Radio România Internațional

Tag: Cooperation and Verification Mechanism

March 19, 2021

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – Some 5,600 new cases of COVID-19 infection were
reported in Romania on Friday, the Group for Strategic Communication announced.
Another 143 related fatalities were also signaled during a 24-hour interval. The
number of people currently in intensive care has exceeded 1,300, a national
record since the start of the pandemic. Over 887,000 people got infected with
SARS-CoV-2 in Romania starting last year. Bucharest and another eight counties
are in the so-called red scenario, where the incidence of the virus exceeds 3
per thousand inhabitants. Several localities around the capital city are now
under lockdown. On the other hand, starting December 27, 2020, over 1.6 million
people have been vaccinated in Romania with one of the three serums being
rolled out in Romania – Pfizer- BioNTech, Modern and AstraZeneca. On Monday,
the vaccination campaign entered its third stage addressing the general
population. For the time being, the campaign is carried out in localities where
the incidence rate exceeds 4.5 per thousand inhabitants. The rest of the population
can register on waiting lists on the online platform.

VACCINE – Several European countries, including France,
Germany and Spain, have announced they will resume administering the AstraZeneca
anti-COVID-19 vaccine, after European pharmaceutical agencies announced the
vaccine is safe and effective. On Thursday, the European Medicines Agency
expressed confidence the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks,
considering many countries expressed concerns after blood clots were identified
in people who were given the serum. The WHO Director for Europe, Hans Kluge,
also said the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh any potential health
risks, adding that European countries should continue administering the vaccine
to help save lives. So far, over 45 million doses of AstraZeneca have been
administered in the European Economic Area.

CVM – The European Commission supports the lifting of the Cooperation and
Verification Mechanism monitoring the Romanian judiciary by the end of 2021,
Prime Minister Florin Cîţu said on a Facebook post. The announcement follows a
meeting with European Commission vice-president, Vera Jourová. Florin Cîţu says
the Government wants to eliminate and repair the amendments brought to the justice
laws over 2017-2019, and shares the Commission’s desire to finalize by mid-2021
all commitments regarding the rule of law. The European Commission has mainly
recommended the elimination of the Special Section Investigating Crime in
Justice, the update of the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code,
continuing the fight against corruption and defending freedom and pluralism of
the press.

PLAN – The Government in Bucharest is today holding a special meeting to
discuss the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, before adopting it next
week. The document must be submitted to the European Commission in April, so
that Romania should be allotted €30 billion worth of developments funds until
2026, by which date all projects included in the plan must be completed. Prime
Minister Florin Cîţu said the Plan represents a huge opportunity for a swift
economic recovery and improving Romanians’ living standards.

RUSSIA – Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is ready to hold online talks
with the American President Joe Biden, Reuters reports. The White House, on the
other hand, says Biden doesn’t regret calling the Kremlin leader a killer.
Moreover, Moscow said Biden’s statements are a clear sign Washington isn’t in
the least interested in repairing relations with Moscow. On Wednesday, Russia
recalled its ambassador to the United States for consultations, expressing, at
the same time, its willingness to avoid an irreversible degradation of
relations with the USA.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player
Jaqueline Cristian (160 WTA) is today playing Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (39
WTA) in the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 tournament in St. Petersburg, totaling
565 thousand dollars in prizes. On Thursday, Cristian ousted Jelena Ostapenko
of Latvia, a former winner at Roland Garros and seeded 6th in the
competition. In the doubles, the pair made up of Monica Niculescu of Romania
and
Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove of the Netherlands are today playing Raluca Olaru of
Romania and Nadia Kicenok of Ukraine in the semi-finals. The top favorites,
Olaru and Kicenok, ousted Arina Rodionova of Australia and
Rosalie Van Der Hoeck of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. (V.P.)

19 March 2021
February 11, 2020 UPDATE

EARLY ELECTIONS – The investiture vote for the new Cabinet will be held in Parliament on February 24. Ministers will appear before the specialist committees starting next week. Prime Minister designate Ludovic Orban said he wants to trigger early elections, by enabling citizens to elect a new Parliament, which should be fairer, more honest and more representative. Ludovic Orban is holding talks with parliamentary party officials, in an attempt to garner support for the organization of early elections. Snap elections may only be called if 2 Cabinet nominations are rejected by Parliament within 2 months. Orban, whose Liberal Cabinet was recently dismissed under a no-confidence motion, Monday sent to Parliament a list of ministers, with no changes whatsoever from the previous team, and a slightly updated government programme. The main party in Parliament, the Social Democrats, announced they will not take part in the talks with the Liberals. The Social Democratic Party filed a challenge with the Constitutional Court, arguing that the President designating a prime minister who has already been dismissed comes against the will of Parliament. The idea of early elections is mainly supported by the National Liberal Party and Save Romania Union. Regular general elections are scheduled for this autumn.

