Radio România Internațional

Tag: Romanian Constitutional Court

  • October 5, 2023 UPDATE

    October 5, 2023 UPDATE

    Summit. Additional anti-drone defense systems will be brought to Romania, in the context of Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports on the Danube, President Klaus Iohannis announced at the summit of the European Political Community that started on Thursday in Granada, Spain. He said the strikes on Ukrainian ports are war crimes because only civilian infrastructures are targeted. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a discussion with the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez about military aid and EU enlargement. Sánchez has announced that a decision will be made on Friday regarding the establishment of a new strategy for the European Union regarding its enlargement from 27 to 35 members. He stressed that the enlargement of the EU must be done after a strong reform of the way it functions and how decisions are made in the community block. Related to this topic, the President of Romania stated that it is very important for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to take rapid steps towards European integration, but he termed as “unrealistic” the setting of deadlines for accession. In turn, the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, has stated that her country has high hopes that accession negotiations will begin in December, after the European Parliament adopted a resolution demanding that they begin before the end of the year.



    Accident. A Romanian family of four, the parents and two children, residing in Germany, are among the victims of the road accident involving a bus near Venice, which left 21 dead and 15 wounded. The vehicle fell off a bridge and caught fire. All the dead have been identified and the municipality decreed three days of mourning on Wednesday. The family was spending their holiday in Mestre. The real cause of the accident remains unknown. The prosecutors office in Venice has opened an investigation into the accident.



    Government. The Romanian government approved on Thursday the emergency ordinance that regulates the betting and gambling industry. Thus, betting companies must be based in Romania. Also, in order to protect players or people at risk, alcohol will no longer be sold in gambling spaces, and slot machine games will no longer be allowed in bars. Other aspects concern advertising and publicity for gambling, while the annual licensing fees will rise considerably. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has stated that huge profits of such companies ending up outside the country must stop. “Its not normal for the betting industry to have so much power,” he said. The executives attention is also focused on a mechanism to protect Romanian farmers and national production from grain imports from Ukraine, after the lifting of restrictions by the European Commission. Ciolacu stated that the mechanism agreed with all the parties involved will allow the import only on the basis of an authorization for limited quantities of grain and will apply only to Romanian farmers and processors who demonstrate that they need to replenish their stocks.



    Central Bank. The National Bank of Romania has maintained the monetary policy interest rate at 7% per year, a value set in January 2023. The Board has also kept unchanged the interest rate at which commercial banks can borrow from the Central Bank and the one they receive when keeping their money in deposits established at the central bank. According to current assessments, the annual inflation rate will continue to decrease until the end of the current year. Starting from 2024, inflation will be influenced by the existence of major risks arising from the new fiscal-budgetary measures adopted by the government and the degree of absorption of European funds, but also by the war in Ukraine and economic developments below expectations in Europe.



    Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court of Romania decided, on Thursday, that the law prohibiting the aggregation of pension and salary is unconstitutional. The Court ruled that the published provisions regarding the prohibition of combining the pension with the salary contravene the fundamental right to work, guaranteed by the Constitution. On June 29, the High Court of Cassation and Justice notified the Constitutional Court regarding the amendments to the law on service pensions and to the law on the aggregation of the pension with the salary. Both laws were endorsed by Parliament on June 28. The law is now going back to Parliament.



    Nobel. Norwegian writer Jon Fosse was awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday for “his innovative plays and prose that give voice to the unsayable,” the Nobel Committee announced. Last year, the award went to French author Annie Ernaux “for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory”. The 2023 Nobel season will continue with the awarding of the Peace Prize on October 6. The Riksbank Sveriges Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel will be announced on October 9. (MI)


  • October 12, 2018 UPDATE

    October 12, 2018 UPDATE


    EU TALKS – Romanias vision within the EU is strongly pro-European, and the motto of the Romanian presidency of the EU Council is cohesion, which reflects the need for unity and cooperation among the member states. The statement was made by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea during the meeting he had on Friday in Bucharest with the Secretary General of the European Commission Martin Selmayr and Clara Martinez Alberola, Head of Cabinet of the EC President Jean-Claude Juncker. On Friday, the EU officials also had talks with the Speaker of the Romanian Senate, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, about Romanias stand on the main European issues and its priorities as president of the EU Council as of January 1st, 2019. Tariceanu said that Romania will be holding the rotating presidency against a very complex background, marked by many challenges that impact citizens and governments.



