AWARD Romanias President Klaus Iohannis is going to receive today Prince Charles of Great Britain, whom he will award the Star of Romania National Order in Rank of Grand Cross. According to the Presidential Administration, the order is awarded in appreciation of the activity carried out by the Prince in Romania and for promoting Romanias image abroad. The agenda of talks includes the bilateral strategic partnership, the situation of the Romanian community in the UK after Brexit and the charity work conducted by Prince Charles in Romania. Although he has visited Romania many times in the past years, this is only his second formal visit. In 2016, Prince Charles set up his own foundation in Romania, whose goal is to protect the national heritage and support this countrys sustainable development. The Prince is passionate about Saxon medieval architecture in central Romania, fortresses, churches and houses built by the German settlers in Transylvania in the Middle Ages.
INVESTIGATION The Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader is going to announce today the results of the evaluation of the activity carried out by Romanias General Prosecutor Augustin Lazar and of the Chief Prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi. Toader started the evaluation after the Constitutional Court said the Directorate had exceeded its responsibilities with regard to the investigation into the way in which the Government made up of members of the Social Democratic Party and of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats promoted the famous emergency decree that would have partially disincriminate abuse of office. Early this week, Tudorel Toader had a talk with Codruta Kovesi, at the end of which the latter said she had no reason to resign.
BREXIT The official separation of the UK from the European Union starts today, under article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Theresa May signed the notification letter that is to be submitted today to the European Council President Donald Tusk. Great Britains invoking article 50 is going to be analyzed today by the European Commission and by representatives of the political groups in the European Parliament. In another move, on Tuesday, the Scottish MPs urged the head of the Edinburgh government Nicola Sturgeon to call on London to organize another referendum on Scotlands independence. France Presse recalls that, three years ago, the Scottish separatists lost the first referendum on independence. More on this after the news.
EPPO Romania is one of the 13 EU member countries, alongside France, Germany, Spain and Belgium, which on Tuesday signed an essential document for the setting up of a European Public Prosecutors Office. The document was signed by the Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader, who attended in Brussels the Justice and Home Affairs Council. The European Public Prosecutors Office will investigate and prosecute EU-fraud and other crimes affecting the Unions financial interests. The Office will be headed by an independent European Public Prosecutor, and its investigations will in principle be carried out by European Delegated Prosecutors located in each Member State.
TRADE The Romanian Trade Minister Alexandru Petrescu has had meetings in Jerusalem with the Israeli Minister of the Economy Eli Cohen and other officials, as part of his formal visit to Israel, aimed at boosting bilateral cooperation. The talks highlighted the Israeli partys interest in developing businesses in various sectors of the Romanian economy, such as railways, logistics, sea transportation and even in the works to expand the Port of Constanta, on the Romanian Black Sea Coast. In an interview to our correspondent, minister Alexandru Petrescu said that commercial diplomacy must be rethought, in order to create a perfect synchronization between Romanias export strategies and the way in which its commercial attaches are posted.
BUSINESS An US business delegation has offered the Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu a road-map, drawn up by experts in Washington, which includes provisions on the rule of law, transparency and efficiency, which the US business people believe are priorities for the development of business ties between the two countries. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister had a meeting with a delegation headed by Eric Stewart, the president of the American Romanian Business Council, AGERPRESS reports. We have seen progress, and our companies are confident that, when they do business in Romania, everything is going to be fair, legal and transparent, Stewart said. He has also stressed the fact that the road-map was drawn up by experts who are familiar with business and business in Romania in particular.
SENTENCE The Supreme Court in Bucharest today sentenced the former warden of the Periprava labour camp Ion Ficior to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity. The sentence is final. Ficior was sent to court in August 2014, as in the 1958-1963 period, when he headed the prison-labour colony in Periprava, imposed and coordinated a repressive, abusive, inhumane and discretionary detention system, which resulted in the death of more than 100 detainees. A similar case is that of Alexandru Visinescu, the former warden of the Ramnicu Sarat penitentiary, who got a final 20 year prison sentence. The ruling was a first for the Romanian justice. Visinescu is the first person to be sentenced for acts committed over 50 years ago.
TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, ranking 5th in the WTA classification, is today taking on the British Johanna Konta, WTA no.11, in the quarter finals of the Miami tournament, with 6.9 million dollars in prize money. Halep and Konta have met before, in the round of sixteen of the Wuhan tournament in China, in 2015. Back then, Simona Halep was defeated by the British player.
