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Tag: Government reshuffle

New Ministers in the Government

Three Prime Ministers, Sorin Grindeanu,
Mihai Tudose and Viorica Dancila, and over 70 ministers have been named in the
last two and a half years in the three cabinets the ruling coalition in
Bucharest has set up. The media therefore paid little attention to Monday’s
ceremony at the Romanian presidency, where the new Ministers of Justice,
European Funds and Romanians Worldwide were sworn in. President Klaus Iohannis
had previously signed the decrees appointing Ana Birchal as Justice Minister,
Roxana Minzatu as Minister of European Funds and Natalia Intotero as Minister
for Romanians Worldwide. Birchall previously served as interim Justice Minister
while Intotero returned to the Ministry of Romanians Worldwide after resigning
to run for a European Parliament seat.

Iohannis instead rejected the nomination
of Titus Corlatean as Deputy Prime Minister for Strategic Partnerships, a
position previously held by Ana Birchall, and called on Prime Minister Viorica
Dancila to make a new nomination. The President holds Corlatean responsible for
what he has termed the disaster of the 2014 election, when Corlatean was
acting Foreign Minister and when tens of thousands of Romanians couldn’t cast
their vote in the first round of election. The President says Corlatean’s
reputation is not untainted, which is an essential prerequisite for the
position of Deputy Prime Minister and for managing Romania’s strategic
partnerships, which is a very sensitive issue.

Although considered a talented
diplomat and an efficient minister, Corlatean resigned in 2014, and the second
round of election was overseen by today’s Foreign Minister, Teodor Melescanu.
The Social Democrats are planning other important changes as well, the media
writes. With its back against the wall after losing the European Parliament
election and with the imprisonment of its strongman, Liviu Dragnea, the Social
Democratic Party is trying to take on a new path at the extraordinary congress
scheduled for June 29. There are Social-Democrats who believe that, to save the
image of the party, some controversial ministers such as Agriculture Minister
Petre Daea and Education Minister Ecaterina Andronescu need to leave. A wider
reshuffle of the Dancila Cabinet could also include Social-Democrat Interior
Minister Carmen Dan and Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu of the Alliance of
Liberals and Democrats, whom President Iohannis demanded their resignation for
the defective organization of the European Parliament election.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

11 June 2019
December 7, 2018 UPDATE

RESHUFFLE – Romanian PM Viorica Dancila announced that the Romanian
government notified the Constitutional Court on its latest reshuffle. President
Klaus Iohannis informed the PM on Thursday by telephone that next week he would
not make any decision on the nomination of the new ministers, the ones for
transportation and regional development. Previously, the head of state had said
that he had not finished analyzing proposals for the Development Ministry, Lia-Olguta
Vasilescu, and the Transportation Ministry, Mihai Draghici. Late last month,
Klaus Iohannis had accepted six proposals for reshuffling made by Dancila for
the ministries of defense, labor, economy, culture, communications, and youth
and sports. The president showed his discontent with the fact that, in two
years of governing, the ruling coalition replaced around 70 ministers.
Constitutional Court Judges expect the opinions in this matter until December
13.

HEALTHCARE – Romanian Health Minister Sorina Pintea took over the rotating
Presidency of the European Union Council from her Austrian counterpart, Beate
Hartinger-Klein. Romania seeks to ensure access to healthcare to all EU
citizens. Romania’s term in office includes five priorities in the healthcare
field: anti-bacterial resistance, vaccination, equal access to medication,
patient mobility and eHealth. On Thursday, LAbour Minister Marius Budaialso took
over the Presidency of the Employment, Social Policy, Healthcare and Consumer
Council.

SALARY RAISE – The Romanian Government on Friday passed a law to increase the
gross minimum wage and the salary for workers with higher education. Starting
January 1, 2019, the gross minimum wage will go up to some 450 euros, while
workers with higher education will have their salaries increased to 500 euros.
Also on Friday, the Government decided to give holiday vouchers worth 310 euros
for public sector employees in 2019 and 2020. This year some 1.2 million
Romanians in the public system benefited from these vouchers. In September
alone this year, the number of tourists seeking accommodation went up 14%
compared to last year in the same period.

TRANSPORTATION – The Transportation Ministry in Bucharest applied with the EC
for financing for 15 infrastructure projects, a total of 4.8 billion Euro, as
announced by Transportation Minister Lucian Sova. Two of the projects, the
metro line to the main airport in Bucharest, and the Bucharest Beltway, are
defined as major projects, worth around 1.5 billion Euro. From the beginning of
the year to the present, three portions of highway have been inaugurated, for a
total length of 40 km, and 14 more km are expected to be inaugurated as part of
Transylvania Highway, and six km of the Bucharest- Ploiesti highway.

MILITARY – Romanian Chief of Staff of the armed forces, General Nicolae
Ciuca, met with some of the enlisted men part of the Anti-air Defense Squadron
‘Black Bats’, deployed to Poland as part of the US led NATO Combat Group. The
squadron is made up of 120 soldiers providing forward consolidated presence, by
rotation, in the northeast of NATO, in line with measures taken at the Warsaw
Summit. During his visit to Poland, General Ciuca spoke to his Polish
counterpart, Lieutenant General Rajmund Andrzejczak, on identifying new
areas of cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries, and
diversifying means of training in common.

VISIT – Senate Speaker
Calin Popescu-Tariceanu is on an official visit to Poland over December 6-8.
The Romanian official met with Polish President Andrzej Duda and other
high-ranking officials. The Senate Speaker praised the dialogue between the two
countries’ Parliaments and highlighted the projects run jointly. Tariceanu
referred to the Romania-Poland-Turkey Trilateral and the B9 Bucharest Format.
At the same time Tariceanu expressed an interest to boost bilateral economic
relations. Tariceanu will also go to Gdansk for meetings with Polish officials
and businessmen.

SCHENGEN – EuroMPs will be debating on Monday, and voting Tuesday, a
resolution calling on the EU Council to make a quick and positive decision on
including Bulgaria and Romania in the Schengen Space as full members. The
European Parliament approved making the two countries part of Schengen in June
2011, and confirmed this stance several times afterward. The final decision has
to be made unanimously in the EU Council. The two countries joining the free
movement space was repeatedly postponed because of opposition from some member
countries, for reason of delays in judicial reform.

