Radio România Internațional

Tag: prosecutor

  • October 8, 2018 UPDATE

    October 8, 2018 UPDATE

    REFERENDUM – 21.10% of the Romanian eligible voters took part in the referendum for rephrasing the constitutional definition of family as being based on the marriage of a man and a woman, rather than of “spouses, as it is at present. According to final data provided by the Central Election Bureau, the voter turnout in the 2 days of the vote, Saturday and Sunday, was below the validation threshold. To be validated, the referendum needed a minimum 30% turnout. Out of the participants in the referendum, some 91.5% voted in favour of changing the Constitution article, and only 6.5% voted against. The bill revising the Constitution was passed in Parliament and was based on a citizen initiative signed by 3 million people. On the other hand, the minister delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu announced that a bill regulating civil partnership will be tabled to Parliament next week. The bill is finalized, and it has been discussed with partners in political parties and civil society, Negrescu said.




    INTERVIEW – The Prosecutor Department of the Higher Magistracy Council in Romania Monday issued a negative opinion on Adina Florea, nominated by the Justice Minister, Tudorel Toader, for the position of chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate. The Councils opinion is consultative, and the appointment decision must be made by President Klaus Iohannis. In the project with which she applied for the post, Adina Florea says that, apart from the good things, the activity of anti-corruption prosecutors in recent years also comprised deviations from the requirements of the rule of law. The office of chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate has been vacant since July, when Laura Codruţa Kovesi was removed from office by President Klaus Iohannis, who was forced to implement a Constitutional Court ruling. In this respect as well, the Higher Council of Magistracy issued a negative consultative report.




    MOTION – The Chamber of Deputies Monday debated a simple motion filed by the National Liberal Party, in opposition, against Economy Minister Danut Andrusca. The Liberals accuse Andrusca of deliberately destabilizing the country’s economy. According to the motion text, “industrial activity failed nearly to zero in August, the lowest level since February, economic growth is offset by inflation and managers expectations for the next 6 months remain pessimistic. Meanwhile, Liberal Deputies also filed on Monday a simple motion against the Culture Minister George Ivascu, whom they accuse of being unable to coordinate the historical celebration of December 1, when Romania marks the Union Centennial.




    HEARING – The High Court of Cassation and Justice Monday postponed for November 5th the first hearing in the appeal filed by Social-Democrat leader and Chamber of Deputies Speaker Liviu Dragnea against a 3-and-a-half-year prison sentence from the court of first instance. In June, the court handed Dragnea this sentence for instigation to abuse of office. Anticorruption prosecutors say Liviu Dragnea ordered the fictitious employment of two party members at the Social Assistance and Child Protection Directorate. The two were paid with taxpayer money, although they allegedly worked exclusively for the Social-Democratic Party. Liviu Dragnea denied the accusations. In 2016, Dragnea was handed a suspended 2-year prison sentence for attempted election fraud. This summer the High Court cancelled the ruling to suspend the prison sentence. Dragnea is also prosecuted for abuse of office in 2 other cases, one of them re-opened last week, further to reports coming from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).




    JUDICIARY – The Romanian Supreme Court postponed for November 5 an appeal filed by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate against the acquittal of constitutional court judge Toni Grebla. In May, a Constitutional Court 3-judge panel dismissed the charges against Grebla, who had been indicted in 2015 for influence peddling, forgery, financial operations incompatible with his office, and setting up an organised crime group. In a government re-shuffling announced for October, Toni Greblă might become a secretary general of the Government. The president of the Social Democratic Party in power, Liviu Dragnea, proposed Grebla for this office in a late September meeting of the partys National Executive Committee.




    EUROPEAN WEEK OF REGIONS – The 2018 edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities started in Brussels on Monday, in the presence of European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, the head of the European Committee of the Regions, Karl-Heinz Lambertsz and European Parliament vice-president, Pavel Telicka. This year’s edition is a special one, devoted to the European Commission’s cohesion policy proposal for 2021-2027. Decision-makers and local, regional, national and European experts will take part in a series of debates as part of the most important event devoted to cohesion policies at European level.




    NOBEL – The Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded this year to the Americans William Nordhaus and Paul Romer, for integrating climate change and technological innovation into long-run macroeconomic analysis. The Nobel in economics was introduced in 1968 by Swedens Central Bank and was first granted in 1969. Unlike the other Nobel prizes, which are funded by the Nobel Foundation, this award is financed by the Central Bank of Sweden. The 2018 Nobel season has concluded with the award of this last prize.




