Romania’s President received the Distinguished International Leadership Award
Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis received the Distinguished International Leadership Award for 2024 on Wednesday at a gala in Washington. The Atlantic Council of the United States, a prestigious American organisation founded in 1961 with a rich history of international affairs, announced that it has awarded the prize to Romania’s president in recognition of his career and his role as a transatlantic and European leader. Past recipients of this important honour have included President George W. Bush, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. The chairman of the Atlantic Council’s International Advisory Committee, Stephen Hadley, presented President Klaus Iohannis with the Distinguished International Leadership Award at a gala dubbed the Oscars of Washington by the American media. „Now, with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Romanians have a huge stake in maintaining and strengthening European and allied unity. President Iohannis has responded by strengthening Romania’s defense and NATO’s eastern flank, strengthening the strategic partnership between the United States and Romania, advocating for the enlargement of NATO and the European Union, and establishing strategic partnerships with Japan and South Korea. Under his leadership, Romania has provided crucial help to Ukraine in its fight for freedom,” said Stephen Hadley. „I am honoured to receive this award. I accept it as recognition of Romania’s leadership over the past 20 years as a proud member of NATO and as a partner and friend of the United States. Romanian efforts have consequences far beyond our national borders. They have helped strengthen Europe and the Transatlantic Alliance and deserve to be recognised. The United States has no better ally than Romania. I dedicate this award to all Romanians and to the partnership and friendship between Romania and the United States,” said Klaus Iohannis.
Local and parliamentary elections in Romania in a month’s time
In exactly one month’s time, Romanians are expected to vote to elect their representatives in the European Parliament, as well as future mayors, local and county councillors. On Friday 10 May, the campaign for the local and European Parliament elections on 9 June will officially start. For the European elections, Romanians can vote anywhere in the country or abroad, but for the local elections they can only vote at the polling stations where they are domiciled or reside. The candidates for the final local elections will be posted both at the county electoral offices, at the Central Electoral Office and on the Permanent Electoral Authority’s website, and, once the ballot papers are printed, a sample of them will be made public, so that citizens can familiarise themselves with them and identify the political competitors they are voting for and thus vote in full knowledge of the facts – explained Toni Greblă, President of the Permanent Electoral Authority. According to him, the election campaign will start on Friday 10 May at 7:00. „Romanian citizens residing in the country vote only at the polling station where they are registered – for local elections. For citizens residing in a place other than where they are registered in the permanent electoral rolls, they can vote only if their residence – the floating visa, so that everyone understands – has been registered more than 60 days before 9 June”, added Toni Greblă.
The 28th edition of the European Film Festival will open in Bucharest
The 28th edition of the European Film Festival will open in Bucharest on Thursday, on Europe Day. The programme is varied, from feature-length fiction and documentaries to animation and short films. Thirty-nine productions will be in competition, including 34 national premieres and many international award winners. „A novel element is precisely the transparent selection of partners. We made a public call to find the best partnership offers in terms of promoting local editions, so we are going to Botoșani, to Chitila for the first time, to Târgu Mureș, where we have been before. There have been many editions of the European Film Festival in Târgu Mureș, Sibiu, Curtea de Argeș, Brașov. Exceptionally, but not by chance, we are also going to Chisinau, at the beginning of June”, said Liviu Jicman, President of the Romanian Cultural Institute./mbaciu
Magda Baciu – RADOR
