February 9, 2017 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 09.02.2017, 12:30

PROPOSAL The Minister Delegate for European Affairs with the government in Bucharest, Ana Birchall, was proposed by Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu on Thursday as the interim Justice Minister. Grindeanu has already submitted the proposal to the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis. Former Justice Minister, Florin Iordache, on Thursday announced his resignation, although he said that all the initiatives assumed were legal and constitutional. His decision has been hailed by all opposition parties. Iordaches resignation has also been asked by the government politicians after having promoted amendments to the penal legislation through an ordinance, a move that triggered the largest street protests in Romania in the past 27 years. Even if the ordinance, which attracted a lot of heat from the main legal institutions in Romania and the countrys NATO and EU partners, has been abrogated by the government, protests are still underway in the capital Bucharest and in other cities across the country.

DEFENCE The US anti-missile shield mounted in Deveselu, southern Romania, is not directed against Russia, but has only a purely defensive character, completely in line with UN Charter provisions, the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest reiterated on Thursday. This position is also shared by the North-Atlantic Alliance, a fact also mentioned in the final statement of the NATO 2016 Summit, when it was decided the installations in Deveselu be integrated in the allied anti-missile system, a Foreign Ministry communiqué underlines. The statement came after Aleksandr-Botan Harcenko, head of Department lV for European Affairs within the Russian Foreign Ministry had said that ‘after the installation of elements of the US anti-missile shield on its territory, Romania is considered by Moscow an outpost-country, posing a threat to the security of the Russian Federation. The statement was made in an interview the Russian official gave to Russian news agency Interfax.

BERLINALE Berlin hosts starting Thursday the 67th edition of the Berlinale, the first major European film festival. Competing are 24 international productions in the official selection. Among them is Romanian feature motion picture ‘Ana, mon amour’, by Calin Peter Netzer, a director who has already won a Golden Bear in Berlin in 2013 with the film ‘Child’s Pose’. Romania also competes this year in the Berlinale Talents competition with directors Ilinca Calugareanu and Ioana Mischie, actor Alexandru Potocean, producer Andra Popescu, director of photography Carmen Tofeni, distributor Matei Truta, and scriptwriter Monica Stan. Actor Tudor Aaron Istodor competes in the Shooting Star section, while the project ‘The Doe’ by Bogdan George Apetri competes in the Co-production Market section. Romania also has a stand at the European Film Market, screening recent productions.

COLD Temperatures continue to drop all throughout Romania, with mostly overcast skies. Meteorologists warned that overnight temperatures would be dangerously low until February 14th. Temperatures over the next few days are expected to plunge to – 17 degrees in most of the regions while in the countrys center and northeast they could go as down as – 22 degrees.