    INTERPOL – The Interpol chief, Meng Hongwei, is probed into for bribe taking and other alleged offences, Chinas Ministry of State Security announced on Monday. Beijing confirmed that Meng Hongwei, who is also the deputy Minister for State Security in China, has resigned as Interpol chief. Meng Hongwei, 64, was announced missing last week, while on a trip to his home country. The Interpol will elect a new president at the General Assembly scheduled for next week in Dubai.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • September 5, 2018

    September 5, 2018

    CONSULTATIONS – President Klaus Iohannis has invited the PM Viorica Dancila to consultations on Thursday concerning the forthcoming state budget adjustment. The invitation comes after on Tuesday the head of state suspended the meeting of the Supreme Defence Council on this topic and explained that an agreement had not been reached with the Government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. The President criticised the cuts in the budgets of the intelligence services. In response, the Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici says the Presidents decision will obstruct the payment of salaries, investments and compensations for the African swine fever cases.




    PARLIAMENT – The Chamber of Deputies Wednesday rejected a request by the right-wing Opposition to set up 2 inquiry committees, one on the Governments handling of the African swine fever crisis, and another one on the intervention of riot police at the anti-government protests in Bucharest on August 10th. The authors of the request said they wanted to identify the causes for the quick spreading of the disease in Romania and to find out whether certain public institutions were involved in activities beyond their legally defined powers. At present swine fever outbreaks are reported in 11 counties in Romania, triggering the culling of over 140,000 pigs and spreading further, in spite of the measures taken by authorities. On Tuesday the Senates defence committee cancelled the hearings on this topic, at the request of the Social Democratic Party in power. Scheduled to be heard in Parliament were the Interior Minister, Carmen Dan, the coordinator of the gendarme intervention Laurenţiu Cazan, and the Prefect of Bucharest, Speranţa Cliseru. So far 770 people affected by the brutal police intervention during the protests have filed criminal complaints.




    ANTI-CORRUPTION – A nomination for the new chief of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate will be announced on Thursday, said the Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader. On Tuesday he interviewed the last 3 candidates for the post, after the interviews of another 3 candidates on Monday. The Justice Minister is to send his proposal to the Higher Council of Magistracy, which is to communicate an official opinion on the candidate, and then the nomination is to be approved by President Klaus Iohannis. The former chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, was dismissed in July, under a presidential order imposed by the Constitutional Court of Romania. The dismissal had been requested by the Justice Minister, further to a report that had not been approved by the Higher Council of Magistracy.




    SPORTS MINISTER – The Romanian media hail the appointment of Romanian-born swimmer Roxana Mărăcineanu as the new sports minister in France. She has been living in France since 1984, when her parents fled communist Romania. Aged 43, the athlete born in Bucharest won a silver medal at the 200-m backstroke event of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, when the Romanian Diana Mocanu won the gold. “I felt it was my anthem as well, she said after hearing the Romanian national anthem played at the award ceremony. Two years before, Roxana Maracineanu had won the first world champion title for France, and in 1999 she had won the European swimming championship.




    FESTIVAL – Over 100 artists, representing the music and culture of some 70 countries, are taking part in World Experience Festival, held these days in Bucharest. The main theme of the event is World Music, promoted through concerts and workshops such as the ones focusing on Irish dances, the tea ceremony or the kimono dressing ceremony. Music instruments from 30 countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia and so on are also presented. The main stage of the festival is located in one of Bucharests parks.




    FORUM – The International Economic Forum carries on in the Polish town of Krynica. Romania is represented by some 50 politicians, analysts and business people. Participants from 60 countries in Europe, Asia and North America are looking at the prospects of world economy, and discuss topics such as the future of Europe, the energy field, international cooperation between EU member countries, the state of the European agriculture, as well as continental security. According to the Radio Romania correspondent, special attention will also be paid to the Black Sea region, where security has been vulnerable since 2014, when Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.




    FOOTBALL – Romanias national football team carries on its preparations for the first game in the newly created League of Nations, which it is to play on home turf in Ploiesti against Montenegro on Friday night. On Monday the national team will play against neighbouring Serbia in Belgrade, and in October they will take on Lithuania, also away from home, in Group 4 of the competition. The results in the League of Nations are counting towards the preliminaries of the 2020 European Championship.