JUDICIARY – The incumbent Justice Minister Cătălin Predoiu on Tuesday presented European Commission experts with a bill on dismantling the special division investigating magistrate offences as well as the progress of debates on this topic. In its latest Cooperation and Verification Mechanism report the Commission criticized the establishment and the activity of this division, which it said was an instrument of political pressure. The latest report under the Mechanism was released in October 2019, and suggested the extension of verification on the Romanian judiciary, on grounds that in 2019 Romania backslid in terms of the fight against corruption and the independence of the justice system. A team of European Commission experts met in Bucharest with members of Parliament’s judicial committees. According to the chairman of the judicial committee in the Chamber of Deputies, talks focused on identifying the best solutions regarding the criminal and criminal procedure codes and appointing chief prosecutors.

INFLATION – The central bank has lowered Romania’s 2020 inflation forecast from 3.1% to 3%, Governor Mugur Isărescu announced on Tuesday. For next year the National Bank expects a 3.2% inflation rate. A number of elements have been taken into account, which might lead to a decrease of the inflation rate from the forecast value. These elements include developments in the Eurozone economy, including geopolitical tensions and weaknesses in emerging markets, a possible escalation of trade conflicts, the completion of Brexit, as well as the accommodating monetary policies of the European Central Bank and the Fed. On the other hand, liberalization of the electricity and natural gas markets may push inflation higher than expected, as do the problems in the labor market, such as the shortage of labor and the mismatch between demand and supply in this respect.

COVID-19 – China announced that the novel coronavirus has already killed more than 1,000 people, and the number of cases exceeds 42,000. In the last 24 hours alone, over 100 deaths have been reported, which is the largest number of victims in just one day since the epidemic broke out. Most deaths were reported in the Hubei province. A team of physicians with the World Health Organization has arrived in China to help in the research. Meanwhile, the WHO organizes a 2-day meeting in Geneva, with renowned physicians, public healthcare experts and scientists, in an attempt to encourage a better response of the international community to the new coronavirus outbreak. On opening the meeting, the WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the coronavirus epidemic was a major threat, and called on scientists to work together to develop vaccines or medication to fight the virus. The official code name for the virus is Covid-19. In Romania, several people, including Chinese nationals, are under house monitoring, and the authorities continue to take measures to prepare for possible infection cases. A special unit was set up in Bucharest for the Romanians who return from China and have to be quarantined for 14 days.

TENNIS – Romania’s Fed Cup team will take on Italy in a playoff match that will decide which team remains in the World Group, according to Tuesday’s draw held in London. The match will be played in Romania over April 17-18. Romania last weekend lost 3-2 to Russia at home, counting towards the final tournament. Simona Halep, world no. 2, did not represent Romania. Italy currently leads 2-1 in matches against Romania.

(translated by V. Palcu)

11 February 2020
June 25, 2018

NO-CONFIDENCE – Thousands of Romanians went to the streets on Sunday evening, calling for the resignation of the Government led by Viorica Dancila. They are worried that the current executive, formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, might adopt, under an emergency decree, the changes brought to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, which have been adopted recently. These changes are the object of the no-confidence motion filed by the National Liberal Party, which is being read in parliament today and will be voted on Wednesday. The right wing opposition blames the Government for having destroyed the economy and the justice system. Also today, the Romanian MPs are to debate a simple motion filed by the Save Romania Union, which calls for the resignation of the Transport Minister Lucian Sova. He is accused of incompetence and of having blocked funding for the building of motorways in Romania.

NATIONAL DEFENSE – The meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense will be held on Wednesday, headed by the President Klaus Iohannis. The meetings agenda includes Romanias objectives for the NATO summit in Brussels next week and the Romanian Armed Forces that can be deployed for missions and operations abroad in 2019. A fresh NATO training mission in Iraq will be officially announced at the summit of the Alliance scheduled for July. Also, NATO wants to set up ground forces command units. Romania has already announced its intention to host such a command unit. Bucharests stand on the relation between the EU and NATO, a topic that will be approached at the summit, must also be established at the meeting of Romanias Supreme Council of National Defense.

FAC – The Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu is today attending the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg. The EU foreign ministries will have a joint working session with the defense ministries, to assess the progress in security and defence. Also, the ministers will discuss the consolidation of the relationship between NATO and the EU, in the presence of the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Also today, Romania and Bulgaria will give briefings on the stage and prospects of EU-supported regional cooperation initiatives in the Black Sea Area.

CVM – The European Commission is currently conducting a fresh evaluation under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. For three days, a Commission delegation will analyze the impact of the changes brought to the justice laws and the criminal codes on the Romanian justice system. The Justice Minister Tudorel Toader has stated that a document was drawn up, highlighting the progress made by Romania.