OSCE – State Secretary
with the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Dan Neculaescu, attended over December 6-7
the meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council hosted by Milan, Italy. The
Romanian official expressed concern with the deterioration of the security
context at European level, marked by the conflict in Ukraine, the frozen
conflicts in the Black Sea region and the erosion of the conventional arms
control. Dan Neculaescu reiterated Romania’s firm support to solving the crisis
in Ukraine, including through active participation as part of the OSCE’s
Special Monitoring Mission. Dan Neculaescu expressed readiness to cooperate
closely with the Slovakian presidency of the OSCE during Romania’s term at the
helm of the European Union Council in 2019.

TENNIS – The first Grand Slam of 2019, the Australian Open, will take
place in Melbourne between January 14 and 27. In the women’s competition,
Romania has six players going there: Simona Halep, number 1 in the world and
top player of 2018, Mihaela Buzarnescu, 24, Irina Begu (67 WTA), Ana Bogdan (76
WTA), Sorana Cîrstea (85 WTA) and Monica Niculescu (100 WTA). In the men’s
competition, Romania will be represented by 60th seeded Marius Copil. Also
present in the competition are current cup holder, Danish Caroline Wozniacki, 3
WTA, Serena Williams, 16 WTA, and Maria Sharapova, 29 WTA.

(Translated
by C. Cotoiu & V. Palcu)

7 December 2018
The reshuffle is postponed

There will be no other ministerial change this week, and the new reshuffle proposed by the Social Democratic Party, in power together with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, will be analysed after the celebrations of the Great Union Centenary and the National Day on 1st December. This announcement was made by president Klaus Iohannis, who argued that national holidays must be celebrated properly. His statement comes only a few days after he accepted six of the eight proposals made by the Social Democrats for various reshuffled ministerial posts in Viorica Dancilas government, rejecting the nomination of Lia Olguta Vasilescu for transport minister and that of Ilan Laufer for regional development minister. The two are unsuitable for these jobs, said president Iohannis, without further explanations.

The rejection generated a quick and vehement reaction from Ilan Laufer, who is a Romanian Jew, and who accused Klaus Iohannis, pointing out that he is an ethnic German, of “a new act of anti-Semitism. In response, the president, supported by the Jewish community, firmly condemned the use of very sensitive language for political purposes, emphasising that references to anti-Semitism and Nazism in political disputes are irresponsible and show a grave lack of education, culture, diplomacy and knowledge of history.

The Social Democratic Party made a new proposal, namely that Lia Olguta Vasilescu, who has so far served as labour minister, should take over the ministry for regional development, while Mircea Draghici, the partys treasurer, should take over the transport ministry. According to the president, this is not good government. “Its unacceptable to keep changing ministers. How can a government work with two reshuffles in one week? I wont contribute to this situation. The government is complete, it should get to work, said the president.

This is the Social Democrats third government in two years. 70 people have been in and out of the government in all this time, Klaus Iohannis also said. In his opinion, the best thing for Romania is to replace the entire government, who, he says, has created a lot of problems for the country. Prime minister Viorica Dancila said earlier that the reshuffle is meant to improve the performance of the government, not least in the run-up to Romanias taking over the EU Council rotating presidency on 1st January, 2019. (Translated by Cristina Mateescu)

23 November 2018
The Week in Review, October 15-21

Government reshuffle in Bucharest

Three new ministers proposed by the Social Democratic Party, the senior member of the ruling coalition in Bucharest, were sworn in on Tuesday in the presence of the countrys president Klaus Iohannis. The ministers in question are Paul Stanescu for the development ministry, Felix Stroe for the transport ministry and Marius Nica for the ministry of European funds. They replaced Sevil Shhaideh, Rovana Plumb and Razvan Cuc, who have resigned. Razvan Cuc was blamed for his ministrys lack of results, while Sevil Shhaideh and Rovana Plumb are under investigation by the National Anticorruption Directorate. The anticorruption body says that in 2013, through the concerted action of persons holding public office, part of the Danubes Belina Island and Pavel Branch were illegally transferred from state property to that of the Teleorman county and under the management of the Teleorman County Council before being leased out, again illegally, to a private company a few days later. Prosecutors say the two properties belonging to public domain could not become the property of a county council through a government order but only through law. A minister of the environment and climate change at the time, Rovana Plumb is accused of complicity to abuse of office. Given that she is also a Member of Parliament, her fellow MPs had to vote on Tuesday on a request by the Anticorruption Directorate to have her immunity lifted to allow the start of prosecution. MPs, however, voted against the Directorates request with only 99 yes and 183 no votes.

Decisions of the Countrys Supreme Defence Council

The Countrys Supreme Defence Council chaired by president Klaus Iohannis met this week and approved Romanias participation in the European Unions initiative in the area of defence. Bucharest thus intends to take part in ten projects forming part of the PESCO Permanent Structured Cooperation programme, which gives the member states that fulfil advanced criteria in the field of military capabilities and wish to take on additional commitments the possibility to cooperate in a structured way. The issue of common defence was also discussed in Brussels this week at the autumn meeting of the EU Council, where Romania was represented by president Klaus Iohannis. The latter agreed with the EU Council president Donald Tusk that the central Romanian city of Sibiu would host an informal meeting of EU leaders on 9th May 2019, on Europe Day, to discuss the future of the Union after the UKs departure. Romania is to hold the rotating presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2019.

Trade Winds, in Bucharest

Romania has a lot to offer in areas such as agriculture, information technology and industrial production, prime minister Mihai Tudose said on Thursday in Bucharest at the Trade Winds 2017 US trade mission. He mentioned Romania’s sustained economic growth, its partnership with the European Union and NATO and its 20-year long strategic partnership with the United States. The US ambassador to Bucharest Hans Klemm said Romania is Washington’s best ally and friend in the region and pointed out this country needs to ensure a predictable and transparent business environment to attract investors. Europe and the US have common interests and can play an important role at global level, in the field of innovation, job creation, IT, advanced production systems and online trade, Dale Tasharski, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe International Trade Administration U.S. Department of Commerce has said. The American official has also said that the US has picked South-eastern Europe for investment, because it has 60 million consumers, a cumulated GDP of 500 billion dollars, a favourable geographic and demographic position, a developing middle class and a strong entrepreneurial class. Last year, trade between Romania and the US stood at 2 billion dollars. Trade Winds is the biggest trade promotion event organised by the US government aimed at bringing together American and foreign businesses. Its tenth edition, which is under way until the 24th of October in South-Eastern Europe, has at its centre the Romanian capital.

