January 5, 2018 UPDATE

Click here for a round-up of news from Romania

Newsroom, 05.01.2018, 19:50

MAGISTRACY – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis on Friday criticized the procedure whereby the justice laws were adopted, expressing hope the laws will be improved and that Constitutional Court judges will analyse them proficiently and objectively. The statement was made during a meeting of the Higher Council of Magistracy. The recent modifications to the justice laws have been challenged both in Parliament by opposition parties as well as in the street by civil society, as well as some magistrates. The three laws referring to the statute of magistrates, judicial organization and the functioning of the Higher Council of Magistracy have been referred to the Constitutional Court by the National Liberal Party and the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The president and vice-president of the Higher Council of Magistracy were elected during the meeting, which also occasioned a review of the institutions activity in 2017.The new head of the Higher Council of Magistracy, judge Simona Marcu, has sent a message of unity to the magistrates and a message of openness to the other state powers. The new vice-president of the Council is prosecutor Codrut Olaru.

JERUSALEM– President Klaus Iohannis on Friday had a phone conversation with
Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the latter’s initiative. According to a
communiqué of the Presidential Administration, the talks focussed on the
current stage of and the prospects for developing bilateral relations. In this
context, the two officials also approached issues related to the status of
Jerusalem. PM Netanyahu has thanked the President for Romania’s
abstaining from voting, in December 2017, on the occasion of the
adoption by the UN General Assembly of a resolution on the status of
Jerusalem. President Iohannis reiterated Romania’s stand, namely that Jerusalem
is a key issue during the peace negotiations and its status should be
established following a direct agreement between the sides. Consequently, a
possible decision on moving the Romanian Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem can
be made only based on those elements, also by taking into consideration future
evolutions of the Middle East Peace Process. The two officials have also talked
about the current situation in Iran. The Romanian president has expressed
regret over the loss of human lives following the recent protests and voiced
hope
that violence will cease and the freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful
assembly will be observed.

VISIT – Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced that at the end of next week he would visit several countries in Eastern Europe, including Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. This will be the first visit by a Japanese Prime Minister to this region, Kyodo news agency reports. “I will expand the borders of Japanese diplomacy, while at the same time asserting our close coordination in connection to North Korea and other pressing issues facing the international community, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

HEARING – Romanian Health Minister Florian Bodog was heard on Thursday by the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism as witness in the case where a reputed urosurgeon, Mihai Lucan, is accused of embezzlement. Cluj Mayor Emil Boc was subpoenaed in the same case. Both Florian Bodog and Emil Boc have denied any involvement in the case. Well revert to this topic after the news.

TOURISM – The number of bookings with Romanias tourist accommodation units has gone up by 6.2% in the first 11 months of 2017 as compared to the same period in 2016, totalling 25 million, reads a recent survey published by the National Statistics Institute. Arrivals in Romania reached 11 million, up by 10.4%. Romanians accounted for nearly 80% of total accommodations, as compared to foreign tourists representing 20%. With a 73% share, most tourists came from Europe, while 85% of these were citizens of EU Member states.

FRONTEX – Romania contributed three maritime patrol ships to FRONTEX operations aimed at supporting Greek authorities to monitor and control the EUs external borders throughout 2017. Consisting of six crews totalling 150 border police officers, the Romanian border police vessels carried out patrol, surveillance and rescue operations in the Aegean Sea, both individually and in cooperation with the crews of the other ships deployed by EU Member States to Greece. During the operations the crews completed hundreds of missions and took part in over 20 rescue operations at sea, helping save some 1,800 people, mostly women and children, who were subsequently safely transported to shore. The last crew, made up of 26 officers of the Romanian Border Police, onboard the MAI 1104 patrol ship, returned to the port of Constanta on Thursday.

STUDENTS – Romanias top-performing students who graduated with high scores in universities abroad were rewarded on Thursday as part of the Gala of Romanian Students Abroad. In the “Europa University section the first prize went to Claudia Mitrofan, a student at Cambridge University in Great Britain. Maria Bostenaru of Karlshrue University in Germany won the award for best post-grad student, while Raluca Andreea Manea, a student at Caroline University in Prague, grabbed the award for best Erasmus student. Diana Beatrix Velicu of “Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest was designated the best student in a higher education unit in Romania. (Translated by V. Palcu and D. Vijeu)