April 19, 2019 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 19.04.2019, 20:03

PRESIDENCY – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will announce early next week his decision regarding the proposals for new ministers submitted to him. The Social Democratic Prime Minister Viorica Dancila presented the head of state with the resignations of two members of her cabinet: the Minister for European Funds, Rovana Plumb, and the Minister for Romanians Abroad, Natalia Intotero, who are running for seats in the European Parliament in May. Their proposed replacements are Oana Florea, MP, and Senator Tit Liviu Brailoiu respectively. The Prime Minister also proposed the replacement of the current Justice Minister, Tudorel Toader, with Eugen Nicolicea. The first lost support from his Social Democratic Party after controversies related to proposed changes to the Criminal Code. The President has 45 days to sign the order to revoke Toader, who on Thursday night announced his decision to resign.

PROSECUTOR GENERAL – On Friday, President Klaus Iohannis signed the decree on the dismissal of Romanias Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazar, who retires as of April 27th, the date on which his term ends. Lazar had run for another term as prosecutor general, but last week, the Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announced that none of the four candidates had fulfilled the necessary requirements, so the procedure was resumed. Lately, accusations have been launched against Augustin Lazar, according to which he refused to grant parole to the anti-communist dissident Iulius Filip, imprisoned in Aiud in the 1980s. Back then, Lazar was a prosecutor in the Parole Commission of the Aiud Penitentiary.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – The Constitutional Court of Romania has postponed until May 20 its ruling on a possible judicial conflict between Parliament and the High Court of Cassation and Justice regarding the panels prosecuting corruption cases. This is the third time when the court delays a decision in this case. The motion was filed by the Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Florin Iordache, while he was delegate Speaker under a decision made by Liviu Dragnea. On April 10, Iordache claimed that the High Court of Cassation and Justice refused to put together panels specialized in prosecuting cases of corruption, which he claimed were obligatory. The Chief Justice of the High Court, Cristina Tarcea, has stated though that Iordache filed the motion in violation of the will of the Constitutional Court, which had previously established that constitutional responsibilities cannot be delegated.

MEETING – Romanias Foreign Minister, Teodor Melescanu, took part in Ankara, on Thursday and Friday, in a new round of consultations of the foreign ministers of Romania, Poland and Turkey. The participants analyzed regional and global security developments and their countries contributions to fulfilling NATOs objectives. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Teodor Melescanu informed the participants about the efforts made by the Romanian authorities in effectively managing security developments in the eastern neighborhood and in the Black Sea area. He also highlighted the support given by Romania to the partners in the east – Georgia, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova – and to those in the Western Balkans region and reconfirmed Romanias contribution to the NATO missions and operations and to the anti-ISIS global coalition.

CHISINAU – The Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Pavel Filip has held talks with the Romanian Ambassador to Moldova Daniel Ionita about major bilateral projects. Among them are the Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline, connecting power grids, developing infrastructure and eliminating roaming charges for mobile networks between the two countries. Experts believe that these projects are hindered by political decisions made in Moldova and the existing political tensions in the region.

NAVY – The British hydrographic ship HMS Echo is due to arrive in the Black Sea Port of Constanta on April 21st. During its 4-day stay, members of the crew will hold working meetings with specialists from the Constanta Maritime Hydrographic Directorate and with representatives of the local public, civilian and military authorities. The presence of HMS Echo in the Black Sea is part of NATOs measures aimed at ensuring the security of its members on the eastern flank, reads the communiqué issued by the Romanian Naval Forces.

MILITARY – The Romanian Drill Team with the Michael the Brave 30th Guard Brigade takes part in the Virginia International Tattoo NATO Festival, over April 25-28, the Romanian Defense Ministry informs. The Romanian servicemen will take part for the first time in the event, joining detachments from Australia, Canada, Switzerland, France, Jordan, the UK and the US. This year the festival is focused on women in the military, and the Romanian unit is one of the few to enlist women. The festival also celebrates NATOs 70th anniversary.

INVENTIONS – The Polytechnic University of Timisoara, in western Romania, has won a gold medal at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva. Professors Roland Szabo and Aurel Gontean, of the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and IT devised a portable flash memory stick on Ethernet interface. Some 800 inventors from 40 countries have participated in the 47th edition of the exhibition, with more than 1000 inventions, of which 30 by Romanian inventors.

TENNIS – Romanias tennis team will be up against France this weekend in an away contest for a place in the Fed Cup finals. The semis matches are to take place on Saturday and Sunday in Rouen. On Saturday, Simona Halep will play against Kristina Mladenovic, and Mihaela Buzarnescu will take on Caroline Garcia. In the doubles on Sunday, the pair Caroline Garcia/Kristina Mladenovici will play against the Romanian pair Irina Begu / Monica Niculescu. This would be Romanias second participation against France in a Fed Cup. If Romania beats France, they will be playing the winner of Australia versus Belarus in the finals in November.