    (translated by Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • May 31, 2018 UPDATE

    May 31, 2018 UPDATE

    ANTI-CORRUPTION – Prosecutors with the National Anti-Corruption Directorate Thursday issued a news release warning and expressing concerns with respect to a possible infringement upon the independence of prosecutors. It is the prosecutors response after on Wednesday the Constitutional Court ruled that President Klaus Iohannis has to dismiss the Anti-Corruption Directorate chief, Laura Codruţa Kovesi. The US Embassy to Bucharest confirmed that it was closely monitoring the developments following the Constitutional Courts ruling to dismiss the anti-corruption chief, but emphasised that this is a matter of Romanian domestic politics. The Court ruling was criticised in the street by thousands of protesters, particularly in Bucharest. The Justice Minister Tudorel Toader moved to dismiss the head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate. Following a negative opinion of the Higher Council of Magistracy on the request, President Iohannis refused to dismiss Kovesi, who in turn denied all accusations. After the President announced this decision, Minister Toader referred the matter to the Constitutional Court.




    GOVERNMENT – The Government of Romania decided on Thursday to establish a National Office for Centralised Procurement, under an emergency order. The institution is designed to handle all procurement operations by public authorities. The goal is to avoid situations where the same products are purchased at variable prices. Also on Thursday, the Government approved a memorandum on putting together the Economic Code, which should comprise the Tax Code, the Code of Fiscal procedure, the Law on the incorporation of trade companies, the Tax Evasion Law and other laws in the economic field.




    TRADE – The US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced on Thursday that as of Friday, June 1, the USA will charge duties for the steel and aluminium imports from the EU. The US thus decided not to extend the temporary exemption granted to the Union. As a result, steel imports from EU member countries will be subject to 25% duties, and aluminium imports will be charged 10%. Previously, the French Economy Minister, Bruno le Maire, had said Europe would take all the necessary measures should the USA impose customs duties. France Press comments that Washington made this decision in order to protect the American industry, which was forced to run below its capacity because of the surplus of steel and aluminium in the international market.




    MOTORWAY – The European Commission announced on Thursday that 265 million euros out of the Cohesion Fund will be invested in extending a Hungarian motorway to the Romanian border. According to the Commission, the new project will connect the 2 capital cities, Budapest and Bucharest. The project will also support local and regional economies and will promote tourism, the European Commission pointed out.




    FOOTBALL – Romanias national football team Thursday beat the defending South American champions Chile, 3-2, in a friendly match in Graz, Austria. The 2 teams, which failed to qualify to next months World Cup in Russia, also played against each other last year, in Cluj, where the Romanians won by the same score. On Tuesday, Romania will play at home against Finland, in a training session for the newly created UEFA Nations League, where it plays in League C, against Serbia, Montenegro and Lithuania this autumn.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • August 23, 2017 UPDATE

    August 23, 2017 UPDATE

    VISIT – The President of France Emmanuel Macron will be on an official visit to Romania on Thursday, and will have talks with president Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Mihai Tudose. The two presidents will give a joint press conference at the end of the bilateral talks and will visit the National Village Museum. The two heads of state are expected to have an open dialogue on boosting bilateral trade, as well as on cooperation during the 2018-2019 Romania-France Cultural Season, an important cultural project. Another focal point on the agenda of talks is Romanias Schengen accession, after the two presidents agreed, in June, to strengthen dialogue so that a favourable decision on Romanias joining the free movement area be made as soon as possible.



    JUDICIARY – The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis says the proposed changes to the laws regulating the judicial sector, announced on Wednesday by Justice Minister Tudorel Toader, are an attack against the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and the anti-corruption fight. Iohannis says the pressure on the judiciary comes completely against the commitments made by Romania upon joining the EU in 2007, and will keep the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism active indefinitely, so as to enable the European Commission to monitor the Romanian judicial sector. President Iohannis explains such changes require public debate and consultations with the magistrates. Under one of the proposed amendments, Public Ministry chiefs would be appointed by the Prosecutors Department of the Higher Council of Magistrates, based on nominations by the Justice Minister, through a transparent procedure that bypasses the head of state. Minister Toader also intends to make the Judicial Inspection Corps subordinated to the Justice Ministry and to extend the term in office for chief prosecutors from 3 to 4 years. Once passed by the Cabinet, the bill will be sent to Parliament for endorsement.