    EUROPEAN ISSUES – The Romanian Minister of the Interior, Carmen Dan, stated on Friday that Romania, as the country holding the presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2019, will pay close attention to the phenomenon of radicalisation. The Romanian official also stated that Romania was not faced with a direct and imminent terrorist threat or violent extremism, but was concerned about the development of such phenomena in the past years. The Romanian official made these statements at the High-Level Conference of the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN), held in Luxembourg, occasioned by the meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council held on Thursday and Friday.



    ANTI CORRUPTION – Prosecutor Adina Florea, a candidate for the office of head of the National Anticorruption Directorate, demonstrates poor resistance to stress and also a low capacity of analysis and synthesis, reads the opinion of the Superior Council of Magistracy. The Council also noted that, during the interview, the candidate could not prove honesty and impartiality, which are a must for a good manager. On Monday, the Council gave a negative opinion on the proposal set forth by the Justice Minister Tudorel Toader. The opinion is however advisory. The decision to appoint the new head of the Directorate lies with the president of the country, Klaus Iohannis. We recall that the post became vacant in July, when Laura Codruta Kovesi was dismissed by president Iohannis, who had to enforce a ruling issued by the Constitutional Court, although the dismissal was not endorsed by the Superior Council of Magistracy.



    JUSTICE LAWS – On Friday, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis promulgated the law on the status of magistrates, the last of the three justice laws, after the bill had been challenged at the Constitutional Court several times. On July 19th, the head of state notified the Court with regard to the changes brought by Parliament to the law on the status of magistrates, motivating that the extraordinary session of the Chamber of Deputies, during which the bill was voted, had not been legally convened. In another move, also on Friday, the Constitutional Court admitted in part the notifications submitted by the Supreme Court, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and president Iohannis concerning the bill amending the Code of Criminal Proceedings, as well as the one amending the judicial organisation law. According to magistrates, the laws include unclear provisions, while the opposition representatives say now the law favours criminals.



    ROMANIAN-ITALIAN RELATIONS – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, will travel to Italy, between October 14th and 17th, on the first visit by a Romanian president to that country in the past 45 years. According to a communiqué issued by the Presidential Administration, Klaus Iohannis is due to meet his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella, PM Giuseppe Conte, and the Speakers of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati and Roberto Fico, respectively. The agenda of the visit also includes meetings with representatives of the Orthodox, Greek-Catholic and Roman-Catholic religious denominations as well as with representatives of the Romanian community, the largest outside the borders of the country. The visit is paid against the backdrop of celebrations marking the Great Union Centennial and 10 years since Romanian-Italian relations were raised at the level of Consolidated Strategic Partnership, the communiqué also reads.



    FRANCOPHONIE – Romania will keep playing the role of flagship country of the Francophone Movement, the Romanian deputy prime minister Ana Birchall said during the Conference of heads of state and government of the Francophone countries, held in Yerevan, Armenia, between October 10 and 12. Ana Birchall gave a speech in her capacity as head of the Romanian delegation, underlining Bucharests commitment to Francophonie and its values. The agenda of talks also covered issues related to the adoption of documents and resolutions concerning the Francophone area, electing the Secretary General of the Francophonie for the 2018-2022 period, debates on crisis situations in the Francophone area and accepting new members of the International Organisation of the Francophonie. Talks also covered such issues as the importance of culture, education and research for the development of countries in the whole Francophone area. On this occasion, the Romanian deputy PM signed an agreement regarding the headquarters of the Regional Bureau of the International Organisation of the Francophonie for Central and Eastern Europe, concluded by the Romanian Government and the International Organisation of the Francophonie.



    POLL- Almost two thirds of the Europeans say they are not convinced that their lives would be worse without the European Union, a poll carried out by a polling institute in Brussels, Europes Friends, shows. The poll was conducted in September, among 11,000 interviewees, from all member states. According to the poll, 64% of the Europeans are not convinced that their lives would be worse without the EU, and almost half of the respondents said the Union is irrelevant. The poll underlines that over 30% of the North Europeans, the French and the Germans want to promote values and democracy in the EU, whereas over 40% of the citizens in Southern Europe and the Vishegrad Group, namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, believe the main objective of the European bloc should be economic growth.




