April 3, 2023 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 03.04.2023, 19:46
SCHENGEN – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated Monday in Bucharest his support for Romania’s accession to Schengen this year. During a meeting he had with President Klaus Iohannis he said Bucharest made great efforts in this respect. In turn, Iohannis said Romania complies with its role as guarantor of security at the external border and its Schengen accession will consolidate this position. He also said Romania and Germany have strong joint interests as regards ensuring European prosperity and security and act in a coordinated manner in order to reach these objectives both within the EU and NATO. The Romanian President emphasized the need for enhanced NATO presence in the Black Sea and thanked Germany for its support in consolidating the eastern flank, for the air policing missions conducted in Romania’s airspace in 2022 and for its presence in the NAO structures in Romania. Also on Monday, Scholz and Iohannis had talks with the Moldovan President Maia Sandu. The Republic of Moldova is part of the European family, the German official said, voicing appreciation at the way in which Chisinau approached the reforms needed in order to join the EU. In turn, President Iohannis promised that Romania will further support Moldova.
LEGISLATION – The bill on the abuse of office and special pensions on Monday reached the Chamber of Deputies, having previously been adopted by the Senate. The bill on the abuse of office will be adopted by the deputies on Wednesday, with the inclusion of a threshold of 9,000 lei (the equivalent of around 1,800 euros) for a deed to be considered abuse of office and be punished with time in prison in the case of public sector employees, promised the Social Democratic Party, in the ruling coalition. The senators had established this threshold at 250,000 lei, a move strongly criticized by the opposition. The bill on special pensions stipulates that no such pension is to exceed incomes earned before retirement, bans the granting of more than one special pension and introduces a maximum 15% tax on the part of the pension that is not contribution-based.
ENLARGEMENT — NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg has announced that Finland will officially join the Alliance on Tuesday. Finland and Sweden have applied for NATO membership ever since last spring, in reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but Turkey and Hungary opposed it. On Thursday, days after a positive vote of the Hungarian MPs, the Turkish Parliament unanimously green lighted Finland’s acceptance.
EU – Romanian PM Nicolae Ciuca met on Monday in Bucharest with EU commissioner for jobs and social rights Nicolas Schmit and EU commissioner for cohesion and reforms Elisa Ferreira, on which occasion the positive impact of European funds on Romania’s development were presented, funds that also helped diminish the development gap between regions. According to a Government communiqué, Ciuca thanked the European officials for the support offered in drawing up programmes under the Cohesion Policy. He also gave assurances that the Bucharest Government and the European Commission will further cooperate to make sure that every euro allotted to Romania will be used for the public interest.
CULTURE – The celebrated Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, who in 2006 won the Nobel prize for literature, is attending cultural meetings organised by the West University in Timişoara. On Monday he attended a public debate on culture and literature. The Turkish writer will be awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa title from the academic community of West University in Timişoara. Both events form part of the European Capital of Culture programme, with Timişoara holding this title this year. Orhan Pamuk was born in 1952 in Istanbul, has been writing for 30 years and his books have been translated into over 50 languages. (EE)