MOLDOVA – The Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova (Romanias neighbor with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population) is today examining the appeal to the invalidation of the early elections for the office of mayor of Chisinau, issued by two lower courts. On June 3rd, the second round of mayoral elections was won by the representative of the pro-European opposition Andrei Nastase, who defeated the pro-Russia socialist Ion Ceban. The invalidation of the result of the election triggered large-scale protests across the country and reactions from the EU and the US, which have called for a transparent appeal procedure. In Bucharest, the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu has warned that political tension might affect the republics stability, and the right-wing opposition has voiced support for Nastase. If Nastases win is not validated, Chisinau will have an interim mayor until the local elections due next year.

MIGRATION – The European mini-summit on migration ended on Sunday in Brussels without any concrete measures being adopted. The leaders of the 16 participant countries agreed over the need to curb illegal migration and protect the European frontiers, but there was no consensus as to how that would be achieved. The German Chancellor Angela Markel stated that, unless solutions were found at the level of the EU, bilateral agreements will be proposed, while the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte proposed the creation of international protection centers in the transit countries and sanctions against the EU countries that do not accept refuges. The Visegrad Group (made up of Hungary, Poland, the Check Republic and Slovakia) boycotted the meeting. New talks will be held at the European Council this week.

BACCALAUREATE – The high-school graduation examinations – the Baccalaureate – have started in Romania today. Some 137,000 students are participating, in 440 examination centers across the country. Today was the day for Romanian language and literature examination. On Tuesday, students belonging to the national ethnic minorities will sit for the examination in their mother tongues, Wednesday is the compulsory specialty examination, and on Thursday students will be tested into a matter of their own choice. For the first time, the oral examinations were taken during the school year. The first results are to be posted on July 4th, and the final ones on July 9th.

SCIENCE – Researchers from across the world are these days in Brasov, in central Romania, attending the International Nuclear Photonics Conference. Romania was chosen to host the second edition of this event, given that it is home to the most powerful laser in the world, which will be rendered operational next year. On Sunday, the participants discussed the applications of this technology, after they had visited the Magurele facility, near Bucharest. The first edition of the Conference was held in California in 2016.

TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep remains no.1 in the world, according to the WTA rankings published on Monday. To Halep, its the 34th week as world leader. Next on the podium there come Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and Garbine Muguruza of Spain. The top 100 includes another five Romanian tennis players: Mihaela Buzarnescu (28), Irina Begu (33), Sorana Cirstea (47), Monica Niculescu (59) and Ana Bogdan (63).

(translated by Mihaela Ignatescu)

25 June 2018
May 10, 2018

DIPLOMACY – The Romanian Foreign Ministry is confident that diplomatic efforts will continue towards a real progress and a final and sustainable solution to the Iranian file, reads a communiqué issued by the Ministry. Also, the document states that Romania will keep collaborating with the international community and the US, its main strategic partner, to properly manage the cases concerning nuclear programmes. Bucharests reaction comes after Washington decided to pull out from the nuclear agreement with Iran, against the background of a negative view of the US Administration regarding the policies promoted by Iran and the lack of real guarantees regarding regional policy and the development of its ballistic programme. The historic agreement was concluded in 2015, after 12 years of crisis and 21 months of negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the US, Russia, China France and Great Britain), plus Germany. The document provides for a limitation of the Iranian nuclear programme in exchange for lifting international sanctions. The EU has deeply regretted the USs decision to withdraw from the agreement.

ROYALTY DAY – May 10th marks three major events in the Romanian history: the beginning of the rule of Carol I, state independence and the coronation of the first king of Romania. The events dedicated to Royalty Day started with a marathon and a military ceremony at the statue of King Carol I, honoring the memory of the founder of the national dynasty and of the Romanian state. Guests from across the country and also from the neighboring Republic of Moldova are expected at the Elisabeta Palace this afternoon to attend the already famous Garden Party. The day will end with the opening of the exhibition titled May 10th, Royalty Day”, organized under the auspices of the Royal House of Romania. The last king of Romania, Michael I, died last year, on December 5th, aged 96. He died in Switzerland, but he was buried on December 16th in Curtea de Arges in Romania, which is also the final resting place for his wife Queen Anne and the other three sovereigns of Romania.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – The Constitutional Court of Romania is today debating the notification filed by Romanias President Klaus Iohannis regarding the law that clears all interdictions applied to MPs in the 2007-2013 period for conflict of interests. The head of state believes that the law lacks clarity and predictability. He has drawn attention to the fact that by removing these interdictions, the stability of the legislative framework is affected with regard to integrity and the law runs counter to the commitments made by Romania under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. We recall that under this mechanism, the European Commission has been monitoring the Romanian judiciary ever since the countrys EU accession in 2007.