  • May 10, 2018

    May 10, 2018

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



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



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



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



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



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

  • January 23, 2018

    January 23, 2018


    SCHENGEN – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis has today stated, at the annual meeting with the heads of the diplomatic missions accredited to Bucharest, that Romanias joining the Schengen area is essential. He has also stated that the logistics needed for Romanias holding the presidency of the EU Council in 2019 must be properly prepared. The head of state has given assurances that Romania will keep taking part in the debates on strengthening the economic and monetary union and has added that, unless it joins the Schengen area, Romania will not enjoy all the benefits ensured by its EU integration. The president has also stated that Romanias foreign policy pillars are the strategic partnership with the US and its membership to the EU and NATO. Klaus Iohannis has also stated that Bucharest firmly pleads for strengthening trans-Atlantic ties.



    OPPOSITION – The National Liberal Party, the main opposition party in Romania, has today presented the so called “black book of the PSD-ALDE governing”. The president of the party Ludovic Orban has stated that 2017 was a lost year for Romania and the country is heading in the wrong direction from a democratic, economic and social point of view. According to the analysis made by the liberals, out of the 724 measures that the government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats committed to implementing, only 33 were actually implemented, and as regards major fields such as education, health and the economy, less than 5% of the promised measures were taken. Also, budget expenditure exceeded revenues and the money was not used for development, it was mainly spent on personnel expenditure. The National Liberal Party also claims that, when the coalition started ruling, the inflation rate was 0.2%, to then reach 3.3% in 2017. Previously, Orban had announced that the liberals would establish the way in which they were going to act in Parliament to prevent the validation of the new governmental team, headed by the Social Democrat MEP Viorica Dancila. More on this after the news.



    JUSTICE LAWS – The Constitutional Court is today debating claims filed by the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the opposition National Liberal Party and Save Romania Union regarding the changes brought to the justice laws. One of the notifications concerns the setting up of the Special Prosecutors Office responsible for investigating judges and prosecutors. Magistrates believe that this breaks the principle of equality before the law, as they would become the only professional category in Romania to have a special office for their own prosecution. In turn, the liberals say that the changes brought to the justice laws break several constitutional principles, including the senators and deputies right to have legislative initiatives. On Saturday, dozens of thousand of people protested again against the ruling coalition in Romania, whom they blame for trying to subordinate magistrates and to put an end to the fight against corruption. The changes in the justice laws have also been criticized by president Klaus Iohannis, the media and some of Romanias western partners. The Constitutional Court will probably issue its final ruling on the matter next month.



    IMF – In an update on its bi-annual “World Economic Outlook”, the International Monetary Fund estimates that world economy will increase its growth rate to 4% in 2018 and 2019. Also, the report reads that last year, economic activity in Europe and Asia was surprisingly better than estimated, so the fund has revised upwards its estimates for the Eurozone, in particular for Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. According to the IMF, the US economy would register an economic growth rate of 2.7% in 2018, but that would slow down to 2.5% in 2019. The Chinese economy would register a rate of 6.6% this year, and 6.4% in 2019. As regards Romania, in its “World Economic Outlook”, published in October 2017, the IMF revised the growth rate estimated for Romania in 2018, from 3.4% to 4.4%.



    FLU – A 40-year old woman has died in Botosani, north-eastern Romania, of complications triggered by the flu. This is the third death caused by flu viruses this year in Romania, after a 69 year old woman in Bucharest and a 15-year old boy in Salaj, north-western Romania. The Health Minister Florian Bodog has called on family doctors to continue the anti-flu vaccination campaign this month too, especially of people who are at risk. According to the National Centre for Disease Surveillance and Control, the total number of cases of acute respiratory infections has reached 75,000. Specialists say that, as compared to the same period last season, the total number of ill people is smaller by some 25%.



    AUSTRALIAN OPEN – The pair made up of the Romanian tennis players Irina Begu and Monica Niculescu has qualified for the semifinals of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, after a 3 set victory against the US couple Jennifer Brady/Vania King. Next, Begu and Niculescu will take on the Russians Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, who won the title in Melbourne back in 2014. On Wednesday, Romanias only representatives in the singles, Simona Halep, takes on Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. Halep is the worlds number one player and also first-seed at the Australian Open.


    (translated by Mihaela Ignatescu)


  • October 3, 2017 UPDATE

    October 3, 2017 UPDATE


    BUSINESS FORUM – The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and his Croat counterpart Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who is on a state visit to Bucharest, on Tuesday opened the works of the Romanian – Croat Business Forum. On the occasion, the Romanian President pointed out that bilateral trade exchanges neared 300 million euros. In his opinion, although this is a low level given the potential of the two economies, recent developments are nevertheless encouraging. During Mondays talks the two presidents approached, among other things, ways to improve cooperation within the EU and NATO.



