December 4, 2017 UPDATE

President Klaus Iohannis meets Tuesday with the ambassadors of the EU member states/ Serbia is aware of the importance of the Romanian peoples support

Newsroom, 04.12.2017, 19:41

Working lunch — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will meet Tuesday with the ambassadors of the EU member states accredited to Bucharest as part of a working lunch. It will be hosted by Estonia’s embassy, a country that is holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2017. according to a communiqué of the Presidential Administration in Bucharest, the issues to be tackled relate to the internal developments in Romania as well as to topics on the agenda of the European Council meeting scheduled for December 14 and 15, namely security and defense, migration management, the EU’s social dimension, education and culture. The issue of Brexit will also be discussed.

Brussels — The Romanian Foreign Minister, Teodor Melescanu, will participate on Tuesday and Wednesday, in Brussels, in the meeting of the foreign ministers of the NATO member countries. According to a Foreign Ministry communiqué issued on Monday the meeting is an important landmark in the run up to the NATO summit of July 2018. The main topics to be tackled at the meeting will focus on the security developments with an impact on the Alliance as well as on the role of NATO in ensuring stability, including the allied efforts to fight terrorism. Other topics will be the “open doors’ policy and the best ways to support countries aspiring to join NATO. The meeting will also be attended by the US Secretary of State, Mr. Rex Tillerson, who wanted to reassure the United States’ European allies that the US remained firmly committed as to the security of Europe.

Anti-Corruption Directorate — The prosecutors of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate started the prosecution of the current mayor of Constanta, in the southeast, Decebal Fagadau and of the former mayor Radu Mazare. The two Social Democrats are accused of abuse of office as well as of being accessory to abuse of office, in relation to authorizing the construction of a building in the center of the Mamaia resort that provided accommodation and meals. Another 3 persons are being investigated in this case. Radu Mazare held the position of mayor of Constanta between 2000 and 2015 when he resigned after being arrested on corruption charges. Fagadau was elected mayor in the summer of 2016.

Belgrade — “Serbia is aware of the importance of the Romanian people’s support” said Monday the Serbian defense minister, Aleksandar Vulin, after his meeting, in Belgrade, with his Romanian counterpart, Mihai Fifor, with whom he signed a cooperation agreement. In turn, the Romanian minister said that Serbia was a country with which Romania traditionally developed relations of friendship. He mentioned some of the issues discussed among which bilateral cooperation and the security challenges in the Western Balkans. Romania is one of the 5 EU members that did not recognize the independence of the former Serbian province of Kosovo, with a majority Albanian population, proclaimed in 2008. Bucharest supports Belgrade in its European accession efforts but asks for a more rigorous observance of the rights of the numerous Romanian community in the east of Serbia.

Justice laws — The special committee for the justice laws in the Romanian Parliament on Monday rejected an amendment to the draft law modifying the law on the organization of the judiciary, which provided for the dismantling of military courts. The president of the committee, the former Social Democratic justice minister Florin Iordache said that the report on the status of magistrates will be debated Wednesday by the Chamber of Deputies. Contested by the rightist opposition, by the press and civil society, the draft law promoted by the governing coalition stipulates, among other things, that the president of the state can no longer refuse appointing simple prosecutors and judges, that prosecutors can be controlled by their superiors, including the Justice Minister, and that magistrates have to make a statement each year that they are not under-cover agents of the secret services. Debates in the special committee will be resumed in Tuesday morning.

Brexit — The EU and Great Britain did not manage to reach, on Monday, an agreement regarding Brexit negotiations- said the president of the European Comission, Jean-Claude Juncker, at the end of his meeting in Brussels with the British PM Theresa May. Juncker added that he hoped an agreement would be reached during this week, which would allow him to present it at the EU summit scheduled for December 14 and 15. Mrs. May stated that there are two or three issues over which the two sides have diverging opinions. She herself has expressed confidence that the future discussions will end with positive results. Great Britain is to exit the EU in March 2019.

Handball – The Romanian women’s handball team will be up against Spain on Tuesday. On Sunday, the Romanians scored their second victory in Group A of the World Women’s Handball Championship hosted by Germany, by defeating Slovenia, 31 to 28. On Saturday, the Romanians defeated 29-17 the team of Paraguay in their debut match. Also on Tuesday, in Group A, Slovenia will be up against Angola and France against Paraguay. In the previous World Championship of 2015 Romania won the bronze medal, being the only team to have participated in all the 22 editions of the championship held so far.

Budapest — The secretary of state for bilateral and strategic affairs in the Euro-Atlantic space within the Romanian Foreign Ministry, George Ciamba, on Monday participated in Budapest in the meeting of the Visegrad Group (including Hungary, Poland, The Czech Republic and Slovakia) with Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Slovenia and Serbia. According to him, the meeting is important for Romania in terms of the cooperation regarding the interconnection of the central and southeast European region in the field of natural gas. (news translated by Lacramioara Simion)