A roundup of domestic and international news
NATIONAL DAY - The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are today convening in a solemn joint session to mark the National Day of Romania. Addressing Parliament will be President Klaus Iohannis, Senate Speaker Teodor Melescanu, Chamber of Deputies Speaker Marcel Ciolacu, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban as well as representatives of parliamentary groups. The list of guests includes former heads of state, the Custodian of the Royal Crown, Margareta, Romanian Orthodox Church Patriarch Daniel, the archbishops of the Roman-Catholic and Eastern-Catholic Churches, the presidents of the Constitutional Court, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the Romanian Academy, the Court of Accounts and the Legislative Council. Attending will also be National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu, Ombudsman Renate Weber, Bucharest City Hall Mayor Gabriela Firea, the directors of the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service, the Protection and Guard Service, the Special Telecommunications Service as well as members of the Government. December 1 became Romania's National Day after the December 1989 anti-Communist revolution and it marks the completion, at the end of WWI, in 1918, of the process of creating the Romanian unitary nation state, when all the provinces included in the neighboring multinational empires, with a majority Romanian-speaking population, came under the authority of Bucharest.
JHA - The Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union is convening in Brussels on December 2-3. High on the agenda are topics such as the future EU policies on migration and asylum, home security, combating terrorism, environmental crime and alternative detention measures. On Tuesday, the new EU chief prosecutor, Romanian Laura Codruta Kovesi will present her vision and plans for the European Public Prosecutor's Office. The institution is set to start its activity in November 2020, by which date the chief prosecutor must coordinate the setup and functioning of the new structure. The EPPO will investigate cross-border fraud cases at community level. So far 22 Member States have officially adhered to the EPPO.
BILL - Save Romania Union leader Dan Barna said the draft law on the organization of local elections in two separate rounds should be adopted by the end of Parliament's current session. Prime Minister Ludovic Orban claims the Liberals support the bill, warning however it requires the vote of at least 165 MPs, while the Liberal Party is supported by a fragile majority in Parliament.
UNEMPLOYMENT - The unemployment rate in Romania stood at 2.98% in October, a slight decrease compared to the same month in 2018 and to the previous month this year, the National Employment Agency announced on Monday. The total number of unemployed was below 260 thousand, most of whom were reported in rural areas. Most of them are aged 40-49, followed by those above 55 years of age. Broken down in terms of training, unemployed people without any diplomas and those with basic education had the largest share of total number of unemployed.
NATO - London on Tuesday and Wednesday is hosting the NATO summit, celebrating 70 years of NATO existence. High on the agenda are the fight against terrorism, arms control and relations with Russia and China. Representing Romania will be president Klaus Iohannis. According to the presidency, Klaus Iohannis will highlight Romania's contribution as a NATO member and the need to continue determent and security efforts on the eastern flank and in the Black Sea region.
HANDBALL - Romanian champions Dinamo Bucharest on Sunday defeated GOG Gudme of Denmark 32-31 in Group D of the men's Champions League. Dinamo is undefeated at the end of the group phase, with 7 wins and 3 draws. They are top of the tables with 17 points, followed by Orlen Wisla Plock of Poland with 11 points, GOG of Denmark with 9 points, IFK Kristianstad of Sweden with 9 points, Cehovskie Medvedi of Russia with 8 points and Kadetten Schaffhausen of Switzerland with 6 points. In the playoff, Dinamo will play Sporting Lisbon of Portugal. The first leg will be played away from home in February, with the return leg scheduled in Bucharest. The two teams faced off in last year's edition of the playoffs as well, when Sporting won 32-31 in the first leg and 27-26 in the return leg. In women's handball, at the World Cup in Japan, Romania will play Kazakhstan on Tuesday. Romania so far lost 16-31 to Spain and defeated Senegal 29-24.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
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