The Romanian minority in Ukraine

Members of the ethnic Romanian community in Cernauti, western Ukraine, protested on Tuesday in front of the Regional Administration headquarters, and staged what they called the “funerals of the Romanian language. It was their way of protesting against the education law that drastically restricts the national minorities rights to education in their mother tongue. Under this piece of legislation, ethnic minority children can only study in their mother tongue in nursery and primary school, after which education exclusively in the Ukrainian language becomes compulsory. On Wednesday, in a telephone talk with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis strongly expressed his discontent with the new education law in the neighbouring country. Ukraine is home to almost half a million ethnic Romanians. Iohannis called on his Ukrainian counterpart to make sure that his country respects the commitments made before the Romanian side in terms of observing the international norms and standards in the field of minority rights protection.

22 October 2017
October 15, 2017

RESHUFFLE – The Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose has said he will present president Klaus Iohannis, on Monday, with his proposals for the new heads of the development, transport and European funds ministries, namely Paul Stanescu, Felix Stroe and Marius Nica, respectively. The nominations were made on Friday by the Social Democratic Party, the senior partner in the ruling coalition. They will replace Sevil Shhaideh, Rovana Plumb and Razvan Cuc, who have resigned. Shhaideh and Plumb are being investigated by the National Anticorruption Directorate for corruption. Also on Friday, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the Social Democrats ruling partner, said it would not withdraw support for its representative in the cabinet, the minister for liaison with Parliament, Viorel Ilie, who is under investigation for influence peddling.

MEETING – Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu on Tuesday is to attend the Foreign Affairs Council meeting hosted by Luxembourg. According to a Ministry release, the agenda of the meeting includes hot topics on the European agenda, such as the developments in Iran and North Korea and human rights. Ministers will also exchange views over the situation in Turkey and regional security.

MARATHON – Duncan Cheriyot Koech of Kenya won Sundays mens race in the 10th edition of Bucharest International Marathon. Almaz Gelena Erba of Ethiopia won the womens race, where Romanian Ana Veronica Rodean came in third. Over 17,000 people took part in this years edition. Camelia Potec, the chairman of the Romanian Swimming Federation, Ana-Maria Popescu, multiple Olympic epee champion, former rower Camelia Lupascu and former judoka Alina Dumitru were the events ambassadors.

SUMMIT – Attending the Consumer Summit in Bratislava, Romanian authorities got involved in clarifying dual standards of food quality, creating a new mechanism of cooperation to identity products that might have different quality parameters. According to a release of the Agriculture Ministry, Romanian experts will work together with MEPs to come up with new regulations in this field. With a view to analyzing and identifying dual food standards for products manufactured in Western Europe and exported to Eastern Europe, this February Romanian authorities set up a task force made up of representatives of the Agriculture Ministry, the National Food Safety Authority and the Consumer Protection Agency. Romania believes that a new and clear legislation is needed at EU level, in addition to specific and unitary methodologies and a strong cooperation between Member States and the Commission, so as to best respond to issues posed by dual food standards.

THEATRE FESTIVAL – Theatre companies from several countries, including Israel, the United States, France, Poland and Russia are as of Sunday taking part in the second edition of the International Festival of Yiddish Theatre. Hosted by Bucharest, the event offers workshops, conferences, exhibitions and concerts.

ELECTION – The Conservative Peoples Party led by 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz, the acting Foreign Minister, has won Sundays election according to exit polls, making Kurz the youngest Prime Minister in the world. Kurz wants to suppress the far right, taking a strong stand against migrants and promising to prevent a new European migration crisis. For over a decade the Social Democrats ruled in Austria alongside the Peoples Party.

TERRORISM – The death toll of Saturdays double-bomb attack in Mogadishu has reached 130, while over 300 are wounded, making it the worst terrorist attack since 2007, when Al-Qaeda jihadists launched the insurgency against the Government backed by the UN and the African Union. The Police says a truck blew off in front of a hotel, hosting government offices, restaurants and retail stores, causing the collapse of several buildings and car fires. Two hours later a second bomb went off in a residential district. Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has called a three-day period of national mourning. Although the attack hasnt been claimed, Al-Qaeda terrorists frequently launch attacks on Mogadishu and its surroundings, France Press reports.

TENNIS – The pair made up of Irina Begu of Romania and Sara Errani of Italy on Sunday won the womens doubles of the WTA tournament in Tianjin, China, after defeating Dalia Jakupovic of Slovenia and Nina Stojanovic of Serbia, 6-4, 6-3 in the finals. Also in China, at the tournament in Shanghai, Horia Tecau of Romania and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands lost 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 to Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil in the semi-finals of the 1000 ATP Masters. Tecau and Rojer will nevertheless play in the ATP Finals to be hosted this month by Singapore. Romanian Simona Halep, WTA no. 1, will also play in the WTA finals. (Translated by V. Palcu)

15 October 2017
October 15, 2017

RESHUFFLE – The Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose has said he will present president Klaus Iohannis, on Monday, with his proposals for the new heads of the development, transport and European funds ministries, namely Paul Stanescu, Felix Stroe and Marius Nica, respectively. The nominations were made on Friday by the Social Democratic Party, the senior partner in the ruling coalition. They will replace Sevil Shhaideh, Rovana Plumb and Razvan Cuc, who have resigned. Shhaideh and Plumb are being investigated by the National Anticorruption Directorate for corruption. Also on Friday, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the Social Democrats ruling partner, said it would not withdraw support for its representative in the cabinet, the minister for liaison with Parliament, Viorel Ilie, who is under investigation for influence peddling.

MEETING – Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu on Tuesday is to attend the Foreign Affairs Council meeting hosted by Luxembourg. According to a Ministry release, the agenda of the meeting includes hot topics on the European agenda, such as the developments in Iran and North Korea and human rights. Ministers will also exchange views over the situation in Turkey and regional security.

MARATHON – Duncan Cheriyot Koech of Kenya won Sundays mens race in the 10th edition of Bucharest International Marathon. Almaz Gelena Erba of Ethiopia won the womens race, where Romanian Ana Veronica Rodean came in third. Over 17,000 people took part in this years edition. Camelia Potec, the chairman of the Romanian Swimming Federation, Ana-Maria Popescu, multiple Olympic epee champion, former rower Camelia Lupascu and former judoka Alina Dumitru were the events ambassadors.

