April 28, 2023

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 28.04.2023, 13:55

MAY DAY – Over 400 festivals,
concerts, trade fairs and sports competitions are scheduled to take place over
the May Day long weekend. Over 70,000 people are expected to travel to the
Black Sea coast on this occasion. Some 24,000 police officers, gendarmes and
firefighters will be on duty across the country to prevent and combat crime,
fluidize road traffic and reduce waiting times at border checkpoints as well as
to ensure order and safety in various public events, the Interior Ministry
reports. The Border Police has also taken measures to optimize customs
procedures and reduce waiting times, with a focus on crossing points on the
Hungarian and Bulgarian borders.

VETERANS – On Veterans Day, the
Romanian Defense Ministry today organized a military and religious ceremony,
attended by Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr and Chief of Defense Staff, General Daniel
Petrescu. Similar ceremonies were held at home and abroad, in cemeteries and
monuments paying homage to the sacrifice of veterans. Over 900,000 people
perished, disappeared, were taken prisoner, were wounded or were left crippled
at the end of WWII. The Romanian Army continued to fight after Romania was
liberated, helping drive away the German army from Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
In total, over 540,000 servicemen were deployed to the frontline, of whom
90,000 were killed, nearly 60,000 went missing and over 330,000 were wounded.

UDMR – The Democratic Union of
Ethnic Hungarians in Romania is today convening in Timișoara to elect their its president. The acting president, Kelemen
Hunor, who is running for a new term, says the congress will also adopt a
strategic document outlining the priorities of Romania and the Hungarian
community in the economic, social, political, and minority rights over the
coming years. The leaders of PNL and PSD, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă and Chamber of Deputies
Speaker, Marcel Ciolacu, are also expected to attend.

ARREST – Former Romanian deputy
Cristian Rizea was extradited by the Republic of Moldova after being declared persona non-grata for a 15-year period.
Rizea was detained by Romanian law enforcement and transferred to a
penitentiary, where he will serve a sentence of 4 years and 8 months. The former
MP had been wanted by Romanian authorities after fleeing the country to evade a
2019 prison sentence for influence peddling, money laundering and influencing
official statements.

GROWTH – The assessments
conducted by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European
Central Bank show that Romania will report an economic growth this year as
well, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă says. Under these circumstances, an IMF bailout
package is not under discussion, the Prime Minister said. Previously, the
former Liberal Finance Minister, Florin Cîțu,
had written on social media that PSD wants to strike an agreement with the IMF
and the World Bank, which would suggest the country is on the brink. The
statement follows discussions about the government’s plans to adopt an
emergency decree cutting public spending. Government officials say the move
would not impact salaries and investment.

MEDIA – The situation of the
Romanian media is not very rosy, and the country should show progress in this
respect in the rule of law report this year, the European Commission
vice-president for values and transparency Věra Jourová said in Brussels. The
2022 rule of law report of the European Commission states that the Romanian
media faces a wide array of issues, such as the lack of transparency in terms
of media ownership and rising numbers of threats and cases of harassment and
violence against journalists.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player
Irina Begu on Thursday advanced to the third round of the WTA 1000 tournament
in Madrid, totalling over €7.7 million. In the second round, Begu knocked out
Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in straight sets. The Romanian player
will next take on Shelby Rogers of the United States. Also on Thursday, another
two Romanian players, Sorana Cîrstea and Ana Bogdan, were eliminated. In the women’s singles today,
Jaqueline Cristian will play Anastasia Potapova of Russia. (VP)