    VISIT – Romanias Prime Minister Mihai Tudose, on a visit to neighbouring Bulgaria, on Tuesday stated that, within a year, the two countries would be joining the Schengen agreement. In a joint conference with his Bulgarian counterpart Boiko Borisov, Tudose also said that the two countries were “condemned to be together” with regard to Schengen accession. The two officials chaired in Varna the fourth joint working session of Bucharest and Sofia government representatives. The agenda of the meeting included topics such as economic cooperation, transport and energy infrastructure, regional development and cross-border cooperation. A joint declaration on the main directions of bilateral, regional, European, Euro-Atlantic and international cooperation was signed in the presence of the two officials. Also in Varna, the Romanian Prime Minister attended a 4-party summit involving the participation of Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece.



    CARTEL ALFA – One of the most important trade union confederations in Romania, Cartel Alfa, will stage a protest meeting on Wednesday, in front of the Government building. Protesters are unhappy with authorities decision to have employees pay social contributions, a responsibility that used to be that of the employer, and call for collective employment agreements to be concluded at all levels. Trade unionists are also unhappy with the public salary law and the social dialogue law. According to Cartel Alfa, the meeting will be attended by some 10,000 people.



    CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – The Constitutional Court of Romania on Tuesday stated that the chief-prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi has to appear before the parliamentary committee investigating the 2009 presidential election. Also, according to the Court, Kovesi must provide all the documents requested by the committee. The Constitutional Court discussed the requests for settling the legal conflict between Parliament and the Public Ministry, which is part of the judicial authority. The requests were filed by the Senate Speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea, after the head of the Anticorruption Directorate refused to appear before the committee. The General Prosecutors Office had also started an investigation into the 2009 presidential elections, but the case was classified. Both investigations were started following allegations by a controversial journalist, who claimed that the elections were influenced by high-ranking state officials, including heads of powerful public institutions. The election was won by the right wing representative Traian Basescu, to the detriment of the Social Democrat Mircea Geoana.



    CORRUPTION – The Romanian Senate has rejected the request filed by the National Anticorruption Directorate to start the prosecution of the minister for the relation with Parliament Viorel Ilie. 77 senators voted against and 37 for. The Anticorruption Directorate accuses Ilie of instigation to direct and indirect use of information that are not to be made public and of allowing the access of unauthorized people to such information, during his ministerial term. In late July, the Minister for the Relation with Parliament organized an employment contest, which, according to the National Anticorruption Directorate, was arranged to favour certain candidates.



    SIMPLE MOTION – On Wednesday, the Romanian Parliament will debate and vote on the simple motion filed by the main opposition party, the National Liberal Party, against the Transport Minister Razvan Cuc. The signatories of the motion are accusing minister Cuc of faulty management, lack of professionalism and excessive politization within the ministry. Also, the liberals say the minister has blocked large infrastructure projects, whose deadlines have long been exceeded.



    CATALONIA – An anti-police strike on Tuesday gripped the province of Catalonia, in north-eastern Spain. Catalan trade unions called the strike to show public anger at Spanish police violence during Sundays referendum on the regions independence. Some 300,000 people took to the streets of Barcelona and other cities across Catalonia to denounce the violent intervention of the police during the referendum and to defend the results of the referendum, which was declared illegal by the central government. The leader of the Catalan regional government Carles Puigdemont called for the withdrawal of the riot police deployed in Madrid and said international mediation was needed. In Bucharest, Romanian Foreign Ministry representatives reiterated Romanias firm support for Spains sovereignty and territorial integrity.



    NOBEL PRIZE – Three American astrophysicists, Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Kip Thorne on Tuesday won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their studies on gravitational waves. The Nobel Prize in Physics is the second prize announced in the series of prizes made public each year. On Wednesday the Nobel Prize in Chemistry will be announced. According to tradition, the Nobel Prizes will be handed to their winners as part of an official ceremony to be held on December 10, the day when the death of the founder of the Nobel Prize, Alfred Nobel, is commemorated.