SUMMIT – Attending the Consumer Summit in Bratislava, Romanian authorities got involved in clarifying dual standards of food quality, creating a new mechanism of cooperation to identity products that might have different quality parameters. According to a release of the Agriculture Ministry, Romanian experts will work together with MEPs to come up with new regulations in this field. With a view to analyzing and identifying dual food standards for products manufactured in Western Europe and exported to Eastern Europe, this February Romanian authorities set up a task force made up of representatives of the Agriculture Ministry, the National Food Safety Authority and the Consumer Protection Agency. Romania believes that a new and clear legislation is needed at EU level, in addition to specific and unitary methodologies and a strong cooperation between Member States and the Commission, so as to best respond to issues posed by dual food standards.

THEATRE FESTIVAL – Theatre companies from several countries, including Israel, the United States, France, Poland and Russia are as of Sunday taking part in the second edition of the International Festival of Yiddish Theatre. Hosted by Bucharest, the event offers workshops, conferences, exhibitions and concerts.

ELECTION – The Conservative Peoples Party led by 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz, the acting Foreign Minister, has won Sundays election according to exit polls, making Kurz the youngest Prime Minister in the world. Kurz wants to suppress the far right, taking a strong stand against migrants and promising to prevent a new European migration crisis. For over a decade the Social Democrats ruled in Austria alongside the Peoples Party.

TERRORISM – The death toll of Saturdays double-bomb attack in Mogadishu has reached 130, while over 300 are wounded, making it the worst terrorist attack since 2007, when Al-Qaeda jihadists launched the insurgency against the Government backed by the UN and the African Union. The Police says a truck blew off in front of a hotel, hosting government offices, restaurants and retail stores, causing the collapse of several buildings and car fires. Two hours later a second bomb went off in a residential district. Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has called a three-day period of national mourning. Although the attack hasnt been claimed, Al-Qaeda terrorists frequently launch attacks on Mogadishu and its surroundings, France Press reports.

TENNIS – The pair made up of Irina Begu of Romania and Sara Errani of Italy on Sunday won the womens doubles of the WTA tournament in Tianjin, China, after defeating Dalia Jakupovic of Slovenia and Nina Stojanovic of Serbia, 6-4, 6-3 in the finals. Also in China, at the tournament in Shanghai, Horia Tecau of Romania and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands lost 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 to Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil in the semi-finals of the 1000 ATP Masters. Tecau and Rojer will nevertheless play in the ATP Finals to be hosted this month by Singapore. Romanian Simona Halep, WTA no. 1, will also play in the WTA finals. (Translated by V. Palcu)

15 October 2017
14 October 2017, UPDATE

Government reshuffle. The Romanian prime
minister Mihai Tudose has said he will present president Klaus Iohannis, on Monday, with
his proposals for the new heads of the development, transport and European
funds ministries, namely Paul Stanescu, Felix Stroe and Marius Nica, respectively. The nominations were made on Friday by the Social Democratic
Party, the senior partner in the ruling coalition. They will replace Sevil
Shhaideh, Rovana Plumb and Razvan Cuc, who have resigned. Shhaideh and Plumb
are being investigated by the National Anticorruption Directorate for
corruption. Also on Friday, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the Social
Democrat’s ruling partner, said it would not withdraw support for its
representative in the cabinet, the minister for the relation with Parliament
Viorel Ilie, who is under investigation for peddling in influence.

Europe. The idea of a two or multi-speed Europe
or a Europe of concentric circles would only deepen divisions among member
states, and Romania will not accept this possibility, said the country’s
president Klaus Iohannis during talks with the European Council president Donald
Tusk in Bucharest. Tusk is on a tour to discuss a document on the consolidation
of the community space. President Iohannis also called for a united, strong and
coherent Europe that is closer to its citizens and has a clear identity at
global level. According to the president’s office, this goal will define
Romania’s term as holder of the EU Council presidency in the first half of
2019.

Ukraine education law. The minister for
Romanians abroad Andreea Pastirnac met the Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo
Klimkin in Bucharest on Friday. The Romanian official expressed concern over
Ukraine’s new education law that drastically restricts the access of ethnic
minorities in Ukraine to education in their languages. She said she received
indications from the Romanian community in Ukraine about the negative impact of
this new piece of legislation, which she fears may lead to a gradual loss of
linguistic identity. She also emphasised that the standard and quality of
teaching in Romanian should not be affected by the administrative reform in the
neighbouring Ukraine. On Friday, the Ukrainian foreign minister also met his
Romanian counterpart Teodor Melescanu, who said the Romanian authorities were
counting on Ukraine’s willingness to make the necessary decisions to address
the situation. Ukraine is home to around 500,000 ethnic Romanians.

Rally. A rally to campaign for an end to
violence against women was held on Saturday in Bucharest. Now in its third
year, the event was held under the motto You Are not Alone, to convey a
message of solidarity with the women who are victims of gender-based violence.
The participants shouted slogans such as Indifference feeds violence and We
want justice in the courts and trust in the police. The NGOs that organised
the event are calling on the authorities to take concrete steps to reduce this
type of violence, increase the number of reported and prosecuted cases and
improve assistance to women. According to a study by the European Union Agency
for Fundamental Rights, in 2014, one in four women in Romania suffered physical
or sexual abuse by their partners or had experienced this form of violence at
least once over their lifetime.

Award. The Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu
will next week receive the highest French distinction, Knight of the Legion of
Honour. The announcement was made on Friday by the director of the French
Institute in Bucharest Christophe Gigaudaut at the opening of a festival called
Films from Cannes in Bucharest. In 2007, Mungiu won the Palme d’Or trophy at
the Cannes Festival for his production 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days. He
is also the recipient of the best screenplay award for his film Beyond the
Hills in 2012, and of the best director award for Graduation in
2016. He has already received the title of Officer of the Arts and Letters from
the French ministry of culture.

Listener’s Day on RRI. Our annual Listener’s
Day programme will be held on November 5th. The theme this year is
fake news and public trust in the media. We would like to hear or read your thoughts
on this topic, so please contact us through our regular channels, including by
email at engl@rri.ro. We’re looking forward to
your written or recorded messages.