CORRUPTION – The High Court of Cassation and Justice might rule today on the Rovinari-Turceni case, in which the former prime-minister and Social Democratic leader Victor Ponta has been tried for forgery, accessory to tax evasion and money laundering, committed while he was a lawyer. The National Anticorruption Directorate has called for a sentence of imprisonment, and the High Court has so far postponed five times a ruling. Also on trial in the same case is the former Transport Minister and Social Democratic Senator Dan Sova, for accessory to influence peddling, forgery, aggravated tax evasion and money laundering. Prosecutors say that Victor Ponta, through his private practice, got from another law firm, Sova and Associates, the amount of 39,000 Euros for an alleged cooperation, which has not happened in reality. The aim was apparently to award Victor Ponta for the contracts that Sova and Associates concluded with the state-owned energy companies, says the Anticorruption Directorate.

EUROVISION – The band The Humans is representing Romania at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest hosted by Lisbon with a song titled Goodbye. This evening the band will perform in the second semi-final of the contest, alongside soloists and bands from another 17 countries. 19 countries were represented in the first semi-final held on Tuesday, of which 10 have qualified for the final. Besides Portugal, which is the host country, the so called Eurovision Big Five (Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain and Spain) have qualified straight into the big final due on Saturday. Last year, Portugal won with a song titled Amar pelos dois, performed by Salvador Sobral.

TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, no.1 in the WTA rankings, is today playing against the Czech Karolina Pliskova, no.6 in the WTA classification, in the quarter finals of the WTA tournament in Madrid, with 6.7 million Euro in prize money. The two players have met seven times before, and the Romanian has won six times. Karolinas only success was at the 2016 Fed Cup. Simona Halep has won the latest two editions of the tournament hosted by the Spanish capital.

10 May 2018
Rückschläge in Justizreform: War das Kooperations- und Kontrollverfahren umsonst?

Das bestätigt auch der letzte Justizfortschrittsbericht der EU-Kommission, der am 25. Januar veröffentlicht wurde. Die EU-Kommission verfolgt seit 10 Jahren durch das sogenannte Koooperations- und Kontrollverfahren (engl. Cooperation and Verification Mechanism — CVM) die Reform in der Justiz und die Fortschritte im Kampf gegen die Korruption in Rumänien. Der diesjährige Bericht erkennt die gro‎ßen Fortschritte, die in den letzten Jahren in Schlüsselbereichen gemacht wurden, zugleich aber hat die EU-Kommission auf den Monitoring-Prozess nicht verzichtet. Die Politik müsse sich in erster Reihe bemühen, eine effiziente Justiz zu sichern, so der besagte Bericht, der am 25. Januar veröffentlicht wurde.

Die EU-Kommission empfiehlt die Implementierung eines robusten und unabhängigen Systems zur Ernennung der hochrangigen Staatsanwälte sowie klare Verhaltensregeln für Parlamentarier und für den gegenseitigen Respekt unter den Institutionen. Die Parlamentarier müssen auch die Unabhängigkeit des Justizsystems einhalten, so der Justizfortschrittsbericht.

Wie würde aber dieser Bericht heute ausschauen? Nicht einmal eine Woche nach der Veröffentlichung des Dokuments hat die neue rumänische Regierung trotz der Stra‎ßenproteste die umstrittene Eilverodnung zur Abänderung des Strafgesetzbuches und der Strafprozessordnung erlassen. Die Änderung bringt eine Neuregelung im Fall von Amtsmissbrauch. Dieser wird mit Gefägnis nur noch dann bestraft, wenn der entstandene Schaden bei höher als 200.000 Lei (umgerechnet 44.000) Euro liegt. Die Begünstigung des Täters, einschlie‎ßlich durch die Billigung von Rechtsnormen wie etwa die Ma‎ßnahme, über Nacht Eilerlässe zu verabschieden, wurde entkriminalisiert. Die Eilverordnung besagt au‎ßerdem, dass die Begünstigung des Täters entkriminalisiert wird, falls die Tat von einem Familienmitglied oder einem Verschwägerten bis 2. Grades begangen wird. Auch auf die Begnadigung hat das Kabinett von Premier Sorin Grindeanu nicht verzichtet. Der Gesetzentwurf soll dem Parlament vorgelegt werden.

