August 24, 2022 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 24.08.2022, 18:56

Ukraine — The “unjustified, unprovoked and illegal” Russian aggression “must stop!” the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on the occasion of Ukraines Independence Day, marked on Wednesday. “I reiterate Romanias strong support for and solidarity with Ukraine and with the brave Ukrainian people who are bravely defending their country,” the presidents message writes. A similar message was conveyed by the Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, who showed that from the very first days after the start of “the worst crisis in Europe in recent decades”, Romania acted to provide assistance to the authorities in Kyiv, and the Romanian citizens “did everything in their power to help Ukraine and the Ukrainian refugees who fled the horrors of war”. In turn, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised that all Ukrainian territories conquered by the Russian troops would be recovered and that Ukraine would fight “to the end” without “any kind of concession or compromise” with Russia. In Washington, President Joe Biden marked Ukraines Independence Day by approving a new military assistance package worth nearly three billion dollars, that will allow Kyiv to acquire air defense systems, artillery and ammunition systems, unmanned air combat and radar systems to ensure that it can continue to defend itself in the long term, according to the press release of the US president.

Justice laws — The Romanian Government on Wednesday approved the draft justice laws, and their adoption in Parliament will fulfill the main objective within the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, said the justice minister Cătălin Predoiu. He explained that, in the process of their elaboration, several fundamental principles were followed, such as the independence of judges and prosecutors and the separation of careers taking into account the constitutional functions of each of these professions, the accountability of the Judiciary in relation to its own results and its own functionality, strengthening the coherence of certain provisions and increasing the efficiency of the judiciary by assuming responsibilities. “I think that our judicial system has reached maturity and is able to recognize its own vulnerabilities and address them”, minister Predoiu said. On the other hand, the former Justice Minister, Stelian Ion, a member of the Save Romania Union – USR, in opposition, criticized the justice laws in the Predoiu version, which, according to him, reinforce the political influence and consolidate the power of the anti-reformist network in the judiciary. The draft law for the modification of the Justice Laws was launched for public debate two years ago, a period in which it sparked off numerous debates and criticisms by magistrates associations and civil society.

Forum — The biggest fear of the Romanian authorities is that the young people who study abroad will not return home, said the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă in the opening of the 2^nd edition of the Forum of the Romanian Students Abroad. “We really want you to return home and work together and assume the responsibility of the country project. (…) we want you to realize that we always need everything that your contribution and vision can mean, because only together can we develop Romania”, the prime minister told the students gathered in Bucharest. The Forum of the Romanian Students Abroad takes place at the Parliament Palace until August 29. The more than 150 students from abroad and from Romania will have the opportunity to debate the relevant problems facing Romanian society and, under the guidance of 11 specialized moderators, they will draft a document through which they will come up with solutions in the fields of education and youth, healthcare, justice, work and economy, European affairs and energy, and the environment. The final proposals will form a Resolution, which will be forwarded to the competent Romanian ministries and authorities. The forum is organized by student and youth associations from Romania and abroad in partnership with the Department for Sustainable Development.

Protests — The trade unionists from the Romanian police and penitentiaries protested again, on Wednesday, in front of the government headquarters, against the measure proposed by the draft Emergency Ordinance launched for debates last week by the Labor Minister, which provides for the payment of only one fourth of the salary arrears. They remind the authorities that it has been two years since their wages were frozen, a period during which the real cumulative inflation rate exceeded 25%. The trade unionists claim that the government and the coalition have turned their backs on the economic and social demands that concern the police, the contractual employees, military retirees and the entire family of state employees in the ‘Defense, Public Order and National Security’ domains. (LS)