14 October 2017
October 13, 2017 UPDATE

RESHUFFLE — The leadership of the Social-Democratic Party on Friday adopted the nominations for the new ministers. Paul Stanescu will take over as the new Minister for Regional Development and Deputy Prime Minister, Felix Stroe is to be the new Transport Minister and Marius Nica will receive the European Funds portfolio. Prime Minister Mihai Tudose said he would present the new proposals to President Klaus Iohannis on Monday. The three will replace outgoing ministers Sevil Shhaideh, Rovana Plumb and Razvan Cuc, who decided to step down in order not to hinder the Government’s activity. Sevil Shhaideh and Rovana Plumb are being investigated by anticorruption prosecutors. Also on Friday, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats said it would not withdraw its political support for Minister Delegate for Liaison with Parliament Viorel Ilie, who is also being accused of influence peddling.

MEETING — Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis on Friday met with European Council President Donald Tusk in Bucharest. Tusk is on a tour of European Council member states, holding consultations in order to draft a document on the future consolidation of the European Union. During the talks President Iohannis reiterated Romania’s firm opposition to any scenarios concerning a multi-speed Europe or a Europe divided in concentric circles, which would only increase the divide between member states. Klaus Iohannis argued in favour of a united, strong, cohesive and coherent Europe that keeps its citizens close and is strongly oriented towards global developments.

UKRAINE — Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu expressed Bucharest’s sympathy with the concerns and disgruntlement of the Romanian minority in Ukraine over the recently adopted education law. After meeting in Bucharest with his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, Melescanu said talks are ongoing with Kiev authorities, who are expected to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation. Minister Klimkin admitted that the Ukrainian Government must talk to the Romanian authorities and the minority communities in Ukraine regarding this law, which severely restricts access to education in the mother tongue. The law was criticized on Thursday in a resolution adopted by the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly.

ROBOR — The ROBOR index, according to which interest rates for credits in the local currency are calculated, has risen to a 1.84% record high in the past years, data released by the Romanian Central Bank shows. The unusual increase, which began in September, was caused by an improved tax collection process. The Central Bank has recently stepped in, granting record loans of nearly 2€ billion to trade banks, but the measure had only a limited effect on the ROBOR increase.

BREXIT — Great Britain should pay what it owes to the European Union so that negotiations on the post-Brexit UK-EU relations can commence, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday, in the wake of the fifth round of Brexit talks that produced no significant progress. EU chief negotiator on Breixt Michel Barnier said he cannot recommend heads of state and government to move to the next phase of negotiations at the summit next week. Unresolved financial issues are now hindering negotiations, affecting both taxpayers and those who benefit from EU policies. His British counterpart, David Davis has called on European leaders to acknowledge the progress made so far so that negotiations can move to the next chapter of negotiations, trade relations between the European Union and Great Britain. (Translated by V. Palcu)

13 October 2017
October 13, 2017 (update)

GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE – On Thursday,
three Romanian ministers announced their resignation during the meeting of the
National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party, the main party in
the ruling coalition in Romania. The three are the Deputy Prime Minister and
Regional Development Minister Sevil Shhaideh, the Minister Delegate for
European Funds Rovana Plumb and the Transport Minister Razvan Cuc. The
executive committee will convene again on Friday, to discuss potential
replacements. Prime Minister Mihai Tudose, the one who promoted the idea of a
government reshuffle, has held talks over the past days with both president
Klaus Iohannis and the Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea. Tudose has stated
that the targeted ministers are those with legal problems and those who have not
been efficient. Both Shhaideh and Plumb are being prosecuted for corruption
offences. The minister in charge with liaising with Parliament, Viorel Ilie,
member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, the junior partner
in the ruling coalition, is in a similar situation. Party representatives
announced on Thursday that the party was not interested in replacing him.

PACE – On Thursday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe adopted a resolution which reads that Ukraine was wrong in
passing the new Education Law and will therefore have to implement the
recommendations that are to be formulated by the Venice Commission. The
statement was made by Korodi Attila, member of the Romanian Delegation to the
European body. He has also stated that Ukraine must observe the European
standards, in particular the European Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities. The reason for the debate held at the Parliamentary Assembly,
proposed by the Romanian delegation with support from another five national
delegations, was the new Education Law adopted in Ukraine, which drastically
restricts access to mother tongue education for ethnic minorities. On
Wednesday, the Ukrainian President Petro Poroskeno had promised that the Kiev
authorities would introduce all the recommendations made by the Venice Commission
into the law and would observe the European Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages. Nearly half a million ethnic Romanians live in the neighbouring
country, mainly in the Romanian territories annexed by the USSR in 1940,
further to an ultimatum, and taken over by Ukraine as a successor state in
1991.

BREXIT – The European Council is the only place where
Romania will present its stand on Brexit, said on Thursday the Minister
Delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu. According to him, no Romanian
official has presented a formal stand regarding the Brexit negotiations.
Minister Negrescu also stated that the main goal of the Bucharest authorities
with regard to these negotiations was to ensure the rights of the over 300,000
Romanians living in the United Kingdom. The clarification was made against the
background of the British daily The Times saying that Romania, France
and Germany have called for the blocking of new negotiations chapters, until an
agreement is reached on the rights of
foreign citizens in Great Britain.

AUTOMOTIVE– President
Klaus Iohannis and PM Mihai Tudose took part on Thursday in the launch of the
new Ford Ecosport model, at the Ford plant in Craiova, southern Romania. The
head of state said that, by attending the event, he wanted to convey a strong
message of support for the automotive industry in Romania, which is growing
increasingly competitive and has a better and better image in the European
market. Since it took over the plant in 2008, Ford has invested over one billion
euros in the production unit in Romania. More than 2,800 people are employed by
Ford Craiova. The biggest carmaker in Romania is Automobile Dacia, based in
Pitesti, in the south, taken over by the French group Renault in 1999. Over
13,500 people are working for this company, which has a turnover of over 4.3
billion euros.

SPAIN– Spain
celebrated its National Day on Thursday, amid tensions between the separatist
authorities of Catalonia and the central government in Madrid. PM Mariano Rajoy
gave the regional Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont until Monday to give up
plans to declare the region’s independence, otherwise Catalonia would see its
local autonomy suspended. Rajoy accused the Catalan government of having
generated one of the most difficult times in Spain’s democracy and of having
staged a very dangerous attack against the Constitution, the unity of Spain,
the Catalan state and, most importantly, against Spain’s people living
together.