    REMEMBRANCE DAY – The signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact on August 23, 1939 is a confirmation that Fascism, Nazism and Communism are mere forms of the same antidemocratic expressions of hatred and intolerance, says Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, in a message sent on Wednesday, commemorating the Remembrance Day for the Victims of Fascism and Communism. The president added that the pact concluded by the Nazi and Soviet foreign ministers, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Veaceslav Molotov, respectively, was an odious act against the Romanians ideal of peace and freedom. The Romanian Centennial must find us consistent in the struggle to defend democracy, the rule of law and individual liberties. Let us not forget that for more than one-half of the one hundred years since the achievement of the national ideal we lived under dictatorships, and many of the personalities who contributed to the Greater Union were persecuted by totalitarian regimes. Therefore, our efforts must now be directed towards the condemnation of all actions that could affect the democratic path that Romania embarked on, in December 1989, and consolidated by its NATO and EU membership. In the current European and global context, marked by many challenges and uncertainties, defending and consolidating the rule of law, democracy and freedom against any enemies hostile to open societies is a priority, the president also said. In the wake of the Soviet-Nazi agreement, following an ultimatum given in the summer of 1940, Moscow annexed Romanias eastern territories of Bessarabia, northern Bukovina and Hertza. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Romanians left their homes in the way of the occupiers, and other tens of thousands were arrested, executed or deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan.



    AFGHANISTAN – Romania welcomes the announcement made by the U.S. President, Donald Trump, on increasing US troops in Afghanistan by 4,000 military, the Romanian Defence Minister Adrian Ţuţuianu has said. Ţuţuianu has added that Romania, too, might increase the number of troops it contributes to the “Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. At present, some 620 Romanian military are deployed in that Central-Asian state, Bucharest being the Alliances fourth largest contributor of troops.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • May 18, 2017

    May 18, 2017

    CYBERATTACK- The cyberattack against the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, countered last Friday, was a surgical strike against specific employees, according to Anton Rog, the head of the national cyberintelligence center of the Romanian Intelligence Service. According to him, such attacks are usually the act of a state agency. Previously, the RIS had said that, most likely, the attempt originated with the cybercrime group APT28/ Fancy Bear, identified with previous events of this kind. Also according to Rog, the event was different from the WannaCry ransomware attack last week, which has touched Romania too.



    COMMISSIONER — European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, is on a visit to Romania, meeting the Prime Minister, Sorin Grindeanu. The visit comes after the EC passed new regulations on granting state aid, waiving the right of the EC to endorse state aid for ports and airports and certain cultural initiatives. The aim is to facilitate public investment, creating jobs and economic growth, without affecting competition. Commissioner Vestager said that Brussels wants to create an optimal context on the common market to encourage fair competition.



    WARSAW — Romanian Speaker of the Senate Calin Popescu-Tariceanu is on a visit to Poland, attending the summit of heads of Parliament from Central and Eastern Europe. On the agenda are issues like regional security, development of infrastructure on the north-south axis, as well as the role of legislative assemblies in international politics. He will hold a speech on the importance of observing fundamental values for a modern identity, which Romania adopted when joining the EU in 2007, when he was Prime Minister.



    TENNIS — Simona Halep, the Romanian tennis player now ranked 4th in the WTA, plays today against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 17th, in the eighth finals of the Rome tournament, with 2.7 million USD at stake. This is their sixth face-off, with the Romanian winning every game. Halep has previously emerged victorious in Madrid. In the mens doubles, Florin Mergea, pairing up with Pakistani Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, plays against the Polish-Brazilian pair Lukasz Kubot- Felipe Melo.



    WASHINGTON — The US Department of Justice appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as special prosecutor in the investigation on alleged ties between the Trump election campaign and Russia, according to the Guardian. This comes eight days after President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. This new scandal comes shortly after the one involving the president allegedly conveying highly classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.



    ATHENS — The Greek Parliament votes today on new austerity measures demanded by international lenders. Yesterday, a general strike was staged in Greece in transportation, public administration and health. Thousands took to the streets in Athens to protest proposed budget reforms. The country needs financing to pay its 7.5 billion Euro debt by July. The government promised it would slash pensions in 2019. PM Alexis Tsipras, who won the 2015 elections on promises he would end austerity, was forced a few months later to accept a new rescue plan negotiated with lenders in order to avoid insolvency.

  • April 4, 2017 UPDATE

    April 4, 2017 UPDATE

    VISIT Romanian Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Ana Birchall who is paying a formal visit to Paris on Tuesday and Wednesday has met Harlem Desir, state secretary for European Affairs with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development. The two have tackled issues of bilateral interest as well as the latest European developments. The two officials have also discussed concrete ways of cooperating in the field of European affairs so that Bucharest may benefit from France’s expertise in its efforts of organising the Romanian presidency of the EU council in the first semester of 2019.



