February 2, 2020 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 02.02.2020, 19:16

FILM Romanian director Radu
Ciorniciuc’s film ‘Acasa, My Home’ reaped the Special Jury Award for
Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival in the USA. According to the
organizers, the prize went to Mircea Topoleanu and Radu Ciorniciuc for their
‘fluid and tenacious camerawork’. The film was one of the 12 titles selected
out of 14 thousand productions from the world over vying for a prize in the
famous independent film festival. Ciorniciuc’s film introduces viewers to the
biggest urban delta in Europe, the Vacaresti Nature Park in Romania’s capital
Bucharest, through the eyes of a gypsy family living in the middle of the
wetlands.

VIRUS Thai doctors have obtained positive results in treating severe
cases of coronavirus infection in China by combining flu and HIV medication.
According to them, the patient’s condition improved 48 hours after the
beginning of treatment including in the case of a 70 year old woman living in
Wuhan where the virus emerged. Authorities in Beijing on Sunday announced the
death toll exceeded 300 and the army would be deploying 14 hundred of its medical personnel
to help contain the spreading and treat patients in the newly built hospital in
the province of Hubei. The number of contaminated people has reached 14,400
most of them living in the province where the virus emerged, which has now been
reported in over 20 other countries including in Europe. South Korea, the
United States and Australia have announced they may bar access to their
territories to all travelers from China, in a temporary bid to limit the spreading
of the virus. No victims have been reported in Romania so far but last week,
the new coronavirus was declared a global emergency by the World Health
Organisation who specified though that there was no reason to limit trade or
travel to China.

MEETING Romania’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban attended the Friends of
Cohesion meeting in Portugal, an event that brought together heads of state and
government and ministers from its members as well as commissioners in charge of
budget issues and cohesion policy. In his address during the meeting, the
Romanian official highlighted the importance of adopting an ambitious budget
capable of offering the union the necessary resources for meeting the
objectives on its strategic agenda. The budget must also be realistic in terms
of ensuring a balance between the growth objectives it has to meet and the
response to Europe’s new challenges. Orban also reiterated Romania’s support
for reaching as soon as possible a political agreement on the future European
budget, which must allow for the commencement of the next EU-funded programmes
and projects in due time. The participants have signed a joint statement pledging
to leave unaltered the EU funds destined to Europe’s less developed regions.

MOTION The censure motion against the Liberal government in
Bucharest tabled by the opposition PSD will be presented to Parliament on
Monday. The Social Democrats’ move was decided after the Executive led by
Ludovic Orban had assumed responsibility for a project on reintroducing the
two-round election of mayors, almost half a year before the event. According to
the Social Democrats, the present government must step down for its decision to
amend the election law right before the event, which runs against European
standards and also for endorsing the new amendments unilaterally without talks
and debates over the project. According to the president of the Chamber of
Deputies and PSD interim leader Marcel Ciolacu, ‘we are currently facing the
severest crisis of abuse of power’. The Liberals, however, argue that the new
system of voting will increase the candidates’ representation and legitimacy.
The Social Democrats say the motion could get endorsed by 233 MPs standing
chances to clear the threshold. Prime Minister Orban says he is ready for any
result and that his objectives are to ensure a stable governance and win the
future local and parliament election.

BREXIT EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier is expected to make public on
Monday his negotiation plan for the future relations the bloc is going to have
with the UK. The Europeans have pledged fair but firm negotiations. None of the
73 British MEPs elected last year in May will be allowed to participate in
Parliament works beginning on Monday. 46 mandates have been reserved for the
EU’s future members, while 27 will be distributed among the other members. Nor
will British citizens be allowed to serve in other EU official jobs and some of
them have applied for double citizenship to keep their jobs. The UK left the
European Union on Friday night after 47 years of membership being the first
member to leave the bloc since its foundation. Romanian president Klaus
Iohannis has voiced Romania’s regret over Britain’s decision to leave the bloc
but he hopes the country will remain a close partner and a trustworthy ally
sharing the same values. Bucharest has as its key priority the protection of
legitimate rights and interests of the Romanian citizens working or studying in
the UK, Iohannis has also added.

(translated by bill)