MOLDOVA– The European
Union announced it would not grant the Republic of Moldova the remaining 28
million euros under the reform programme, intended for changes in the field of
the judiciary. The Union believes the Government in Chisinau has failed to meet
the conditions requested by Brussels. The EU delegation in Moldova mentions in
a news release that the authorities in Moldova have shown poor commitment for
reform, have not allotted enough funding and staff and, as a result, progress
in terms of judicial reforms has been insufficient. Last week, PM Pavel Filip
announced Moldova would no longer receive this year’s installment of the 100
million euro aid programme provided by the EU. He admitted that the measure had
been prompted by Chisinau’s decision to change the election system for the
forthcoming parliamentary elections, in such a manner as to favour the major
parties.

13 October 2017
October 12, 2017 UPDATE

GOV’T RESHUFFLE– The National Executive Committee of the Social
Democratic Party, the main party in the coalition in power in Romania, has convened to discuss the government reshuffle requested by PM Mihai Tudose. During
the same meeting, the relations between the government and the party are to be
clarified. Over the past few days the PM has discussed the reshuffle both
with President Klaus Iohannis, and with the Social Democratic leader, Liviu
Dragnea. The names the most frequently mentioned in the media in relation to
the reshuffle are Sevil Shhaideh, deputy PM and Minister for Regional
Development, and Rovana Plumb, minister delegate for European funds, both of
them members of the Social Democratic Party and prosecuted for corruption
offences. The minister in charge with liaising with Parliament, Viorel Ilie, a
member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, the junior partner
in the ruling coalition, is also in a similar situation. Other ministers with
image problems may also be replaced.

PACE – On Thursday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe adopted a resolution which reads that Ukraine was wrong in
passing the new Education Law and will therefore have to implement the
recommendations that are to be formulated by the Venice Commission. The
statement was made by Korodi Attila, member of the Romanian Delegation to the
European body. He has also stated that Ukraine must observe the European
standards, in particular the European Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities. The reason for the debate held at the Parliamentary Assembly,
proposed by the Romanian delegation with support from another five national
delegations, was the new Education Law adopted in Ukraine, which drastically
restricts access to mother tongue education for ethnic minorities. On
Wednesday, the Ukrainian President Petro Poroskeno had promised that the Kiev
authorities would introduce all the recommendations made by the Venice Commission
into the law and would observe the European Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages. Nearly half a million ethnic Romanians live in the neighbouring
country, mainly in the Romanian territories annexed by the USSR in 1940,
further to an ultimatum, and taken over by Ukraine as a successor state in
1991.

BREXIT – The European Council is the only place where
Romania will present its stand on Brexit, said on Thursday the Minister
Delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu. According to him, no Romanian
official has presented a formal stand regarding the Brexit negotiations.
Minister Negrescu also stated that the main goal of the Bucharest authorities
with regard to these negotiations was to ensure the rights of the over 300,000
Romanians living in the United Kingdom. The clarification was made against the
background of the British daily The Times saying that Romania, France
and Germany have called for the blocking of new negotiations chapters, until an
agreement is reached on the rights of
foreign citizens in Great Britain.

AUTOMOTIVE – President
Klaus Iohannis and PM Mihai Tudose took part on Thursday in the launch of the
new Ford Ecosport model, at the Ford plant in Craiova, southern Romania. The
head of state said that, by attending the event, he wanted to convey a strong
message of support for the automotive industry in Romania, which is growing
increasingly competitive and has a better and better image in the European
market. Since it took over the plant in 2008, Ford has invested over one billion
euros in the production unit in Romania. More than 2,800 people are employed by
Ford Craiova. The biggest carmaker in Romania is Automobile Dacia, based in
Pitesti, in the south, taken over by the French group Renault in 1999. Over
13,500 people are working for this company, which has a turnover of over 4.3
billion euros.

SPAIN – Spain
celebrated its National Day on Thursday, amid tensions between the separatist
authorities of Catalonia and the central government in Madrid. PM Mariano Rajoy
gave the regional Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont until Monday to give up
plans to declare the region’s independence, otherwise Catalonia would see its
local autonomy suspended. Rajoy accused the Catalan government of having
generated one of the most difficult times in Spain’s democracy and of having
staged a very dangerous attack against the Constitution, the unity of Spain,
the Catalan state and, most importantly, against Spain’s people living
together.

MOLDOVA – The European
Union announced it would not grant the Republic of Moldova the remaining 28
million euros under the reform programme, intended for changes in the field of
the judiciary. The Union believes the Government in Chisinau has failed to meet
the conditions requested by Brussels. The EU delegation in Moldova mentions in
a news release that the authorities in Moldova have shown poor commitment for
reform, have not allotted enough funding and staff and, as a result, progress
in terms of judicial reforms has been insufficient. Last week, PM Pavel Filip
announced Moldova would no longer receive this year’s instalment of the 100
million euro aid programme provided by the EU. He admitted that the measure had
been prompted by Chisinau’s decision to change the election system for the
forthcoming parliamentary elections, in such a manner as to favour the major
parties.

12 October 2017
Possible government reshuffle in Bucharest

Sworn in in
June, the government made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of
Liberals and Democrats has already been reshuffled once, in September. The
economy minister Mihai Fifor took over the defence ministry from Adrian
Tutuianu, while the MP Gheorghe Simon became economy minister in Fifor’s place.

On Tuesday,
prime minister Mihai Tudose said he was considering a new reshuffle, but that
he would only reveal the names of the outgoing ministers on Thursday, after a
meeting of the Social Democratic leadership. Tudose said the meeting in
question would also establish the relationship between the government and the
party. Mihai Tudose:

Based on the
assumption that this is a political government but that we must still clarify
the level of involvement of certain party structures in the government’s
activity, we have established together the areas covered by the reshuffle, but
I will make public the names targeted and the new proposals after the meeting
of the party’s executive committee.

The prime
minister has already discussed the reshuffle with the Social Democrats’ leader
Liviu Dragnea. The meeting was held after Tudose himself admitted he was not on
the best of terms with Dragnea. The media has speculated that the estrangement
between the two may be the result of the strict control exerted by the Social
Democratic leadership on the government, the fact that the prime minister is
surrounded by ministers who are loyal more to Dragnea, as well as the often
dramatic gap between the big election promises that swept the party to victory
and the challenges of actually being in government. However, the president of
the Social Democratic Party has described the measures presented by the prime
minister as necessary and justified:

We’ve had what
in my opinion was a good and necessary discussion that has helped clarify some
things. The prime minister has presented several measures that need to be taken
to eliminate the problems in the implementation of the governing programme. We
will discuss these things at the meeting of the executive committee, but I
believe that the arguments presented during our informal meeting will also be
accepted by the committee.