Rumäniens Justizminister Florin Iordache begründete die Entscheidung mit der Überbevölkerung der Strafvollzugsanstalten, auf die auch der Europäische Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte aufmerksam gemacht hatte. In einem Interview mit Radio Rumänien erklärte die Vorsitzende des Thinktanks Expert Forum, Laura Ştefan, gleich nach der Veröffentlichung des EU-Justizfortschrittsberichts, aber noch vor der Billigung der Eilverordnungen, dass diese sehr gefährlich seien:

Es könnte sein, dass man die Leistung Rumäniens der den letzten zehn Jahre wieder bewertet. Wenn man diejenigen auf freien Fu‎ß setzt, die in den letzten zehn Jahren eingesperrt wurden, ist es logisch, dass die positiven Bewertungen negativ werden. Darüber hinaus ist es gravierend, dass die EU-Kommission erst jetzt erkannt hat, dass in Rumänien die alten Arbeitsweisen, von heute auf morgen gefährliche Gesetze zu erlassen, immer noch als politisches Instrument eingesetzt werden. Die EU-Kommission hat diese Arbeitsweise auch im Falle des sogenannten schwarzen Dienstags vor ein paar Jahren [als die damalige Parlamentsmehrheit versuchte, die Abgeordneten unter einer Art Superimmunität zu stellen, die sie vor Strafverfolgung hätte schützen sollen — Anm. D. Red.] und auch andere Male, als von heute auf morgen zentrale Punkte des Strafgesetzbuches geändert wurden, erkannt. Deshalb besteht die EU-Kommission auf ein erwachsenes politisches Handeln. Und leider sehen wir, dass das auch im Jahr 2017 ein Problem darstellt.“

Inwieweit können die Zivilgesellschaft und jeder Bürger Rumäniens zum Fortschritt des Justizsystems beitragen? Laura Ştefan erlöutert weiter:

Rumänien wird nur dann ein erwachsenes Land sein und den Koooperations- und Prüfmechanismus wird man nur dann auflösen können, wenn die Zivilgesellschaft und die Politik lernen werden, miteinander zu diskutieren. Leider sehen wir dieser Tage, dass die Politik nicht allzu sehr bereit ist, zu diskutieren. Wenn wir über ein solch sensibles Thema wie die Überbevölkerung der Strafvollzugsanstalten diskutieren, braucht man alle Köpfe, um eine Lösung zu finden.“

Die Oppositionsparteien, die Zivilgesellschaft und die Organisationen der Richter und Staatsanwälte sind der Ansicht, dass die Änderungen das Ziel verfolgen, einflussreiche Personen aus der Politik und der Verwaltung von Haftstrafen zu befreien. Staatschef Klaus Iohannis bezeichnete den Tag der Genehmigung der Eilverordnungen als Trauertag für den Rechtsstaat in Rumänien.

3 February 2017
January 25, 2017 UPDATE

COUNCIL OF
EUROPE Romania’s President Klaus
Iohannis said on Wednesday in plenary session of the Council of Europe’s
Parliamentary Assembly that the world needs democratic societies, where
majorities do not take undue advantage of their rights, societies where the
principle of loyal and constructive cooperation between democratic institutions
works flawlessly. The President said that Romania has turned into a role-model
as regards the protection and promotion of national minorities’ rights, a model
acknowledged at European level. Also, the head of state announced that on April
6th, together with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Thorbjorn Jagland, will inaugurate in Bucharest an international conference
organized in cooperation with the Venice Commission on the roles played by the
majority and the opposition in a democratic society. On Tuesday, on the first
day of his visit to Strasbourg, the Romanian head of state met with Romanians
working at the Council of Europe and with representatives of the Romanian
community in Alsace. Also, he attended the ceremony marking the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

GOVERNMENT ORDINANCES On Wednesday, Romania’s Superior Council of
Magistracy, which has a consultative role in the debate on the draft government
ordinances on pardoning and amending the Criminal Code, advised against the
proposed changes. Among other things, according to the drafts set forth by the
new left-wing Government in Bucharest, convicts sentenced to less than 5 years
in prisons would be pardoned. The pardon would not benefit repeat offenders and
those who committed certain offences stipulated by the Criminal Code or by
special laws. One of the proposed amendments to the Criminal Code stipulates
that a case of abuse of office will be considered a criminal offence only if
the damage exceeds 44,000 thousand Euros, and the maximum sentence will no
longer be 7, but 3 years in prison for such an offence. The two draft emergency
ordinances have been vehemently criticized by the opposition and citizens. Last
week, dozens of thousands of people marched the streets of Bucharest protesting
against these measures and President Klaus Iohannis joined them. The Justice
Minister Florin Iordache claims that these changes are necessary in order to
solve the issue of prison overcrowding and to get the legislation in line with
certain rulings of the Constitutional Court.

