A roundup of domestic and international news
ELECTION - Candidates running in November's presidential elections have Sunday as deadline to register with the Central Electoral Office. The current president of the country, Klaus Iohannis, backed by the opposition National Liberal Party and Dan Barna, supported by the USR-PLUS Alliance, also in the opposition, registered on Friday. The country's incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party, Viorica Dancila and the opposition People's Movement Party leader Theodor Paleologu submitted their applications on Thursday. The first round of the presidential election is due on November 10th and the second round two weeks later.
PROTEST - Green and human rights organisations in Romania have started a week of protests against the lack of effective measures to combat climate change. A march was held on Friday in Bucharest between one of the central parks of the city and the Ministry of the Environment, with the aim of drawing attention to pressing climate issues in the country and to the necessary solutions for the largest polluting industries. The action is part of a global anti-pollution protest, which will culminate in a gigantic rally in New York, three days before the UN Climate Summit. A recent report by French scientists shows that global warming is much faster that previously thought.
NATO - Over 80 servicemen and military equipment belonging to Romania's Air and Ground Forces are participating in NATO days hosted by Ostrava, in the Czech Republic. Romania has the statute of special partner in this event. NATO Days in Ostrava is a public event staged annually, which consists of air shows and exhibitions staged by the police and armed forces of NATO participant and partner countries. Speaking on Thursday in the opening of an exhibition entitled 'We are Together: Romania and the USA in NATO' at the US embassy in Bucharest, Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said that Romania remained firmly committed to its pledge to allocate 2% of its GDP for defense. Dancila went on to say that Bucharest would continue to actively and responsibly contribute to promoting NATO values.
EU PROSECUTOR - On Thursday, Romania's former anti-corruption prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi was voted by most of the EU ambassadors to become the EU's first public prosecutor, the EU Observer has announced. According to US News, Kovesi, who will become the EU's first anti-fraud prosecutor, got support from the member states in spite of opposition from the government in Bucharest. The European Public Prosecutor's Office will be established next year as an independent Union body competent to fight crimes against the Union budget.
SECURITATE - The former president of Romania Traian Basescu collaborated with the political police, the Securitate, during the communist regime, ruled the Bucharest Court of Appeal on Friday. The case tried by the Court was opened after the National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives called for it. Traian Basescu has announced he will challenge the court's ruling. According to his lawyer, during the time when he allegedly provided information to the Securitate, Basescu was a serviceman and therefore subject to the rigors imposed by that status.
ANNIVERSARY - On Friday, Romania's capital Bucharest celebrated its 560th anniversary. The Bucharest municipality has organized several events for the weekend, such as workshops, street events, food shows, concerts and the already traditional iMapp Bucharest contest, which has reached its 6th edition. On Saturday, eight teams will project their shows on the façade of the Palace of Parliament, the second largest administrative building in the world, after the Pentagon.
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