21 April, 2018

A round-up of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 21.04.2018, 18:41

Israel embassy. The Palestine Embassy in Bucharest says it
is following with concern the intention of the Romanian government to move the
country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In the ambassador’s opinion, the
move would be in breach of international law and contradict the position of the
Romanian state on solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The European
Commission recalls that all EU member states’ embassies are in Tel Aviv, in
keeping with a UN Security Council Resolution. Moving Romania’s embassy to
Jerusalem is in a stage of evaluation and analysis that has just begun, the
Foreign Ministry in Bucharest said on Friday, adding that the process would
also include consultations with all relevant institutions and sides involved.
The Foreign Ministry’s explanations came after the President’s Office said
president Klaus Iohannis had not been informed or consulted about the
government’s intention to launch this process. The president reacted to an announcement
made on Thursday by Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the Social Democratic Party,
the senior partner in the ruling coalition, that the government signed a
memorandum on the start of procedures to relocate the country’s embassy to
Jerusalem. Dragnea said the gesture would have an important symbolic value for
a strong and influential state like Israel and that Romania must move its
embassy, thus following the example of the United States. The President’s
Office says, however, that at this point, the relocation would be in breach of
international law. Ludovic Orban, the leader of the National Liberal Party, in
opposition, has recalled that the decision to move Romania’s embassy to
Jerusalem can only be made by the country’s president and has urged the government
to abandon any institutional plans in this regard.

North Korea. The European Union has welcomed North Korea’s decision to halt nuclear and missile tests as a long sought-after step. EU policy chief Federica Mogherini said the move shows Pyong Yang’s wish to respect its international obligations and UN Security Council resolutions. North Korea’s announcement has also been welcomed by the US, China and Russia. The move comes one week ahead of talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in. North Korea’s president is then expected to meet the US president Donald Trump at the end of May or the beginning of June.

Army equipping. Defence Minister Mihai Fifor
has announced that the Romanian Army will be equipped with the first 36 Piranha
armoured vehicles by the end of the year. He says 31 of them will be produced
in Switzerland and 5 at a factory in Bucharest. The rest of the 230 vehicles
will also be made in Bucharest. Fifor made this announcement in Arad, western
Romania, where he attended a ceremony to celebrate Land Forces Day. We recall
that starting last year, Romania is allocating 2% of its GDP to defence.

Protests. Railway workers will hold a new big rally in
Bucharest on Monday. On Friday, more than 2,000 trade union members staged a
protest outside the headquarters of the Transport Ministry and the Government.
Dumitru Costin, the leader of the National Trade Union Bloc, says the only
solution is going on a general strike. The trade union wants the adoption of a
railway worker status that would guarantee a number of salary rights, solutions
for the recovery of the freight division of the Romanian Railways Company and,
more importantly, more investment to maintain and develop the country’s railway
network. More than 700 speed restrictions are in place in Romania, which has
Europe’s 7th longest railway network, while the railway company’s
1,200 trains are composed of only 300 carriages. Transport Minister Lucian Sova
issued a statement saying he supports the promotion of a railway worker’s
status and that increasing investment is a priority.

Amendments. The Romania 100 Platform created by the former
technocratic prime minister Dacian Ciolos and some of his aides says that
through the proposed amendments to the criminal code and the criminal procedure
code the government coalition formed by the Social Democrats and the Alliance
of Liberals and Democrats is preparing to turn Romania into a criminal
paradise, showing complete disregard for the victims of crimes. The most
important people in the state make their own laws, Romania 100 also says,
referring to the legal problems of the Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea and
of the Liberals and Democrat’s leader Calin Popescu Tariceanu. The Romania 100
Platform warns that the proposed amendments jeopardise Romania’s position
within the European Union. The National Liberal Party and the Save Romania
Union, in the parliamentary opposition, have also criticised the intention of
the parliamentary majority to amend the two criminal codes. The coalition says,
however, that it merely seeks to harmonise the codes with rulings of the
Constitutional Court, the European Court of Human Rights and the relevant
European Directive. Parliament will start debating these amendments on the 2nd
of May.

Fed Cup. Romania leads Switzerland 2-nil after day one of
the Fed Cup World Group play-offs hosted by the north-western Romanian city of
Cluj Napoca. On Saturday, Romanian and world number one Simona Halep defeated
Viktorija Golubic in three sets, while Irina Begu defeated Timea Bacsinzky in
straight sets. On Sunday, Halep plays Bacsinzky and Begu plays Golubic. In the
doubles, Halep and Begu will be facing Patty Schnyder and Jil Teichman. The
winning team will play in World Group I in the next season. Romania ranks 10th
and Switzerland 6th in the Fed Cup classification.