The prime
minister has also discussed the reshuffle with president Klaus Iohannis, who
reiterated his conviction that the persons who have had a run-in with the law
should resign from the government or be sacked. In light of these comments, the
media is convinced the ministers targeted by the reshuffle will include deputy
prime minister Sevil Shhaideh, seen by commentators as Dragnea’s protégé, the
minister delegate for European funds Rovana Plumb and the minister delegate for
the relationship with Parliament Viorel Ilie, all of whom are under criminal
investigation for corruption. The list may also include several other cabinet
members with an image problem. The National Liberal Party, which is the main
opposition party, has already announced that if prime minister Tudose does not
get rid of all ministers with legal problems it may seek support for a
non-confidence motion against the government.

11 October 2017
Government reshuffle in Bucharest

Shortly after being sworn in, in late June, the Romanian Government Coalition, formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, has already being reshuffled. The former economy minister Mihai Fifor takes over the defence portfolio and MP Gheorghe Şimon replaces him at the helm of the economy ministry. The Social Democrats say Fifor’s responsible activity as economy minister was the main reason for his being nominated for the defence portfolio. The new and equally old minister considers, in his turn, that his best recommendation for the position is the experience he has acquired in the army endowment programs, following a fruitful cooperation between the two ministries.

Mihai Fifor: ” I am already familiar with the problems the ministry is now facing and I hope to be able to start working and accomplishing everything we want to achieve, mainly our main priority of equipping the Romanian Army, in partnership with the Economy Ministry, the Romanian defence industry, a sector of the national industry which is high performing and which should be the main equipment provider for the Romanian Army.”

Experience is also the key word recommending the vice-president of the Economic Policy, Reform and Privatisation Committee of the Chamber of Deputies for the position of economy minister, his party leaders say.

Gheorghe Şimon: “Strictly speaking about the Economy Ministry, we are working on a series of laws such as the mining law, the mineral waters law and royalties.”

Also mentioning the word “experience”, the press in Bucharest notes that Şimon is the majority shareholder in a factory based in his native county of Maramureş, in the northwest, a factory which was once considered very modern but for which bankruptcy procedures have already commenced. Furthermore, there are speculations on the replacement of the defence minister. The President of the National Liberal Party, in opposition, Ludovic Orban, has accused the government of no longer being willing to comply with the commitment it has made, namely to allot 2% of the GDP for Army endowment.

The former defence minister, Adrian Ţuţuianu, resigned one week ago, after Prime Minister Mihai Tudose reproached him for having failed to communicate information on the payment of the allowances and salaries of the military staff and of the civilians working in the army. The Defence Ministry had announced that its employees would receive only allowances and salaries and not the meal allowances this month and that the contributions for their social insurance and income tax would not be paid to the state budget.

Both the Prime Minister and the finance minister were quick to deny the announcement made by the Defence Ministry, saying there are no difficulties relative to the payment of salaries. Some political commentators see Tutuianu’s resignation as a settling of accounts within the Social Democratic Party, where two power poles have allegedly crystallised, one around the prime minister and another one around the party president, Liviu Dragnea.

In exchange, economic analysts fear that the misunderstanding at the Defence Ministry might actually be a sign of a real shortage of funds and that, in spite of a record high economic growth rate, the government might not be able to honour the generous promises the Social Democrats made in the election campaign.

13 September 2017
Romanian Government reshuffle

Quite rare in post-communist Romania have been the governments to operate reshuffles so fast as the Government headed by Social-Democrat Sorin Grindeanu, the cabinet which was formed in the wake of the parliamentary elections of December 2016 and which took office in early 2017. On February 23rd, no less than four ministers were replaced, the ministers of justice, economy, business environment and European funds. At first, only the ministers of justice and the business environment were expected to be removed against the backdrop of the serious political crisis sparked off by the Government’s attempt at amending criminal codes under an emergency ordinance.

Perceived by public opinion, the media, the right wing opposition in Bucharest and Romania’s foreign partners as an attempt to weaken the pace of the anti-corruption fight and exonerate influential politicians and administrative managers from criminal liability, the move made hundreds of thousands of protesters take to the streets. The mastermind of the ordinance, the unpopular justice minister, Florin Iordache was compelled to step down and the minister of the business environment, Florin Jianu resigned of his own free will, saying his conscience dictated he must step down.

A former judge at the Constitutional Court, Tudorel Jianu was appointed Minister of Justice. Alexandru Petrescu, former Minister of Economy, was appointed Minister of the Business Environment and the economy portfolio went to Mihai Tudose, who had held that office in the Victor Ponta cabinet too. Rovana Plumb, who was part of the the Adrian Nastase Government, in the early 2000, became Minister of European Funds. Whereas all those reshuffles involved members of the Social-Democratic Party, the big winner of the parliamentary elections with 45% of the votes, now it was the turn of the ruling coalition member, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, to make a reshuffle. The party appointed Gratiela Gavrilescu, former minister for Liaison with Parliament, as Environment Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. The leader of the group of Liberals and Democrats in the Senate, Viorel Ilie, became Minister for Liaison with Parliament.

A week ago, the party leadership decided to withdraw its political support for the party’s co-president, Daniel Constantin, deputy prime minister and environment minister at the time, against the backdrop of his ever deeper differences of opinion with the other liberal-democrat co-president, Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.

