21 January, 2018

Tens of thousands of people protest in Romania against judicial overhaul./ Social Democratic Party to discuss new government's membership on Monday.

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Newsroom, 21.01.2018, 13:45

Protests. Tens of thousands of people protested
on Saturday night in Bucharest and other big cities across Romania against the
overhaul of the justice laws adopted by Parliament last month and the recent
tax measures taken by the government. People from around the country came to
Bucharest to join the protest. Traffic in the centre of Bucharest was disrupted
and some incidents were reported between protesters and the security forces.
The protesters gathered in the University Square before setting off on a march
towards Parliament Palace, which they picketed for dozens of minutes. They
shouted slogans criticising the government and the ruling coalition and
demanding an independent justice system. In solidarity with the protesters in
Romania, many Romanians living abroad took to the streets in several European
cities, such as Milan, Budapest, Madrid and Paris.

Government. The National Committee of the Social Democratic
Party, the senior partner in the ruling coalition in Romania, meets on Monday
to discuss the membership of the new government. President Klaus Iohannis
accepted the nomination of the Social Democratic MEP Viorica Dancila for the
position of prime minister at the proposal of the Social Democrats and their
ruling partners, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. The Social Democrat
leader and speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea has said Parliament
will meet in extraordinary session on the 29th of January to vote on
the new government and adopt the governing platform. Outgoing Social Democrat
prime minister Mihai Tudose resigned almost a week ago after losing his party’s
political support. On Friday, the minister for European funds Marius Nica also
tendered his resignation.

Australian Open. Tenth seed
Romanian pair Irina Begu and Monica Niculescu on Sunday reached the women’s
doubles quartefinals at the Australian Open after their opponents, the
Ukrainian-Australian pair Nadia Kichenok and Anastasia Rodionova withdrew. Begu and Niculescu will
next face either the American-Czech pair Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke or the
all-American pair Jennifer Brady and Vania King. The Romanian-Brazilian pair
Sorana Cirstea and Beatriz Haddad Maia lost in the fourth round to the
Czech pair Lucie
Safarova and Barbora Strycova. On Monday, top seed and world no. 1 Simona Halep
plays against Japan’s Naomi Osaka in the fourth round. Halep advanced to
this stage of the competition after a dramatic 3h 45 m match against the
American player Lauren Davis, who is no. 76 in the world.

Tourism. Romania has
taken part in the International Travel Fair in Madrid which comes to an end
today. Romania’s promotional campaign is entitled Romania – A Tourist
Destination for 365 Days a Year. To celebrate the Centenary of the Great Union,
the Romanian stand featured a replica of the gates to the citadel of Alba
Iulia, in the centre. Throughout the fair, visitors to the Romanian stand have
been able to find out more about the Great Union anniversary and about Romanian
tourist offers, such as cultural packages, nature tourism, rural tourism, city
break packages, active and adventure tourism and spa and wellness tourism.
Also, six Romanian travel companies have attended a travel fair in Helsinki,
the biggest in Scandinavia. These companies promoted luxury tourism and
ecological tourism, local products, packages focused on nature, photography and
cycling, as well as experience exchanges in agriculture and Untold Festival,
the largest electronic music festival in Romania.

Weather. Meteorologists have
today issued a yellow code alert for snow in half of Romania’s counties in the
south-west, south, centre and south-east. The alert is in place starting
tonight until Monday night.