April 23, 2024
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 23.04.2024, 13:55
ELECTIONS – The ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party has decided to back separate candidates for mayor general of Bucharest, namely the Senator Gabriela Firea, a former mayor of Bucharest between 2016 and 2020, supported by the Social Democrats, and the incumbent energy minister, Sebastian Burduja, for the Liberals. President Klaus Iohannis said the decision to have two separate candidates running for the same post in the local elections in Bucharest was not a success for the coalition. The politicians involved say the decision was made in order to fully mobilise the voters of the two parties. The announcement came at the end of a coalition meeting held following media allegations that the joint candidate Cătălin Cîrstoiu was in an incompatibility situation. The physician is accused of taking advantage of his post as manager of Bucharest’s Emergency Teaching Hospital to treat patients in a private clinic. The coalition leaders also decided to keep joint candidates for the Bucharest district mayors and for the local councils. The Social Democrats and the Liberals also have joint candidate lists for the European Parliament elections, due on June 9th, concurrently with the local ballots.
VISIT The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis, while on an official visit to South Korea, had a meeting this morning in Seoul with his counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol. After the official welcome ceremony, the two presidents and the Romanian and South Korean delegations had bilateral talks. According to Radio Romania’s special correspondent, the political consultations between the two heads of state focused on the consolidation of bilateral relations, on political, diplomatic, and defence cooperation, and on the main challenges at regional and global level. On the same occasion, a joint declaration was adopted on the consolidation of the strategic partnership between Romania and South Korea, a document setting the key cooperation directions for the coming 10 years. In the presence of the two presidents, other documents were also signed, concerning cooperation in fields like defence, nuclear energy, investments, foreign trade and culture. The Romanian president’s agenda also includes meetings with the Romanian community in Seoul and a visit to a Romanian traditional art exhibition.
AUTOMOTIVE The vehicles produced in Romania are in demand in over 60 markets in the world, so that 2024 may end with a new profit record, says Adrian Sandu, the secretary general of the Board of the Romanian Carmakers Association. According to him, in 2023 the domestic automotive industry saw a record output of 513,000 units produced. On the other hand, Adrian Sandu says that, apart from the inadequate transport infrastructure, Romania’s economy loses huge amounts of money because of bottlenecks in the customs process, due to Romanian land borders not being accepted yet in the Schengen area.
FILM Two Romanian films are included in the official selection for the famous Cannes Film Festival in France: the feature film “Three kilometers to the end of the world,” directed by Emanuel Pârvu, describing the complicated relations between a teenager and his parents, and the documentary “Nasty”, about the life and career of the first Romanian tennis player to make it to the top place in the world ranking, Ilie Năstase, a film directed by Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu and Tudor D. Popescu. The Cannes Festival also invited an Iranian filmmaker who criticizes the regime in Tehran, Mohammad Rasoulof. The 77th edition of the Cannes Festival takes place between May the 14th and 25th.
TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian defeated McCartney Kessler (USA) 7-6, 6-4 in the first round of the qualifiers for the WTA 1.000 tournament in Madrid, which has nearly EUR 7 million in total prize money. Cristian plays next against Daria Saville (Australia). Three Romanians are playing in the main draw of the Madrid competition: Sorana Cîrstea, qualified into the second round, Ana Bogdan, who will be taking on Xiyu Wang (China) in the first round, and Irina Begu, who plays her first match against Linda Fruhvirtova (Czech Republic). Simona Halep, former no. 1 in the world, announced she would not take part in the tournament in Madrid, for which she had received a wildcard. “Unfortunately, my body needs more time to be prepared,ˮ Halep posted on social media. (AMP)
