November 5, 2024
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 05.11.2024, 13:55
EUROPEAN COMMISSION Roxana Mînzatu, Romania’s nominee for European Commissioner for People, Skills and Preparedness is interviewed today by Parliament’s specialist committees. She is one of the six vice-presidents of the European Commission, headed by Ursula von der Layen. Mînzatu aims to make the teaching career more attractive, given that at least 24 EU member states are facing a shortage of teachers, and at the same time to improve the Erasmus+ programme, viewed as far too expensive by many Romanian students. On November 12, next week, Roxana Mînzatu will be heard in the specialist committees of the European Parliament.
DEFENCE “The Romanian and French military are fully engaged in ensuring security and stability in the Black Sea region,” the Romanian defence minister Angel Tîlvăr said in Paris, at a meeting with his French counterpart, Sebastien Lecornu. The agenda included current topics related to bilateral cooperation, with an emphasis on strategic defence priorities, in the complex security context of the Black Sea region and of the Russian Federation’s continuing war of aggression in Romania’s neighbor, Ukraine. The 2 officials also discussed aspects related to the collaboration between the two states within NATO, the European Union and bilaterally. Minister Tîlvăr was among the Romanian officials accompanying PM Marcel Ciolacu, who met with his counterpart Michel Barnier on Monday.
FINANCE The Romanian finance minister, Marcel Boloş, took part in Brussels today in the meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, where they discussed VAT in the digital age, the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the annual reporting, EU statistics, international meetings and financing the climate transition. The Council will also pass two legislative acts in the field of insurance.
FORUM Bucharest is hosting the Romania-Japan Energy Forum, an event that brings together companies and public institutions in the field of energy from both countries. The forum stepped up joint projects in the field of energy, in particular the development of new generation nuclear power, the expansion of renewable energy storage capacities, the production of green hydrogen and the implementation of carbon capture, use and storage technologies. As part of the forum, the Romanian energy ministry and the Japanese company Itochu Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of the Tarnița-Lăpuștești investment (central Romania), a project of strategic importance for balancing the energy system in Romania in the context of increasing the share of energy from renewable sources. Relations between Romania and Japan were raised to the strategic partnership level on March 7, 2023.
ELECTION DAY US citizens today elect their president. Running for office are vice-president Kamala Harris, supported by the Democratic Party, and the former White House leader Donald Trump, the candidate of the Republican Party. Both finished their campaign in Pennsylvania, a state that could decide who the next president will be. Over 80 million voters have already cast their early vote by mail, a record number that shows interest in this election, seen by many as critical for the future of American democracy. A staggering USD 2.6 bln has been spent in the last eight months to convince the voters. Opinion polls show that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are practically tied.
GEORGIA Thousands of Georgians gathered in the centre of the capital city Tbilisi on Monday evening, to protest the results of the October 26 legislative elections, won by the ruling party, Georgian Dream, and challenged by the opposition, whose supporters are now announcing protests will continue until the election is repeated. The newly elected opposition MPs refused to enter Parliament, and described the election as illegitimate, while Western observers speak of irregularities during the campaign and the vote. The opposition parties, supported by the pro-Western president Salome Zourabichvili, claim that there have been frauds and demand an international investigation or repeat elections under ‘international administration’. Both ideas are rejected by the government. Attending the protest, Salome Zourabichvili told the demonstrators that the Republic of Moldova won, referring to the victory of her pro-European counterpart Maia Sandu, and that “Georgia must not give up either”. Russia dismissed the Georgian opposition’s accusations of meddling in the election process, and the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation last Wednesday to investigate election fraud allegations. (AMP)
