January 12, 2018 UPDATE
Diplomatic tensions between Romania, Hungary
Newsroom, 12.01.2018, 19:44
TENSIONS The Romanian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that PM Mihai Tudoses statements concerned the responsibilities that central and local authorities in Romania have with respect to the enforcement of the law, and had no anti-Hungarian implications. According to the Ministry, the Prime Ministers statements had to do with the need to comply with constitutional order and the rule of law in Romania, which is a sovereign and indivisible state. Romanias Ambassador to Budapest was invited on Friday to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, following statements made by PM Tudose concerning the self-proposed autonomy of the Szecklers, an ethnic Hungarian group in Transylvania. As the Romanian official put it, “should the Szeckler colours fly on the public institutions there, everybody will fly with them. Budapest views the statement as unacceptable and unworthy of European values and the values of the 21st Century, said the Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. Hungarys Foreign Ministry said it was waiting for explanations and excuses from the Government of Romania in this respect. Romanian authorities and political parties see the demands of the Hungarian community and political representatives, who want local autonomy for the regions in Transylvania where most of the ethnic Hungarians live, as coming against the constitution of Romania.
ANTI-CORRUPTION The head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruţa Kövesi, will be subject to a disciplinary procedure conducted by the Prosecutors Division of the Higher Council of Magistrates, after the judicial inspection corps moved against her over professional misconduct. Following transcripts of audio recordings made public in June 2017, Kovesi is accused, among other things, of conduct detrimental to the honour and professional probity of prosecutors and to the image of the judiciary. According to judicial inspectors, she used dismissive and aggressive language with fellow prosecutors, which is unacceptable by the basic ethics code of the magistrate profession. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate headed by Laura Kövesi has been constantly praised in European Commission reports on the Romanian judiciary.
DEFENCE A contract was signed in Bucharest on Friday for the purchase of 227 Piranha armored fighting vehicles. Under the contract, the first 30 vehicles are to be delivered from Switzerland and the rest will be produced in Romania. The total cost of the purchase stays around 895 million euros. These vehicles offer the highest protection to personnel and can be equipped with various weapons. They are mainly used as personnel carriers but can be adjusted for medevac or other specific missions. The Defence Ministry is to also purchase 173 trucks that will be used as troops carriers or to provide logistics support.
DIPLOMACY Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Friday left Tokyo on a diplomatic tour to Central and Eastern Europe, which takes him to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania. The Japanese official is trying to rally support for Tokyos firm stand against North Korea, France Press reports. This is the first such visit paid by a Japanese Premier to the region. The Japanese official is to be received by president Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest on Tuesday. The agenda of the talks includes the stage and prospects in the process of strengthening the very good relations under the Renewed Partnership between Romania and Japan at political, economic and cultural level as well as in terms of security and human relations, the Romanian presidency has announced. Other issues, such as the cooperation between the EU and Japan, regional developments with an emphasis to the North Korean file, as well as the Romanian-Japanese cooperation, are also to be tackled. This is the first visit to Romania by a Japanese Prime Minister and comes against the background of celebrating five years since the 2013 Renewed Partnership between Romania and Japan.
TENNIS Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzarnescu Friday defeated the Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals of the WTA tournament in Hobart, Australia with 225,000 dollars in prize money. Mihaela, who on Monday is to join the worlds top 50 players for the first time in her career, will be playing Belgian Elise Mertens (WTA 36) in the finals. Australian Open, the years first Grand Slam tournament is to commence on Monday with the worlds best player, Romanian Simona Halep, as the odds-on favourite. The Romanian will be playing Australian Destanee Aiava in the competitions first round. Besides Halep, the women singles main draw has another five players from Romania: Sorana Cirstea, Irina Begu, Mihaela Buzarnescu, Monica Niculescu and Ana Bogdan. Marius Copil (ATP 93) will be representing Romania in the mens singles.
(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)