The president of the Social-Democratic Party, the strongman of the coalition, Liviu Dragnea said, without concealing his regret, that the coalition members had to take into account that political decision. Dragnea, who has become the target of several Social-Democrat contesters, talks to former party leader and Prime Minister Victor Ponta only via social networks and in polemical terms. The media insistently speculates that Victor Ponta and Daniel Constantin are already preparing to launch a new party, temporarily called “the new left-wing”, designed to undermine the unity of the present governance. (Translated by A.M. Palcu)

4 April 2017
February 22, 2017 UPDATE

RESHUFFLE – The National Executive Committee of the ruling Social Democratic Party in Romania has approved the nomination of four new ministers. In this line, Mihai Tudose will return at the helm of the Economy Ministry and Alexandru Petrescu, who is currently economy minister will take over the SMEs portfolio. Rovana Plumb, a former labour minister, will take over the European Funds portfolio and Tudorel Toader, a former Constitutional Court judge will become justice minister. Tudose and Plumb were ministers in the cabinet led by former PM Victor Ponta. The government is being reshuffled against the backdrop of a political crisis generated by the Governments attempt, just a month after taking office, to amend the criminal codes and initiate a collective pardon, by issuing an emergency decree. In the wake of big rallies in the street, actually the largest protest movements since the 1989 Anti-Communist Revolution, the Government finally withdrew the emergency decrees, and their author, the Social Democratic justice minister Florin Iordache, stepped down.

FIGHT AGAINST
CORRUPTION – Romanian PM Sorin Grindeanu says he will send clarifications to
Brussels on all necessary aspects and try to dissipate the fears of the
European officials, after the European Commission issued the 2017 European Semester: Country Report – Romania, in which the government is criticized for weakening the
fight against corruption. Grindeanu also said that by the end of the week, he
will also send to the EC a series of questions regarding the CVM Report, for
the government to choose the right path and the adequate speed, to see the
elimination of the Mechanism on justice as soon as possible. The report issued
by the Commission says the emergency decree no.13 has put in jeopardy the fight
against corruption in Romania. According to the EC, such initiatives threaten
the progress made in the past ten years. Furthermore, corruption persists at
all levels, and is an obstacle for doing business.

ENVIRONMENT – The Romanian authorities are considering an alternative to the environmental stamp duty which was scrapped on February 1 alongside another 101 fees and duties, according to Environment Minister Daniel Constantin. He explained that the new system that will replace the environmental stamp duty would not entail further taxes for citizens but would be aimed at reducing the number of polluting cars. At present, Bucharest, Brasov and Iasi are under the infringement procedure because of the air quality.

SAFETY AND SECURITY – The Romanian interior minister, Carmen Dan, said on Wednesday the Romanian Police reached the objectives set for 2016, a fact confirmed by the higher safety degree registered in Romania. Attending a meeting during which the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police presented its 2016 activity report, Carmen Dan said that in 2017 special emphasis will be laid on enhancing the policemans authority and improving law enforcement responses. Last year, the police forces intervened to solve over 730,000 cases, reported by people who dialled the 112 emergency number. Figures show the rate of street crime was the lowest in the past 11 years, the 2016 police activity report shows. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

22 February 2017
July 6, 2016

OSCE Victor Paul Dobre, a member of the Romanian Parliament’s delegation with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has been elected vice-president of this organisation, at its 25th annual meeting held in Tbilisi, Georgia, between July 1st and 5th. The OSCE addresses a wide range of security-related issues, including arms control, security-building measures, human rights, national minorities, democratisation, counter-terrorism and economic and environmental matters. It is made up of 57 participating states that span the globe, encompassing three continents – North America, Europe and Asia – and more than a billion people. Romania’s Parliament has been part of the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly since its establishment, in 1991, with a permanent delegation made up of seven MPs.

VISAS Bucharest and Sofia have announced they will not ratify the EU-Canada trade agreement until Canadian authorities decide to regulate the visa policy for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens. Officials with the two European states say that Canada treats Romanian and Bulgarian citizens in a discriminatory manner in terms of visa policy. The European Commission assured Romania and Bulgaria, the only EU countries whose citizens still need entry visas for Canada, of its constant efforts to solve the problem, but pointed out that the two countries should not link the visa issue to the trade agreement.

GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE The Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos has announced the replacement of four of the 22 members of his cabinet, namely the Minister of Education, Adrian Curaj, of Communications, Marius Bostan, of Transportation, Dan Costescu and of the Minister-Delegate for Relations with Romanians Abroad, Dan Stoenescu. The Prime Minister has stated that the four have done their job, generally speaking, but the government team needs some fresh impetus. This is the most extensive government reshuffle made by PM Ciolos since he took over his mandate in November 2015. The new ministers will be sworn in on Thursday. Find out more about it after the news. e its establishment, in 1991, with a standing delegation made up of seven MPs.

RULING Romania’s Constitutional Court has unanimously ruled today that the law challenged by President Klaus Iohannis is unconstitutional. According to this law, mayors and local county councillors indicted for corruption deeds, and who received suspended prison sentences, can further be maintained in their public position. Iohannis challenged this law at the Constitutional Court, on grounds of hindering the fight against corruption. Also today, the Court has decided to postpone until September 13th a decision on the bill challenged by almost 100 parliament members. The bill, passed two weeks ago, stipulates that MPs who had hired their relatives at their parliamentary cabinets before August 21, 2013, can no longer be accused of conflict of interests. The MPs who are now challenging this bill say it could create a legal conflict of constitutional nature between Parliament and the High Court of Cassation and Justice, as it introduces a new interpretation of the conflict of interests. Moreover, the signatories also say that the law applies retroactively, which is against a principle established by the Constitution.

SUMMIT Poland’s capital, Warsaw, is preparing to receive over 2,200 participants at the NATO summit that starts on Friday. Alongside NATO members, European Union leaders and leaders of Georgia, Ukraine and Afghanistan are also expected. NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the Alliance’s leaders will be taking crucial decisions for the consolidation of NATO’s defense and discouragement capabilities. Also, a Romanian brigade will be turned into a multinational force. Moreover, multinational battalions will be dispatched in the three Baltic countries and Poland.

NATO Divers from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, the US, Turkey and Ukraine are taking part, until Saturday in a multinational exercise in Romania’s territorial waters. This joint exercise, currently at its 6th edition consists in finding, neutralising and destroying improvised explosives underwater and in fighting against marine mines. We remind you that also these days the town of Targu-Mures, in central Romania, is playing host to a NATO exercise, enjoying the participation of 17 teams from countries such as Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Serbia, Sweden, the US, Switzerland and Turkey. The exercise was organized by the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre and Romania, and is a computer simulation of an large-scale disaster situation, resulting in multiple victims and the evacuation of thousands of people.

EURO 2016 The French city of Lyon is hosting this evening the first semi-final of EURO 2016, with Wales up against Portugal. On Thursday, in Marseilles, the host-country France will be up against Germany. We remind you that Romania left the competition in the group stage.

(Translated by Elena Enache)

6 July 2016