28 August, 2018

A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 28.08.2018, 13:03

Diplomats. President Klaus Iohannis has
today received in Bucharest the heads of missions and general consuls during
the annual meeting of the Romanian diplomacy. The president said Romania must
conduct an efficient presidency of the EU Council in the first part of 2019. He
recalled that there will be several complicated dossiers during Romania’s
presidency, such as the future EU financial framework and Brexit negotiations.
The president also said that Romania’s stability and predictability with respect
to foreign policy also means maintaining and defending the rule of law and the
independence of the judiciary and continuing the fight against corruption. Other
subjects discussed at the meeting of the Romanian diplomacy are strategic
relations, regional cooperation, the eastern neighbourhood, the United Nations
and economic diplomacy. The event, which is held this year under the headline
Diplomacy – a pillar of Centenary Romania, comes to an end on Wednesday.

Letter. The US government does not
comment on the opinions or conclusions of private US citizens, the spokesperson
of the US embassy in Bucharest, Donald Carroll said today. In a comment to Agerpress
news agency, he emphasised that until recently, Romania had shown remarkable
progress in combating corruption and building an efficient rule of law. This
reaction comes after Rudolph Giuliani, a former district attorney and mayor of
New York and currently part of Donald Trump’s legal team, sent a letter to
president Klaus Iohannis and other Romanian officials recommending the assessment
of the protocols between the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Romanian
Intelligence Service and calling for an end to what he described as pressure on
the judges. The General Prosecutor’s Office said that in December 2016, it
signed two perfectly legal collaboration protocols with the Romanian
Intelligence Service which were in place for three months. One of them was of a
public nature and was concerned with the conditions to access technical systems
of the National Centre for the Interception of Communications, while a second,
secret, protocol, dealt with cooperation for crimes against national security,
namely terrorism and crimes committed by military staff of the Romanian
Intelligence Service. Against the backdrop of these debates, the justice
minister Tudorel Toader says he will begin an evaluation of the managerial
activity of the prosecutor general, Augustin Lazar.

Political parties. The leadership of
the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the junior partners in the ruling
coalition in Romania, meet in Bucharest today to establish the party’s
priorities in the new parliamentary session. They will also discuss the
selection of candidates for next year’s European elections. Liviu Dragnea, the
president of the Social Democratic Party, the main party in the ruling
coalition, said a meeting of the National Executive Committee and of
parliamentary groups would be held at the weekend in Neptun, on the Black Sea
coast, to establish the next legislative priorities. The talks are also
expected to focus on the activity of Dancila’s ministers. The main opposition
party, the National Liberal Party, has also scheduled talks about its actions
in the next parliamentary session.

Romania Centenary. The governor of
the US state of Alabama, Kay Ivey, commended Romania, the Romanian people and all
Romanian-Americans in this state as they celebrate 100 years since the Great
Union of Romanians, the Romanian embassy in Washington has announced. The
document mentions that the US and Romania have a strategic partnership built
around democratic values, historical ties and a common commitment to ensuring
trans-Atlantic security and mutual prosperity. The governor praises the talent,
energy and creativity of successive generations of Romanian-Americans and their
rich cultural heritage. Alabama is the 9th US state to pay tribute
to the Centenary of the Great Union by issuing a special commendation.

US Open. Three Romanian tennis players are
in action today in the women’s singles, in the first round at the US Open.
Mihaela Buzarnescu faces Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, Sorana
Cirstea plays against Alison Riske of the US, while Monica Niculescu faces Julia
Glushko of Israel. On Monday, also in the first round, Simona Halep lost to
Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, while Irina Begu and Ana Bogdan won their respective
matches against Jennifer Brady of the US and Marie Bouzkova of the Czech
Republic. Marius Copil is the only Romanian player in the men’s singles. He is
playing today against world no. 7, Croatia’s Marin Cilic.