    TENNIS TOURNAMENT – The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, ranking 2nd in the WTA classification, on Tuesday qualified for the eighth finals of the Beijing tournament, with 6.4 million dollars in prize money. She defeated the Slovak player Magdalena Rybarikova, no. 28 WTA, who abandoned the game in the second set. In the next round Simona will play against the Russian Maria Sarapova, no. 104 WTA, whom she has not managed to defeat so far. Another Romanian player, Sorana Cirstea, has too qualified for the next round, after she defeated the American Christina McHale. The third Romanian player participating in the tournament, Monica Niculescu, will play on Wednesday against the Chinese Shuai Peng. (translated by M. Ignatescu)




  • April 27, 2017 UPDATE

    April 27, 2017 UPDATE


    CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – Romanias Constitutional Court will analyze on May 4 the Ombudsmans notification regarding the law that bans people with criminal records from being members of the Government. It is the 4th time that the Romanian Constitutional Court postpones a decision in this respect, invoking the complexity of the case and claiming that the issue should be analyzed from a political perspective. The Law that forbids people with criminal sentences to be part of the government is the one that prevented the leader of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea from claiming the office of prime minister after the parliamentary elections that the Social Democrats won in December 2016. In 2016 Dragnea received a 2-year suspended sentence for attempting to rig the referendum of 2012 on the impeachment of the then president Traian Basescu. The Ombudsman made the notification in early January.



    COOPERATION -The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis underlined Georgias contribution to Euro-Atlantic security, including through its participation in NATO missions, during a meeting he had in Bucharest with the Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili. The Georgian official had previously met with his Romanian counterpart Sorin Grindeanu, and the two officials signed a political declaration of cooperation. Romania and Georgia cooperate in fields such as tourism, economy, agriculture, sea trade, culture, science and sports. In the first quarter of 2017, the volume of trade exchanges between the two countries stood at some 44.3 million dollars. PM Grindeanu assured his Georgian counterpart that Romania supports the European aspirations of his country. In turn, the Georgian PM thanked Romanian authorities for the support provided including for the elimination of visas for the Georgian citizens travelling to EU countries.



    INFRINGEMENT – On Thursday, the European Commission decided to sue Romania at the European Court of Justice, under an infringement procedure, for failing to bring the national legislation regarding waste in line with the European directive in the field. According to a communiqué issued by the Commission, Romania should have transposed the European legislation by 2013 at the latest. The framework directive on waste is aimed at protecting the environment and human health by preventing or curbing the negative effects of waste production and management. Romania is one of the EU member states with the poorest performances as regards the management of solid waste. The European Commission has sued other European countries as well, including Belgium, Cyprus, Croatia, Italy, France, Spain and Slovenia.



    EU DEFENSE – The Romanian defense minister Gabriel Leş has reiterated Romanias commitment to actively contribute to strengthening the EUs Security and Defense. He made this statement at the meeting he had in Malta with the Chief Executive of the European Defense Agency, Jorge Domecq. In turn, the European official thanked Romania for its involvement in the Agencys programs. The talks were held on the sidelines of the informal meeting of the EU defense ministers.



    GENERAL AFFAIRS COUNCIL – The Romanian Minister Delegate for European Affairs Ana Birchall attended in Luxembourg on Thursday the General Affairs Council in the EU 27 format, the first without Great Britain. According to the Romania official, it was established that in the negotiations with the UK, the 27 countries should have a common voice, a unitary and coherent stand, in order to obtain a balanced agreement, under which all the four fundamental freedoms, including the free movement of people, are objectively and fairly observed. Held after the UK decided to leave the EU, the meeting in Luxembourg set the main guidelines that are to be endorsed by the heads of state and government that will attend the European Council on April 29th.



    VACCINE CRISIS – The Romanian PM Sorin Grindeanu on Thursday said that finding a solution to the vaccination crisis was essential for Romania. He said he was determined to take all necessary measures in this respect, following consultations with the main stakeholders in the field. He made the statements at the conference titled “The European Week of Immunization- Vaccination: a public health issue. Children beyond figures” organized in Bucharest.



    SANCTIONS – The US will toughen sanctions against North Korea and will intensify diplomatic efforts meant to persuade the regime in Pyongyang to give up its nuclear and ballistic program. President Donald Trumps strategy was announced after a special meeting at the White House with all the 100 American senators. In another development, France Press reports that the US is looking into the possibility of putting North Korea back on the list of countries that support terrorism. The list currently includes Iran, Syria and Sudan, as North Korea was eliminated from the list in 2008 during the term in office of president George W. Bush.



    COLLISION – A Russian spy ship sank on Thursday after colliding with a freighter off the Turkish coast of the Black Sea. The vessel called Liman hit the Togo-flagged ship carrying livestock, which had left the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta heading for Jordan. The incident occurred 40 km off the Bosphorus Strait, and all 78 Russian crew aboard were safely evacuated. Fog and poor visibility was reported in the area at the time of the collision. Liman was launched in 1970, and, according to military sources, its role in the past years was to monitor the drills carried out by NATO in the Black Sea area.