October 7, 2019

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 07.10.2019, 14:00

JHA – Romania’s
Justice Minister, Ana Birchall, is attending the Justice and Home Affairs
Council meeting held under the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU. For
two days, the meeting will focus on EU measures against corruption, combating
cross-border crime by means of Eurojust, electronic issues and the creation of
the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. EU officials will also discuss the
EU’s accession to the European Court of Human Rights, combating hate speech
online, the protection of personal data as well as the relation between
democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights. Minister Birchall will meet with
counterparts from Member States on the sidelines of the event.

CHECKS -
Transport Minister Razvan Cuc announced additional checks and safety measures
will be implemented in traffic considering last week was marked by numerous
accidents, the most serious of which killed 10 people and injured 7. The driver
of a truck collided with a minibus on the oncoming lane, preliminary data
indicating the possibility he might have fallen asleep while driving. A mixed
task force made of representatives of the Police and the State Inspectorate for
Traffic Control will examine tachographs to inspect rest hours for professional
drivers.

CYBER THREATS -
Over half of European citizens say they aren’t sufficiently informed regarding cyber
threats, 70% of enterprises stating they hold minimum knowledge regarding such
risks while 80% of European enterprises having faced at least one
cyber-security incident. The statement was made earlier today by Communications
Minister Alexandru Popescu in Bucharest. The Romanian official said the
authorities continue to invest significant resources in increasing the level of
knowledge, training and pre-emptive capacity, as well as response capabilities
in case of cyber-attacks. Minister Popescu went on to say that Romania has
enhanced its cyber diplomacy by signing a memorandum of understanding this year
with Israel, Poland and the United States regarding the cyber security of
hardware and software infrastructure, of telecom networks and systems, including
5G.

NOBEL – The 2019
Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine on Monday was jointly awarded to William
Kaelin Jr., Sir Peter Ratcliffe and Gregg Semenza for their pioneering research
into how human cells respond to changing oxygen levels. The Nobel Prize in
Physiology and Medicine is the first in the series of Nobel prizes awarded at
this time of the year. Last year, the Nobel Prize went on to American
researcher James P. Allison and Japanese scholar Tasuku Honjo for their
achievements regarding the treatment of cancer.

FOOTBALL -
Romania’s national football team met in Bucharest to train for the matches to
be played against the Faeroe Islands on October 12 and against Norway at home,
on October 15, in the 2020 European Championship preliminaries. Spain is currently
top of the tables with 18 points, followed by Sweden with 11 points, Romania
with 10 points, Norway with 9 points, Malta with 3 points and the Faeroe
Islands with zero points. The top two teams in each group will advance to the
Championship. The draw for the 2020 European Championship will be held in
Bucharest on November 30. Bucharest will host four matches, three in the group
phase and one in the round of 16. Romania’s under-21 team is also playing
Ukraine on Thursday at home, and Northern Ireland next Monday, also at home, as
part of the 2021 European Championship preliminaries. We recall that this year
Romania’s under-21 team reached the semi-finals of the European Championship
hosted by Italy and San Marino.

HANDBALL -
Romania’s vice-champions in handball, CSM Bucharest on Sunday defeated Team
Esbjerg of Denmark 24-22 away from home in its first match counting towards
Champions League Group B. In the other group fixture, Rostov Don of Russia
defeated MKS Perla Lublin of Poland, 31-21. In the next round CSM will play
Rostov Don while MKS Perla Lublin will take on Team Esbjerg. On Friday,
Romania’s champions SCM Ramnicu Valcea grabbed its first win, 34-27 against
Germany’s SG BBM Bietigheim in Group C. In the next round SCM will play Brest
Bretagne Handball of France. Romania, France and Hungary each have two teams in
the Champions League group phase.

(Translated by V. Palcu)