CVM REPORT Romania continues to make progress in
reforming the judiciary and fighting corruption, but criticism leveled by
politicians and the press against judicial institutions, the National
Anticorruption Directorate in particular, might undermine trust in the justice
system. This is one of the conclusion of the European Commission’s report on
progress in Romania under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM),
presented in Brussels on Wednesday. According to the report, the fact that many
top-level politicians in Romania have been indicted and convicted is a sign
that, as regards the independence of the judiciary, the trend is positive. In
ten years of EU membership and by implementing reforms under the CVM, Romania
has made major progress, reads the report drawn up by the European Commission,
according to which the positive trend of the past three years will also be
reflected in the 2017 report. Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis, the left-wing
Government in Bucharest and the main judicial institutions in the country have
appreciated the report. The next CVM report is to be drawn up at the end of
2017. We recall that Romania’s judiciary system has been monitored since 2007,
when the country joined the EU.

2017 BUDGET Romania’s revised
draft budget will be debated by Government on Friday, and will be submitted to
Parliament on the same day, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu has announced. He
has also said that most of the money will go to the ministries of transport,
agriculture and health and to SMEs. The Presidential Administration and the
Romanian Intelligence Service, on the other hand, will get lower budgets, the
Prime Minister has also stated.

BREXIT The British Government has announced that
it will present on Thursday the bill under which it calls for Parliament’s
approval to officially start negotiations on withdrawing from the European
Union. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled that Prime
Minister Theresa May must ask for Parliament’s approval to trigger article 50
of the Lisbon Treaty. Brexit Minister David Davis has stated that the British
Parliament will have to vote on the simplest bill possible. We recall that Theresa
May has repeatedly stated that the withdrawal procedure will start by late
March, and negotiations with Brussels will last two years.

CORRUPTION
PERCEPTIONS INDEX The rise of
populism in many countries is a reason for concern, according to Transparency
International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index made public on Wednesday. Corruption and inequality feed off each other to
create a vicious circle between corruption, unequal distribution of power in
society, and unequal distribution of wealth. This makes people feel
disappointed and turn towards populist trends, which are by no means the right
remedy, the report says. The Corruption Perceptions
Index 2016 covers perceptions of public sector corruption in 176 countries.Denmark and New Zealand perform best
with scores of 90, closely followed by Finland (89) and Sweden (88).For the tenth year running, Somalia is the worst
performer on the index, scoring only 10 this year. Romania is on the 57th
position.

25 January 2017
January 12, 2017

EXTREME WEATHER The code yellow warning for severe cold has expired today, but temperatures are still extremely low. Weather specialists have warned that glazed frost might cover the roads putting drivers and passengers in danger. Also, the wind will keep on blowing hard especially in the south-east, south and center of the country. In the mountain areas the gusts will exceed 60-70 km per hour. The highs of the day range from minus 8 to 2 degrees Celsius, with a minus 8 degree reading in Bucharest at noon. Most national and local roads are now open, except for just a few in the south-east. Because of the bad weather, some 100 train journeys have been cancelled today, and schools and kindergartens in the capital remain closed.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT Romania’s Constitutional Court decided on Thursday that the law enabling the Government to issue ordinances is constitutional. Previously, the Court had rejected the notification filed by the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the People’s Movement Party. The opposition parties had claimed that the law would allow the Grindeanu cabinet to amend organic laws through simple ordinances, which would run counter to the Constitution. The head of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea had stated that the opposition was merely attempting to block the Government’s activity.

CVM Romania meets all conditions for the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism to be terminated this year, said on Thursday the Romanian Justice Minister Florin Iordache after a meeting with the Deputy Secretary-General in charge of Institutional and Administrative Policies of the European Commission Paraskevi Michou. The mechanism was introduced in 2007 as a prerequisite for Romania’s and Bulgaria’s joining the EU and it focuses in particular on the reform of the judiciary, the fight against corruption and organized crime. The Justice Minister has also said that Romania has taken major steps towards consolidating important institutions, which is a guarantee for the fact that the rule of law is extremely important in Romania.

PROTEST Hundreds of people protested in Bucharest and Cluj on Wednesday night against the Ombudsman Victor Ciorbea, calling for his resignation, following his decision to notify the Constitutional Court about the law that bans people with criminal convictions from becoming Government members. The very fact that we are actually talking about the possibility of criminal convicts holding top positions in the state is outrageous and inadmissible. Integrity is not negotiable said one of the protesters. Last week, Ciorbea stated that his notification was based on solid arguments, because the law in question was in violation of both the Constitution and several international conventions. He denied media allegations according to which he had talked to the head of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea about the issue. A month ago, the Social Democratic Party won the parliamentary elections in Romania, with 45% of the votes, but Dragnea could not become the prime-minister, because he had already been given a suspended sentence of two years in prison for attempting to rig the referendum on the impeachment of the former president Traian Basescu in 2012.

