September 19, 2022 UPDATE

THE QUEEN - Tens of thousands gathered on Monday in front of large screens set up everywhere across Great Britain to watch the state funeral of her late Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. Some 2,000 people attended the event, including 500 heads of state and government, among them the Kings and Queens of Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, Emperor Naruhito of Japan, the presidents of the United States and France, as well as the European Commission president. Romania's president, Klaus Iohannis, and Her Royal Majesty Margaret, Custodian of the Crown of Romania, Prince Consort Radu and Princess Elena were also present. "On behalf of the whole Romanian people, I once again express our deep compassion for this great loss", president Iohannis tweeted. In the last four days, hundreds of thousands of Britons queued up to 30 hours to pay their last respects to the late queen.

JUDICIARY - Parliament's Judicial Commission on Monday greenlit the bill on the organization and functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy with 16 votes in favor and 6 against. The report will be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies for debate. USR MP Stelian Ion asked for a postponement of the decision pending an opinion of the Venice Commission. Committee chairman, Liberal MP Gabriel Andronache, rejected his request, arguing that the bill is already overdue. The next bill from the justice law package to be debated by the Committee will be the one regulating judicial organization.

BELARUS - The Romanian Foreign Ministry summoned Belarus' chargé d'affaires ad interim in Bucharest following comments by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko that the United States is pushing Europe into a military confrontation with Russia on the territory of Ukraine and that other states, including Romania, may become directly involved. The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu said in a statement that "Romania firmly rejects such inadmissible statements that fuel a rhetoric in international relations based on appeal to force and recourse to force". The statement also says that Romania is a member of NATO and benefits from all the security guarantees that derive from this status.

EUROSTAT - Over a third of Europeans (38%) claim they exercise or practice a sport at least once a week, although approximately 45% admit they don't. The situation is virtually the same as five years ago, according to an analysis the Eurostat made public on Monday. During the pandemic, half of Europeans reduced their activity or stopped exercising altogether. In the case of Romania, only 2% of the population exercises on a regular basis, which is half the percentage reported in 2017. On the other hand, the percentage of people who claim they exercise a lot has gone up to 18%, which is still below the European average. 62% of Romanians say they never exercise.

ENESCU COMPETITION - The last final of the George Enescu International Competition came to an end in Bucharest. Alexandra Segal from Israel won the first place in the piano competition; the young Benjamin Kruithof from Luxembourg won the cello competition; and Romania's Maria Marica won the violin competition. The winners of the composition section were South Korea's Shin Kim for symphonic music and Italy's Leonardo Marino for chamber music. The Enescu Competition was held this year under the motto 'The Music of Hope' and marked the return to concert halls after events were held either fully or partly online for two years due to the COVID pandemic. (CM & VP)