December 12, 2018
Romanian Chamber of Deputies postpones final vote on new pension bill
Newsroom, 12.12.2018, 13:50
ATTACK — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis conveyed a message of condolence to his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, following Tuesday’s attack in the eastern French city of Strasbourg. Romania stands by France in its battle against those who threaten the lives of innocent people and our way of living, President Iohannis has said in his message. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry there are no Romanian citizens among the victims and no consular assistance has been requested. Romania’s Consulate monitors the situation and keeps in touch with local authorities. Romania’s PM Viorica Dancila has firmly condemned, in a Facebook post, the attack on innocent people. Hundreds of police officers are hunting a gunman who killed three people and wounded 12 others in a shooting in Strasbourg on Tuesday. The suspect escaped after exchanging fire with soldiers and armed police. The shooting took place close to a popular Christmas market near one of the central squares, Place Kléber. The motive for the shooting remains unclear. Police sources said the 29-year- old suspect was born in Strasbourg and was already known to the security services as a possible terrorist threat. France had raised its security alert level to “emergency attack”.
UKRAINE — State Secretary with the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Dan Neculaescu, has said in a message to the Ukrainian authorities that they must implement the Venice Commission’s recommendations as regards the education law. Romania says the law banning schools from teaching in minority languages beyond primary school level is unacceptable, as it deprives national minorities of the rights they have earned. The Romanian official’s position was presented at the 7th session of the Romanian-Ukrainian joint intergovernmental commission regarding the protection of national minorities, held in Bucharest. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, in spite of the efforts deployed, it was not possible to have the text of the session’s protocol agreed on and signed at the December 11 meeting. Dan Neculaescu has voiced confidence that the Ukrainian side will not take measures likely to restrict the rights of the Romanian minority in Ukraine. Almost 500 thousand Romanian nationals live in the neighbouring country, most of them on the Romanian territories annexed by the USSR in 1940 and taken over by Ukraine, as a successor state, in 1991.
GAC – Romanian Minister-Delegate for European Affairs, George Ciamba, has taken over officially the mandate of president of the General Affairs Council of the European Union, at the end of a meeting with his counterparts, held in Brussels. Special attention was paid at the meeting to the 2021-2027 multi-annul financial framework, in preparation for the debates to be held by the European leaders at the European Council due on December 13-14.
PENSIONS — The Chamber of Deputies’ final vote on the new pension law, scheduled for today, has been postponed, after having been green lighted by the Labour and Social Protection Committee on Tuesday. Some MPs in the opposition say this is due to the fact that the ruling alliance has not managed to gather enough votes for the bill to pass. Among its provisions is also the one saying that work experience worth 15 years is the minimum amount that qualifies a worker for a public pension.
EU COUNCIL – The Romanian Senate and Chamber of Deputies convene in joint session today in Bucharest to adopt the declaration regarding the parliamentary dimension of the EU Council presidency that Romania is taking over on January 1st, 2019. Also today, PM Viorica Dancila is invited to present before Parliament the government’s priorities during the Romanian mandate at the helm of the EU Council. For six months Romania will be at the centre of the European decision-making process, at a time of complex international developments, such as Brexit and also the multi-annual financial framework and the European Parliament elections.
HANDBALL – Romania’s national women’s handball team is today playing against Hungary in Nancy, their last game of the European Championship’s main groups. Scheduled in the same group are the games between Spain and Norway and Holland and Germany. On Tuesday evening Romania beat Spain, 27-25 and are now top of the table with 6 points. Following are Holland also with 6 points, Norway, Germany and Hungary with 4 points each. Spain are bottom of the table, with zero points. The first two teams of the group qualify to the semi-finals. Romania’s best result so far at the European Championship was the bronze in 2010.
(Translated by Elena Enache)
