea has qualified for the final of the WTA tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with 250,000 dollars in prize money. She defeated on Friday Katarina Zavatka, of Ukraine, 6-0, 6-3. Cirstea, 8th seed at the tournament, will play her second final in Tashkent, after winning the only title in her career, back in 2008. In the final, the Romanian will play against the winner of the match between the Belgian Alison van Uytvanck and Kristyna Pliskova of the Check Republic. (translated by M. Ignatescu)