January 31, 2016
28 parliament members have asked the Council of Europe to examine the functioning of the Norwegian child protection services
Newsroom, 30.01.2016, 12:16
The Republic of Moldova’s Parliament begins its spring session on Monday, against the background of protests by the pro-Russian opposition and the civil society who push for early elections. According to Parliament Speaker Adrian Candu, one of the legislative body’s first meetings will focus on aproving a referendum on the president’s election directly by citizens. Analysts, however, see this measure as a concession made to protesters who nevertheless consider it insufficient. The Moldovan Parliament’s agenda also includes a series of important laws meant to bring their country closer to the EU, such as implementing the association agreement, reforming the judiciary and fighting corruption. On Saturday evening, Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos conveyed a letter to his Moldovan counterpart, Pavel Filip, with the reforms that Chisinau has to implement as soon as possible so that a first instalment of 60 million euros to be disbursed from the 150-million euro repayable loan granted by Bucharest. Among these reforms are the urgent implementation of EU-Moldova Association Agenda, initiating a set of laws likely to improve the business environment, taking the necessaty stepts to reach an agreement with the IMF and appointing a governor of Moldova’s National Bank.
As many as 28 parliament members from 14 states have called on the Council of Europe to urgently examine the functioning manner of the Norwegian child protection services. Initiated by Romania’s representatives in the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, the measure stipulates that separating a child from his or her family should be considered only after some intermediary measures have been taken, such as social investigation, psychological counselling and mediation. The move comes after all five children of a Romanian-Norwegian family, settled in Norway, were taken by the local social services over minor physical punishments from their parents. The case continues to generate emotional responses, with thousands of people having participated in street protests in several Romanian cities on Saturday, in solidarity with the Romanian families in Norway that have been separated from their children by authorities in this country.
The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has today proclaimed the canonization of John Jacob of Neamt, a monk of Romanian origin. Born in 1913 in northeastern Romania, he became a monk at the Neamt Monastery in the country and soon after he moved to the Holy Land where he lived near Jordan River and, towards the end of his life, in the wilderness of Hozeva. All his life he took care of the ill and the wounded. He later withdrew to a cave, where he died at the age of 47. The Romanian Orthodox Church declared him Saint in 1992.
The Authority for Emergency Situations in the county of Suceava, northeastern Romania, has approved a series of measures against swine flu that killed over 120 people in the neighbouring Ukraine. Five people have died in the Cernauti region alone, at the border with Romania. The Romanian Foreign Ministry recommends Romanian citizens to avoid travelling to Ukraine in the upcoming period.
Romania is attending for the 8th consecutive year the famous Venice Carnival that officially opened today. Tourists and locals will have the chance to see a special ethnographic exhibition, a selection of the most beautiful and representative heritage objects from the collection of the Village Museum in Bucharest. The exhibition is aimed at promoting Romanian culture.
The pair made up of Romanian Horia Tecau and Coco Vandeweghe of the US on Sunday lost to fifth-seeds Elena Vesnina of Russia and Bruno Soares of Brazil, 6-4, 4-6, 10-5 in the mixed doubles final of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. In 2012 Horia Tecau won the mixed doubles at Australian Open together with Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US. On the other hand, German tennis player Angelique Kerber won her first Grand Slam tournament on Saturday, after defeating Serena Williams of the US in the women’s finals. For her win Kerber will step up to 2nd place in WTA standings, replacing Romanian Simona Halep. Serena Williams will remain world leader.