DIPLOMACY Romania’s Ambassador to Washington George Maior has had a meeting with top Republican members of the US Congress. The topic of the meeting was Romanian – American cooperation against the background of the soon to be instated Trump administration. The former Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner hailed the exemplary conduct of Romania as a NATO member, US ally and partner. US politicians have stressed that fact that the strength of the Romanian – American relation is measured through joint cooperation projects, such as the management of the missile defense system, the efforts to fight terrorism, energy security and cyber security. Also, they have stated their belief that the cooperation with Romania has reached excellence standards and underlined the intent to continue to support the development of economic relations between Romania and the US, correlated with the priorities of the future US administration.

NATO Some 3,000 US soldiers, accompanied by tanks and armoured vehicles have started to arrive in Poland today. The contingent is part of the troops that the acting US president Barack Obama has decided to deploy in order to reassure the NATO allies, currently worried by Russia’s aggressive actions. Their deployment takes place just a few days prior to the investiture of the new US president – elect Donald Trump, who is very much into improving the relations with Moscow. 80 combat tanks and hundreds of armoured vehicles have already arrived in Germany, and are to be deployed in Eastern Europe, including Romania.

TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu, ranking 40th in the WTA classification, has today qualified for the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Hobart, Australia, with 225 thousand dollars in prize money. In the quarters she defeated the Japanese Risa Ozaki 6-4, 6-4. On Friday, Niculescu will fight to qualify for the final, and play against the Ukranian Lesia Tsurenko. In the doubles, the Romanian Raluca Olaru and the Ukrainian Olga Savciuk, both finalists in Shenzehn, on Wednesday managed to qualify for the quarters. They defeated 6-4, 6-2 the pair made up of the Dutch Kiki Bertens and the Swedish Johanna Larsson. Olaru and Savciuk will play in the next round against the Ukrainian twins Liudmila and Nadia Kicenok.

12 January 2017
The Week in Review, 13-19 April

The International Monetary Fund has revised upwards its initial predictions about Romania’s economic growth rate

The Romanian economy will grow at a faster pace this year than initially predicted, says the International Monetary Fund in its latest report. The Fund has revised its forecast about Romania’s GDP in 2015 up by 0.3%, to 2.7%. In 2016, the IMF now expects a 2.9% growth rate, compared with its previous 2.5% put forward in October last year. The main factor underlying this growth is the consolidation of private consumption amid a strong increase in real wages, low oil prices and record-low interest rates. Standard & Poor’s rating agency estimates that Romania’s economy will grow by 3% on average every year between 2015 and 2018. The agency affirmed its long and short term local and hard currency BBB-/A-3 ratings for Romania with a stable outlook.

The European Parliament held a hearing on the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism with regard to Romania and Bulgaria

The European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets on Tuesday heard a series of Romanian and Bulgarian officials on the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism applied to the two states when they joined the European Union in 2007. The hearing was held at the request of Romania, who believes its success in combating corruption should be acknowledged and a clear timetable should be set for entering the passport-free Schengen area. The chief prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi said the monitoring mechanism played an essential role in the reform of the judiciary and the fight against corruption in Romania. She reiterated that the latter should not be subject to political interference and said the state should ensure the necessary instruments to combat corruption. “The fight against high-level corruption in Romania is impressive”, said the Secretary General of the European Commission, Catherine Day during the European Parliament hearing. She said Romania must continue to consolidate the results obtained, especially in fighting corruption at lower levels. In another development, the Clean Romania Coalition and the Academic Society in Romania have published a Map of Local Corruption in Romania indicating the country’s most corrupt regions. Bucharest is the most corrupt area in Romania, followed by the counties of Maramures, in the north-west and Bacau, in the east, while the least corrupt counties are Salaj, in the north-west, Mehedinti and Teleorman, both in the south, and Botosani, in the north-east. The map is based on the figures released by the National Anticorruption Directorate in the last five years. The survey also shows that mayors are the public officials most vulnerable to corruption.

The state of infrastructure in Romania

EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu visited Romania, where together with Transport Minister Ioan Rus she visited a segment of the Sebes-Turda motorway, a priority project for the European Commission. The project is part of the Trans-European Transport Network TEN-T which the Commission finances. The motorway is to be completed by mid-2016 and will connect the Transylvania motorway, in the centre, to the European Corridor IV that runs all the way to the Black Sea. Additionally, the Pitesti-Sibiu motorway segment has become a top priority of Romania’s transport strategy, the European Commission notes. The employees of the Dacia Renault car plant in Mioveni, southern Romania, have this week protested against the Government’s delay in building the motorway, which they see as potentially having negative consequences on their jobs.

Verbal hostilities continue between Russia, NATO and Romania

In the last few months, Moscow’s threats on European member states hosting elements of the NATO anti-ballistic shield have doubled. The latest episode in the series of harsh exchanges between Bucharest and Moscow authorities came on Thursday, when the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia General Valery Gerasimov warned that any state hosting elements of the shield, such as Romania and Poland, would become priority targets for Moscow. Bucharest and NATO officials were quick to respond. In a message posted on a social networking site, Prime Minister Victor Ponta dismissed the threats and criticism voiced by various officials of the Russian Federation, arguing that they do not intimidate Romanian authorities and cannot produce a change in Romania’s strategy. NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu gave assurances that the Alliance’s anti-missile shield does not target Russia.

