September 10, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of the latest local and world news

Newsroom, 10.09.2024, 20:01

NATO NATO’s Deputy Secretary General, Romanian Mircea Geoana was awarded on Tuesday the Meritorious Service Order as a token of appreciation for his exceptional activity in the service of the North Atlantic Alliance. The award ceremony was hosted by the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Alliance’s headquarters in Brussels. On September 3 Geoana notified Secretary Stoltenberg on his decision to step down from his position starting September 10. Geoana is the first Romanian to have held the aforementioned position in the North-Atlantic Alliance.

TENNIS Romanian tennis player third-seeded Irina Begu on Tuesday qualified for the round of 16 of the Tiriac Foundation Trophy (WTA 125) in Bucharest with 115 thousand dollars in prize money hosted by the National Tennis Centre after the abandonment of her compatriot Cristina Dinu  at 6-2, 3-0. Begu, the champion of 2022 won the tournament of the same category in Montreux on Sunday and she will be playing Patricia Tig who comes after a 6-1, 6-2 win against Irina Bara. Four Romanians managed to make it to the round of 16: Miriam Bulgaru, Patricia Tig, Anca Todoni and Irina Begu.

FOOTBALL The Romanian national football team defeated the Lithuanian national squad, 3-1, on Monday evening, in Bucharest, in Group C2 of the Nations League. Winners also in Kosovo, on Friday (3-nil), the Romanians are group leaders, with 6 points. Romania will play the following matches next month, on October 12 against Cyprus and on October 15 against Lithuania, both away. The 2024/25 Nations League will also have a direct effect on the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. The best four group winners from the Nations League, excluding the teams that finished in the top two places in the qualifying groups, will participate in the play-off matches for the 2026 World Championship, along with all 12 second place teams from the classic preliminaries.

CARMAKING At the Dacia-Renault factories in Pitesti (southern Romania) a program of voluntary departures has begun, with employees being compensated with substantial sums of money, proportional to their seniority in the unit. The management of the factory hopes to thus reduce the staff by several hundred employees, especially from the sections that will be reorganized following some automation processes. The premiums are 22,000 lei for seniorities of up to two years and can reach 150,000 lei for those with more than 16 years. During the campaign of voluntary departures two years ago, approximately 500 employees benefited from these financial rights.

EC Romania could receive, in the future European Commission makeup, the portfolio for social rights and housing, a position also with competences related to salaries, pensions and benefits, according to Romanian government sources. According to the same sources, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu had a discussion with the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, in which MEP Roxana Mânzatu also participated, the latter being Romania’s proposal for the position of European Commissioner. Ursula von der Leyen will announce the allocation of portfolios in the future European Commission on Wednesday.

(bill)