January 23, 2020 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 23.01.2020, 20:01

FORUM – On Thursday, President
Klaus Iohannis attended the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, marking 75 years since
the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, titled
Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Antisemitism. This is the
widest public event ever hosted by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in
Jerusalem. Previously, President Iohannis ensured his Israeli counterpart, Reuven
Rivlin, that Romania would continue to support the preservation of Holocaust
memory, combat anti-Semitism, prevent discrimination and any means of violence.
Romanian Crown custodian Margareta on Thursday sent a letter to the Israeli
president, recalling the Romanian Royal Family’s contribution to eradicating
anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia. HM Margareta and Prince Radu were the
first members of the Romanian Royal Family to visit the State of Israel in April
2014. Representing King Michael I, the two visited the Yad Vashem Memorial
Museum, observed a moment of silence before the engraved tomb stone devoted to
Queen Elena, while Margareta lit the eternal flame in the Hall of Remembrance.

JHA – Justice Minister
Catalin Predoiu is attending a two-day informal meeting of the Justice and Home
Affairs (JHA) Council hosted by Zagreb, Croatia. This is the first ministerial
meeting hosted under the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European
Union. In the justice section, line ministers will address progress on
strategic policies in the fields of liberty, security and justice, legal
education and the importance of legal networks in the civilian and trade
sectors. According to a Romanian Justice Ministry release, talks focus on civil
and criminal law cooperation, border protection, modernizing and digitizing
judicial systems and adapting to the impact of AI.

UKRAINE – The Romanian State Secretary with
the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Dan Neculaescu, on Thursday met with the
Ukrainian ambassador to Bucharest, Olexandr Bankov. According to a communiqué
issued by the ministry, the Romanian official reiterated the special importance
laid on ensuring the rights of the Romanian minority in Ukraine, in keeping
with the international norms and standards in the field. Bucharest has voiced
concern for the effects of the new law on secondary education, adopted on
January 16th 2020, on the right to education in Romania of the
members of the Romanian community in Ukraine and the Romanian side’s interest
in boosting dialogue with Ukraine. The Romanian Foreign Ministry asked for
clarifications regarding the mentioning of Romania in the speech of the
Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelenski, who said that in 1918 North Bukovina
was occupied by Romanians, and Czechoslovakia took Transcarpathia. According to
Ambassador Bankov, the president’s statement was wrongly translated from
Ukrainian into English on the Presidency’s official page. He voiced regret for
the unpleasant situation and stated that it had been remedied.

DEFICIT -
Romanian PM Ludovic Orban has given assurances that there is no risk for the
budget deficit to grow in 2020. He has stated he understands the worries of the
Fiscal Council, which has warned that the deficit might be higher than 3.6% of
the GDP, as estimated by the Govenrment. Ludovic Orban has also said that there
is a plan meant to improve the collection of taxes and fees and to fight
against tax evation. On Thursday, the Fiscal Council spoke of a deficit of
4.6-4.8% of the GDP. The council’s analysis took into account the budget
implementation in 2019 and the construction of the budget this year, but also
the lowering of some taxes and fees.

FUNDS – Romania has so
far absorbed 11.04 billion euros from EU structural funds over 2014-2020 under
the Cohesion and Common Agricultural policies. Adding to this sum is another
7.92 billion euros in direct payments to farmers, Carmen Moraru, State
Secretary with the Romanian Ministry for European Funds, has said. Romania’s
absorption rate has thus reached 36%, 3% below the European average. The
Romanian official has stated that in the 2014-2020 period Romania was allotted
22.4 billion euros under the Cohesion Policy. As regards the 2021-2027
financial framework, Romania will be earmarked 30.6 billion euros. Carmen
Moraru has attended a series of meetings in Brussels at the European Commission
and European Parliament, and has paid a visit to the Orsi Academy in Ghent,
Belgium, a pioneering research project funded under the Cohesion Policy.

FLU VIRUS – A
78-year-old man from Arges County has died to the flu virus , raising the death
toll to 3 since the start of the winter season. Arges is one of the most
affected counties, alongside Brasov and Cluj and the capital city, where
hundreds of cases have been reported. Classes are temporarily suspended in
several schools and kindergartens. At national level, over a quarter of the patients
presenting symptoms have been officially diagnosed as having the flu. Doctors
warn the only real prevention measure is vaccination. The number of Romanians
who have taken the anti-flu shot this year is higher compared to 2019, when
some 200 people died to complications caused by the flu virus.

BREXIT
– Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal became law on Thursday, after it received assent
from the Queen, having cleared all its stages in parliament. The deal became
law after three years of fiery talks on when, how and even if Brexit should
take place. Boris Johnson is to officially signed the withdrawal agreement in
the coming days. The royal assent for the bill means that UK is set to leave
the EU on January 31st, as long as the European parliament approves
the deal as well, on January 29th.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis
player Simona Halep, seeded fourth at the Australian Open, on Thursday defeated Harriet Dart of Great Britain (173
WTA), in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 in the competition’s second round. In the
third round, on Saturday, she will take on Iulia Putinteva of Kazakhstan. A finalist in 2018 in Melbourne, Halep is the
only Romanian left in the competition. Romania is also represented in the
women’s doubles.