    LAW The draft on the unitary salary law is ready, Liviu Dragnea, leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) has announced. According to him, all state employees will benefit from higher salaries, but the pay rises are to take place gradually, with 32 billion lei to be earmarked until 2020. However, trade union leaders have called for the resignation of Labor Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu as they are dissatisfied with the way in which the government coalition decided to promote the law on the unitary salary. According to them the law will not be promoted by the government but as a legislation initiative of the Social Democratic MPs and that might mean sidestepping public debates. The opposition liberals have called on the government to assume responsibility for this law given that it was a PSD election pledge late last year. The authorities would like the law to come into effect as of July 1st.



    AUDIT — The Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader has announced he will order an external audit of the Prosecutor’s Office with the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) and the Department for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) to check the prosecutors’ activity. Toader has said the audit will look into the number of cases, acquittals or citizens who were unlawfully imprisoned. Last week Tudorel Toader presented the conclusions of the assessment he made of Romanias General Prosecutor, Augustin Lazăr, and the Chief Prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), Laura Codruţa Kovesi. The decision to assess Lazar and Kovesi came against the background of the Constitutional Court magistrates ruling that there was a constitutional conflict between the DNA and Government. We recall that through decree no. 13 the coalition government made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberal and Democrats tried to amend the criminal anti-corruption legislation, which triggered large-scale street protests.



    PROSECUTOR 16 European Union countries, Romania included, have launched plans to create an EU public prosecutor’s office to combat fraud, the bloc announced on Monday. Plans for a European prosecutor first emerged in 2009 to combat fraud that costs the bloc nearly €900 million a year. But they have met resistance from some states who fear a loss of sovereignty, as the proposed prosecution office would have powers to operate directly in member states.



  • March 7, 2017

    March 7, 2017

    STATISTICS — Romanias GDP in 2016 went up 4.8% against 2015, according to preliminary data published by the National Institute of Statistics. The estimated GDP for 2016 was over 759 billion lei, approximately 169 billion Euro, as compared to 160 billion in 2015. All branches of the economy contributed to the growth in 2016, except for agriculture and construction, which stagnated. The economy was principally driven by consumption. For 2017, the European Commission estimates growth to be 4.4%, with a slowdown to 3.7% in 2018. The IMF expects the GDP in 2017 to be 3.8%, the highest rate of growth expected in Europe. This years national budget is based on an expected growth of 5.2% of the GDP.



    REVIEW — Romanias General Prosecutor, Augustin Lazar, presented the general review of activity for last year, declaring that 2016 was a year with considerable results in judicial activity, considering the legislative instability in the country. In his opinion, the Public Ministry fulfilled its important mission in the institutional architecture of the rule of law. The General Prosecutor said that the institutional approach of his office is based on the National Defense Strategy for 2015-2019, as well as the National Anti-corruption Strategy and the National Strategy for the Reform of the Judiciary 2015-2020. For this year, he said, priorities will be mainly fighting corruption and tax evasion, fighting against environmental violations, especially in forestry, as well as violations regarding the national heritage. The event was attended by President Klaus Iohannis, who said Romania has made significant progress in terms of the justice system, but that it still awaits the final results of investigations into the 1989 Revolution and the miners raids of the early 1990s.



    POLICE — In Bucharest today, police union representatives hold a new round of discussions regarding the Unitary Salary Law, attended by Interior Minister Carmen Dan, and Finance Minister Viorel Stefan. Yesterday, police unions negotiated the law with Labor Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu, but said they did not reach a conclusion, announcing protests for mid-March. Their main complaint is that incentives are not calculated based on the present minimum wage of around 320 Euro, but on the minimum wage as it stood in December. Interior Minister Vasilescu said that the Unitary Salary Law will be ready in July, as provided by the government platform.



    COUNCIL — Romanian Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Ana Birchall, takes part today in Brussels in the meeting of the General Affairs Council. Under discussion is the draft conclusion of the council regarding the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism report, which acknowledges the major progress made by Romania, and emphasizes support for the Romanian authorities in meeting the demands of the mechanism. The meeting in Brussels is in preparation for the European Council agenda scheduled for March 8 and 9. The ministers will analyze a draft recommendation on Eurozone economic policies supporting economic growth, and will focus on reaching an accord on a European banking insurance system. Another point on the agenda is the update provided by the Maltese presidency of the Council on applying the inter-institutional accord for better legislation, passed in March last year. This accord is supposed to make the EU legislative process easier to monitor and more transparent.



