Thursday, June 20th

Romanian cabinet meeting

The weekly meeting of Romania’s cabinet is expected at the Victoria Palace in the capital Bucharest on Thursday. The agenda includes issues concerning Romania’s future co-operation with the Republic of Moldova and changes to the government’s Decree #5 concerning electrical and electronic waste and equipments. Ministers are also expected to discuss a report concerning the proposed project of a power plant in Tarniţa Lăpuşteşti, northern Cluj county, designed to become the largest hydro-electric system in Romania. The meeting’s agenda also includes talks concerning an expected draft ordinance which may regulate the status of controversial ridesharing companies such as Uber, Bolt and Clever. Romanian taxi drivers protested on Tuesday at a rally in Bucharest called by the Confederation of Authorised Operators and Transporters, COTAR, which accused services like Uber, Bolt and Clever of “lobbying” the government into passing legislation that “will generate serious and illegal discrimination”.

Saber Guardian 2019

Hundreds of Romanian troops are involved in the Saber Guardian military exercise taking place in the Romanian eastern town of Babadag, county of Tulcea. Saber Guardian is an exercise co-led by Romanian Land Forces and U.S. Army Europe that takes place from June 3-24 at various locations in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. Events at SG19 include road marches, a medical exercise, multiple river crossings and an air assault. First conducted in Romania in 2013, Saber Guardian was an annual exercise rotating between Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine until 2017 when it became biannual. This year’s exercise involves some 8,000 participants from six nations — Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey and the U.S. Combined training enables allies and partners to effectively respond to regional crises and meet their own security needs by improving security border, ensuring energy security, and countering threats such as terrorism, illegal trafficking and weapon proliferation.

Theatre marathon in Sibiu

As the Romanian central town of Sibiu hosts the International Theatre Festival, the seventh day of the event includes more than 60 performances of theatre, dance, music, street shows, conferences, exhibitions, workshops and book launches. Events on Thursday include a talk show hosted by theatrologist George Banu with Italian director, actor and writer Pippo Delbono as guest, „The Story of the Shameful Princess”, a theatre performance directed by Silviu Purcărete at the Sibiu National Theatre and Giusepe Verdi’s „La Traviata” at the Thalia Hall in Sibiu as part of the Romania – France Season. The theatre company of Mr. Delbono will present „The Joy” at the Culture Factory in Sibiu.
The Sibiu International Theatre Festival is one of the most important theatre festivals in Romania and around the world. The festival represents, besides a celebration of arts, a perfect combination of theatre, dance, circus, movie, book, conferences, exhibitions, performance, music, and an opportunity to learn and perfect themselves for thousands of Romanian and international volunteers who have joined the event annually.

Alexandru Danga