December 20, 2022
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 20.12.2022, 14:17
Visit. Romanias President Klaus Iohannis receives today his Portuguese counterpart, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, on the occasion of his visit to the 1st Training Battalion Olt in Caracal (south), the Presidential Administration has announced. The visit of the President of Portugal takes place in the context of an intense, high-level bilateral dialogue, but also of work, and close coordination within the European Union and NATO. The field of Defense is a key part of bilateral cooperation, with Portugal participating in the multinational NATO force in Romania to strengthen the allied defense on the Eastern Flank with a contingent of land forces stationed in Caracal. Todays discussions between Klaus Iohannis and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa concern the intensification of Romanian-Portuguese cooperation both in the field of Defense, economic, commercial, digital agenda, renewable energy sources, health and education. The security situation in Ukraine is also addressed, with an emphasis on the intensification of humanitarian assistance to the neighboring country Romania in the context of the coming of winter, as well as on the support in facilitating grain exports.
Schengen. The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, spent two days in Bucharest, against the background of Austria and the Netherlands blocking Romanias accession to Schengen at the latest Justice and Home Affairs Council. In a speech in Romanias Parliament, she stated that the decision to continue to keep Romania outside the Schengen area was wrong. Roberta Metsola also discussed this issue with President Klaus Iohannis.
Visit. The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, continues, today, his official visit to the neighboring Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, predominantly Romanian-speaking), at the invitation of his counterpart, Nicu Popescu. Yesterday, he had meetings with the head of state, the pro-Western Maia Sandu, with the Speaker of Parliament Parliament, Igor Grosu, and with the prime minister Natalia Gavriliţa. Minister Aurescu reiterated “the full support from Romania in managing the wide-ranging crises faced by the Republic of Moldova and its citizens and in advancing at a determined pace the reforms necessary for joining the European Union”. In Bucharest, USR and AUR, in the opposition, accused Aurescu (independent, supported by PNL) of having gone to Chisinau to avoid, on Monday, giving explanations in Parliament, where he had been summoned after the failure of the Romanian candidacy for the Schengen .
Pensions. The opposition Save Romania Union submitted to Parliament a draft law on the elimination of the special pensions received by former Securitate employees, who have received final court rulings. There are 1,300 former officers from the political police of the dictatorial regime before 1989 who receive such pensions, even though there are final court rulings on their names stating that they were Securitate employees and carried out actions by which they suppressed or restricted rights and fundamental human freedoms, in order to support the communist power. According to the USR leader, Cătălin Drula, the elimination of these special pensions is a minimum moral reparation that can be made to all those who fought for freedom. The modern democratic Romanian state cannot be allowed to reward with privileges those who beat, tortured or killed, he also said.
Cernavoda. The Romanian Government approved, this week, through a bill, the support agreement for the units 3 and 4 of the Cernavodă nuclear power plant (south-east), the Government spokesperson Dan Cărbunaru has announced. He said that both units will increase the contribution of nuclear energy to the national energy system from 20 to 36%. At the same time, new jobs will be created in the field and the supply chain will be developed. Dan Cărbunaru also said that, according to estimates, unit 3 of the Cernavodă power plant would come into operation at the end of 2030, and a year later, unit 4. After approval by the Government, the support agreement will go to Parliament.
Victory Day. In Timişoara, western Romania, events commemorating 33 years since the anti-communist Revolution culminate today with the celebration of Victory Day. On December 20, 1989, after tens of thousands of Timisoara residents took to the streets demonstrating against Nicolae Ceauşescus dictatorial regime, Timisoara was proclaimed the first city free of communism in Romania. In memory of that day, a symposium is taking place today, and in the evening a video mapping show is scheduled, with images from the time of the Revolution projected on the facade of the Opera House. The revolt against the communist regime in Romania broke out in Timişoara on December 16, 1989 and spread, starting December 21, to Bucharest and other cities of the country. In total, more than 1,000 people died and around 3,000 were injured in the fighting that took place in the only country in Eastern Europe where the change of the regime was done with bloodshed. (MI)