    TENNIS — Several Romanian women tennis players are present at the Premier Mandatory tournament in Indian Wells in the US, with 6.9 million USD in prize money. Patricia Țig, 99th seeded, went to the final qualifiers by defeating Japanese player Shuko Aoyama, 212th seeded, 6-0, 6-2. Țig plays next American Julia Boserup, 97th seeded. Ana Bogdan, ranked 124th, was eliminated by Japanese player Nao Hibino, ranked 81st, 6-4, 2-6, 6-7. Sorana Carstea, 66th seeded, and Monica Niculescu, 45th seeded, plays against each other in the inaugural round, while Simona Halep, 4th in the world, and Irina Begu, ranked 32nd, play in the second round, with adversaries yet to be established.



    FOOTBALL — In Romania, the premiere football league regular season is over, with the play-offs and play-outs starting on March 10. The top six teams will contend for the title, while the last eight will have to fight to stay in the league. Viitorul, Steaua, standing champions Astra, Craiova, CFR Cluj and Dinamo are in the play-offs. Gaz Metan Medias, FC Botosani, FC Voluntari, CSM Poli Iasi, Concordia Chiajna, Pandurii Tg. Jiu, ACS Poli Timisoara and ASA Tg. Mures remain in the play-outs.

  • April 18, 2016 UPDATE

    April 18, 2016 UPDATE

    GOVERNMENT – Dragoş Nicolae Pîslaru was sworn in as labour minister in the presence of the Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis. He was proposed by the PM Dacian Ciolos to replace the outgoing minister Ana Costea. A former advisor on economic issues in the PMs cabinet, Pîslaru, 40, is a graduate of the international economy department of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies and holds an MA degree in international relations obtained at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Ana Costea resigned last week following discontent expressed by the trade unions over the draft emergency ordinance on state employees salaries. The PM Cioloş announced the government would continue talks with the social partners about the salaries of state employees with a view to drafting a new law. This is the first resignation of a minister from the technocratic government invested in Romania last November.



    JUDICIARY – The Bucharest Court Monday upheld the prosecutors request to extend the temporary arrest warrants issued for two Israeli citizens, employed by a security company from Israel, who are accused of harassing the chief prosecutor of the Romanian Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi. Weiner Ron and Geclowicz David were arrested on April 3 for 30 days following a ruling of the Bucharest Court. The two are also accused, among others, of setting up an organized crime group and of illegally accessing an IT system. According to prosecutors, in March they made several threatening phone calls and conducted phishing attacks with a view to obtaining information from the e-mail accounts of the Romanian chief prosecutors relatives.




    DIPLOMACY – Spains Justice Minister, Rafael Catala, will be in Romania on Tuesday and Wednesday, Spains Embassy in Bucharest has announced. During the visit, the Spanish official will have talks with the Romanian Foreign Minister, Lazăr Comănescu, with his counterpart, Raluca Prună, and with the head prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruţa Kovesi. The meetings confirm and reinforce the close bilateral ties and the judicial cooperation between the two states. Around one million Romanians make up the largest foreign community in Spain.




    PARLIAMENT – The Parliament of Romania will propose that Romanias sustainable development strategy, dating back to 2008, should be reviewed and turned from a government resolution into a law. The announcement was made by the head of the Foreign Policy Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, László Borbély, who Monday chaired an international roundtable of Central and Eastern European parliaments focusing on sustainable development. The roundtable was organised by the Romanian Chamber of Deputies and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an international body that brings together the parliaments of 162 countries. The Parliament of Romania celebrated on this occasion 125 years since it joined that body.




    POLL – Nearly 90% of the Romanians do not agree with immigrants being hosted in their town or village, according to a poll made public in Bucharest. This is a significant higher rate than in September 2015, when 67% of the interviewees gave that answer. More than 80% also disagree to refugees settling in Romania, with only 10% accepting this option. The poll was conducted by INSCOP between March 21 and 28, and commissioned by the daily “Adevărul. The maximum margin of error is 3%.




    STATISTICS – The number of employees in Romania last year exceeded 6 million, up over 200,000 as compared to 2014, according to data made public by the National Statistics Institute (INS). Last year the number of people employed in agriculture dropped by over a quarter of a million, according to the same source, while the number of employees in public administration went up by 50,000 and in education by over 40,000. The unemployment rate was 6.8%, INS also said.