January 9, 2015

Romanian-German relations; protests against Norwegian child welfare approach of Bodnariu case

Newsroom, 09.01.2016, 12:00

DIPLOMACY – Romanias relationship with Germany is strategic, and the visit made to Berlin on Thursday by the Romanian delegation headed by PM Dacian Cioloş proves the importance and attention that Bucharest pays to this country, said the Foreign Minister Lazăr Comănescu in an interview to Radio Romania News and Current Affairs. The Romanian official added that next week he would once again travel to Berlin, for a bilateral visit. Lazar Comanescu highlighted the importance of Germany as the economic engine of Europe, and as a partner of Romania. According to the Foreign Minister, over 20% of Romanias foreign trade involves Germany. He also explained that more than 20,000 companies running on German capital operate in Romania and have created more than 300,000 jobs here.

PROTESTS – In several cities in Romania, protests are taking place today to express support for the Bodnariu family, whose children were taken in November 2015 by child protection authorities in Norway. Solidarity marches will also take place in Italy, Netherlands, and Belgium. Yesterday, Romanian and Norwegian officials discussed this topic in Bucharest, and agreed to work together to settle the issue. The Ambassador of Romania to Oslo will have a meeting on January 13 with representatives of Norways Ministry for Children, Equality and Social Inclusion. A parliamentary delegation made up of members of the Committee on Romanian communities abroad will make a visit to Norway between January 18 and 22, to discuss the case. The Norwegian social services took the 5 Bodnariu children from their parents, after the principal of the school attended by the older daughters reported that the children were subjected to physical punishment by their parents.

EXPULSION – The Jordan national Jamal Khalil will be expelled from Romania today, for national security reasons. The High Court of Cassation and Justice yesterday dismissed the defences appeal against a Bucharest Court of Appeals ruling issued last year. Jamal Khalil was declared undesirable in Romania for 15 years, after authorities found solid indications that the individual in question conducted actions likely to threaten national security. According to the Romanian Intelligence Service, Jamal A. Abdel Jabbar Khalil Shalash, who has been in Romania since 1991, was monitored by the Service since 2014. The Intelligence agency said the Jordanian citizen was an unconditional supporter of the IS terrorist group, for which he was conducting online propaganda campaigns, and was willing to get involved in operations targeting Romanias security.

COUNTER-TERRORISM TASK FORCE – The White House announced on Friday the set-up of a new task force, combining members of several federal agencies, to counter the IS group propaganda both on US territory and abroad. The task force will focus particularly on the internet and social media, which have been extensively used by extremists to disseminate their message. The announcement comes after several White House officials met in Silicon Valley (California) with leaders of internet giants like Facebook, Google, Twitter, YouTube, to analyse means to prevent the use of social media for IS terrorist purposes.

S. KOREAN PROPAGANDA – North Korea responded to the South-Korean propaganda broadcasts, which was resumed on Friday, Reuters reports. Seoul resumed broadcasting propaganda via loudspeakers on its North Korean border, in response to Pyongyangs latest nuclear test. Loudspeakers placed on the heavily militarised buffer zone between the two countries broadcast pop music, weather reports, information or criticism of the North Korean regime. The resumption of this psychological warfare method, which in August triggered threats of military retaliation from North Korea, comes as the international community is trying to identify an effective response to Pyongyangs announcement on Wednesday that it had successfully conducted an H-bomb test.

SPORTS – The Romanian player Monica Niculescu Saturday won the first title for Romanian tennis in 2016. Jointly with the American Vania King, she won the doubles final of the tournament in Shenzhen (China), which has 430,000 US dollars in prize money. In the final, Niculescu/King won 6-1, 6-4, the match against the Chinese Yi-Fan Xu / Saisai Zheng, seeded no. 1. Monica Niculescu also won the doubles tournament in Shenzhen, in 2014, together with Klara Koukalova (the Czech Republic).