October 13, 2019 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 13.10.2019, 19:34
Elections — The Electoral Authority in Bucharest approved, at the proposal of diplomatic missions and consular offices, another 270 polling stations abroad for the presidential elections due next month. The setting up of some 714 polling stations has been green lighted so far, most of which in Spain, Italy, Britain, France, the US and Moldova. Voters who have previously registered online can also vote by mail. A first at the upcoming elections is the fact that voting for the Romanians in the Diaspora is open for three days, Friday to Sunday, while in the country people can cast their vote only on Sunday. The first round is held on November 10 and the second one on November 24th. The election campaign for president started on Saturday. As many as 14 candidates compete for the presidential seat, representing parliamentary and non-parliamentary parties, as well as independent candidates.
Meeting — State Secretary with the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Dan Neculaescu, will attend on Monday in Luxembourg the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting. The meeting’s agenda includes foreign policy topics such as Syria, Turkey and Afghanistan. An informal meeting will also be held between the European officials and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko.o
Water polo — Romania’s water polo team qualified on Sunday in Valletta, Malta, to the final tournament of the 2020 European Championship, after defeating Malta, 13-7, in the preliminary Group C. The Romanians had previously defeated Portugal, 15-7. Romania ranked first in the Group, with 6 points, followed by Malta with 3 points and Portugal with 0 points. Romania and Malta have qualified to the 34th edition of the European Championship to be held in Budapest, Hungary, between January 12-26, 2020.
OLAF — The fraudulent cases with EU funds reported in 2018 account for over 580 million euros of the EU budget, of which 320 million have been recovered, according to the annual report of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). Romania has the biggest number of fraud cases reported, 477 in the last five years, followed by Poland, France and Bulgaria. Bucharest reported fraud totalling 62 million euros, and tops the list in terms of forged documents, which is the main means of European funds fraud. Germany stands best as regards the recovered amounts, with 85 million euros, followed by France with 84. The OLAF report also shows that recovering the money usually takes several years, due to the complex legal and administrative procedures involved. OLAF investigates fraud against the EU budget, corruption and serious misconduct within the European institutions, and develops anti-fraud policy for the European Commission.
Royal House— In a speech delivered at the Dutch Institute of International Relations in the Hague, Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania, has said that Romanians are now three times richer than during communism, but that it might take another 30 years to completely erase the effects of dictatorship. Princess Margareta has also said that there is a national consensus regarding the country’s NATO and EU membership and has denounced the fact that Dutch politicians oppose Romania’s joining the Schengen area, although Bucharest has complied with all technical conditions.
St. Parascheva – The largest pilgrimage in Romania that brings huge crowds to the Eastern city of Iasi every year, continues. People go to the cathedral in Iasi every year around October 14, the feast day of St. Parascheva, to pray at the Saint’s relics. They usually spend hours in queues that can span over several kilometers, as Saint Parascheva is considered the protector of Moldavia and Bukovina and Christians believe in the miraculous powers of the relics. Saint Parascheva lived in the first half of the 11th century and was born at Epivata, nowadays Boiados in Bulgaria. Her entire body preserved and wrapped, placed in a casket with a glass top, is on display at the Iasi Metropolitan Cathedral. The Saint’s relics were brought to Iasi in 1641, during the reign of ruler Vasile Lupu.
Election campaign — Saturday saw the start of the election campaign for the November presidential election. 14 candidates are running in the presidential race among whom the incumbent president Klaus Iohannis representing the National Liberal Party, the interim prime minister Viorica Dancila from the Social Democratic Party, Dan Barna representing the Alliance Save Romania Union-PLUS, Theodor Paleologu representing the People’s Movement Party or Kelemen Hunor from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. The Permanent Electoral Authority has already established the locations of the almost 18,750 polling stations. Also the Foreign Ministry officials forwarded to the Electoral Authority a list with an additional 270 polling stations from abroad, to complete the already approved 444 stations. In the Diaspora, the presidential election will be held for the first time during 3 days, from Friday to Sunday, for each round of voting.
(Translated by Elena Enache)