NATO military drills in Romania

In the current regional security context, Romania is hosting two important multi-national military drills conducted by NATO. In the southeast, over 2,200 military and equipment from Romania, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Molodva are involved in the Wind Spring 2015 military drill, which will end on April 30. Wind Spring seeks to bring stability and security in the region, considering the tense security climate in NATO’s eastern flank. In Campia Turzii, north-western Romania, a joint military drill is taking place, bringing together 350 US military and some 300 Romanian military. Commander of the US Air Forces in Europe Lt. Gen. Darryl Roberson said the drill is NATO’s response to Russia, signalling the US’s concern for ensuring security in Europe as one of its top priorities.

18 April 2015
European institutions and the fight against corruption

The European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control on Tuesday heard a series of Romanian and Bulgarian officials on the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism to assess their commitments to judicial reform and the fight against corruption and organised crime. The mechanism has been in place since 2007, when the two countries joined the European Union. Previous annual reports, while encouraging, have not led to the elimination of the mechanism.

The debate in the European Parliament was held at the request of Romania, which believes its success in fighting corruption should be acknowledged and a clear timetable should be established regarding its entry into the passport-free Schengen area. Attending the hearing were Romania’s justice minister Robert Cazanciuc and the chief prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi, who is seen as somewhat of a justice hero after her institution last year issued 12 requests for the prosecution of ministers and former ministers.

The data presented by the Romanian officials impressed the members of the European Parliament committee, who say Romania has made progress with regard to the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. MEP Monica Macovei, a member of the European People’s Party, who opened the debates, even said Romania’s judicial bodies are an example for many other countries. The Secretary General of the European Commission, Catherine Day, hailed Romania’s progress saying, however, that efforts must continue, in particular with regard to fighting low-level corruption. Some of Romania’s representatives in the debates, whether MEPs representing the ruling Social Democratic Party or the National Liberal Party in opposition, denounced the fact that Romania’s entry into the Schengen area continues to be unjustly linked to a mechanism which, in their opinion, should apply to all EU member states or to none at all.

In another development, an assessment report from the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption published on Tuesday indicates that Romania has satisfactorily implemented only 7 of the 20 recommendations laid down in the Group’s previous report from 2010.

15 April 2015
The Cooperation and Verification Mechanism on Romania

Predominantly positive, but…there is room for improvement! That is the main conclusion of the European Commission Report on Romania’s progress in fighting corruption and reforming the judiciary, which praised the efforts undertaken and the achievements of the authorities in Bucharest, whose lassitude had attracted heat from the European institutions in the past.

According to relevant minister Robert Cazanciuc, this report is the best in the past eight years, since the European forums started monitoring EU member Romania under what we know as the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, in short CVM.

Efforts undertaken by National Anti-corruption Directorate, the National Integrity Agency, the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the Higher Council of Magistrates have been acknowledged by the 2014 report. The document focused on grand corruption cases, which led to the detention of leading figures from Romania’s political stage and administration. Also noteworthy was these institutions’ ability to carry on under constant political pressure.

Robert Cazanciuc “The Impressive results obtained by the judicial institutions in the anti-corruption fight, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the National Integrity Agency, the DNA, the Public Ministry have been acknowledged. Also remarkable is the stand of the Higher Council of Magistrates, which struggled for the independence of the country’s legal system, fighting back any moves against justices, prosecutors and institutions in general.”

The report levels criticism though against the present Legislature. Fingers have been pointed at the MPs’ decisions to block criminal investigations against several dignitaries, the endorsement of certain laws with a view to slowing down the fight against corruption and their delay in passing the legislation that could streamline the judicial mechanism. In a quick response, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Social-Democrat Valeriu Zgonea agreed to a simplified immunity-lifting procedure for the Romanian MPs. On one condition only:

Valeriu Zgonea “We have to do away with the requirement for Parliament approval for lifting the MPs’ immunity. I personally agree, but we cannot do that without amending the Constitution.”

So there is still a lot to be done to insure irreversibility in the process of reforming justice and fighting corruption, mainly for the benefit of society and its citizens, as Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has put it. On Wednesday, when the report was published, the Romanian president invited the representatives of parliamentary political parties for talks. All of them have voiced readiness for streamlining procedures for the detention, arrest or searching of the MPs. Until the next CVM report, which is to be presented within a year, Romania has plenty of time to comply with the recommendations of the European Commission.

29 January 2015