September 23, 2014 UPDATE

For a roundup of domestic and international news, click here.

Bogdan Matei, 23.09.2014, 12:05

ELECTIONS — The deadline for submitting the official candidacies for the presidential elections of November in Romania passed on Tuesday. Teodor Melescanu submitted his candidacy after stepping down as director of the Romanian Intelligence Service. So far the main candidates are Social-Democrat Prime Minister Victor Ponta, Christian Liberal-Alliance co-leader Klaus Iohannis, Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, MEP Monica Macovescu and People’s Movement Party leader Elena Udrea. The first ballot will be held on November 2, while the second one on November 16. According to opinion polls the race will be close between Ponta and Iohannis.

VISIT — Minister Delegate for Romanians Worldwide Bogdan Stanoevici has paid a visit to Albania, where he met with representatives of the Aromanian community and the local authorities. According to a press release issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Albanian officials spoke about the excellent bilateral relations between the two countries and about the role played by the Aromanian community in consolidating them. In turn, Minister Stanoevici highlighted the constant support Romania has been providing Albania, including in its efforts to be granted EU candidate status. Previously Stanoevici met in Skopje with leaders of the Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian communities in Macedonia, Albania’s neighbour. The Romanian official hailed the projects aimed at preserving and asserting ethnic, linguistic and religious identity of these communities in the Balkans, which speak various dialects of Romanian.

AIR STRIKES — At least 50 Islamic State militants were killed in a US air strike targeting the terrorist cell currently controlling large areas of Syria and Iraq. The Pentagon has announced that the attack consisted of fighter jets, bombers and Tomahawk cruise missiles. US officials says the military operation involved the participation of numerous Arab nations. In the wake of the US air strikes, Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad expressed his support of any international counter-terrorist offensive.

NATO — A far-reaching NATO drill be kick off on Wednesday in Poland. Taking part will be over 12,000 people, of which 750 military from 8 NATO countries: Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Held every two years under code name Anaconda, the drill has become a regular training event for NATO, primarily aimed at simulating emergency response actions. Poland the Balkan nations have repeatedly voiced concern over their safety after the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia in March and in the context of the developments in eastern Ukraine. At the summit of September NATO announced the setup of an emergency response force in the region.

VISIT — Romania’s PM is paying as of Tuesday until Friday an official visit to the US, to participate in the UN General Assembly and hold talks on economic issues with the main American energy companies. The PM is accompanied by the foreign and energy ministers. At the UN General Assembly hosted by New York the Romanian PM will deliver a speech on Romania’s stand regarding the Ukrainian crisis and terrorism. The Romanian officials will also hold talks with the representatives of the main American energy companies in an attempt to persuade other investors in this key domain to come to Romania.

SUMMIT — Tuesday saw start, in New York, of the 69th UN General Assembly. The summit was convened by American president Barack Obama. The main topics under discussion were international terrorism and the UN activity in the past year. An environmental conference was also held on the occasion. Participating in the summit were heads of state and government, foreign ministers, high-ranking officials, business and media representatives.

INVESTMENTS — In 2015 Romania should give foreign investors a signal regarding investments predictability in this country, said Tuesday the Romanian President Traian Basescu, at the Forbes economic forum under way in Bucharest. The president added that after the extremely tough measures taken between 2009-2011, Romania again reported economic growth and has reached macro-economic balance, although there have emerged the first signs of recession. According to Romania’s president the country should use the resources it has at its disposal for investments and creating jobs. President Basescu has shown that under the current budget framework Romania has at its disposal European cohesion funds worth 19 billion euros, but it has only managed to absorb 37.2% of them.

UKRAINE — The conflict in Eastern Ukraine has so far killed some 3,245 people, reads the latest UN death toll released on Tuesday. The figure includes the 300 passengers of the Malaysia Airline plane shot down this summer. In another development, Ukrainian authorities have suggested the holding of local elections in Luhansk and Donetsk on November 9. On the ground, pro-Russian militias and Ukrainian troops have accelerated their efforts to maintain a buffer zone alongside the border in the wake of last week’s ceasefire.

TABLE TENNIS — As of Wednesday Romania’s national team is taking part in the European Table Tennis Championships held in Lisbon, Portugal, both in the women’s competition and in the men’s competition. Romania’s women’s team, last year’s finalist in Austria, will play in Group B alongside Spain, Poland and Portugal. The men’s team will play in Group D against Russia, the Czech Republic and Croatia.

RadiRo — The international RadiRo Festival continued on Tuesday with a concert by the Czech Radio Orchestra conducted by Andrei Lenart. The programme for the night included pieces by Strauss and Dvořák. Climbing on stage was Romanian pianist Horia Mihail. On Monday, the Czech Radio Orchestra performed under the baton of Tiberiu Soare. The only event of its kind devoted entirely to Radio Symphonic Orchestras, RadiRo brings together famous orchestras from Finland, the Czech Republic, Germany, France and Romania.