July 13, 2016 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 13.07.2016, 12:30
COURT APPOINTMENTS President Klaus Iohannis has called on the newly appointed Constitutional Court justices to uphold high standards of professionalism and independence. He also called on them to build the court into a model of clear, coherent and predictable jurisprudence. Three new justices have been sworn in for the next nine years. The nine justices have elected Valer Dorneanu as their president for the following three years. A Social-Democratic MP between 2000 and 2008, Dorneanu was also president of the Chamber of Deputies for four years and has been a Constitutional Court judge since 2013.
HANOI Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos continued his visit to Vietnam where he was welcomed by the country’s president and Prime Minister. They explored new opportunities for cooperation in energy, industry, farming, banking, infrastructure, IT, science and technology, sustainable development and tourism. In the energy sector, Romanian companies Transgaz and Transelectrica have signed memorandums with similar companies in Vietnam. A cooperation program in education and training, as well as culture, was signed for 2016-2020. The Romanian PM also took part in a business forum, where he presented the opportunities displayed by Romania economically, considering a relationship 66 years old.
SUMMIT Representatives of Russia and NATO held talks in Brussels over bolstering NATO military capabilities on the Eastern flank and the effects of this decision recently made at the Alliance’s summit in Warsaw. According to NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, the ambassadors of the 28 participant countries and their Russian counterpart have again noticed the profound disagreements over the conflict in Ukraine. According to Russian analysts, the main threat to Moscow is the anti-missile shield in Romania and Poland, and that hinders the dialogue NATO wants to promote.
TENNIS Fifth-seeded Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu on Wednesday was knocked out of the round of 16 at the BRD Bucharest Open by Polona Hercog of Slovenia. On Thursday in the same tournament two other Romanians, Simona Halep, the world’s number five player and the contest’s odds-on favourite, and Patricia Tig will be taking on Isabella Shinikova of Bulgaria and Latvian Anastasia Sevastova, respectively. The tournament in Bucharest has 250 thousand dollars in prize money.
DRILL The biggest multinational exercise staged by the Romanian Navy will be taking place over July the 18th and 22nd in Romania’s territorial waters and in the international Black Sea waters. The SEA SHIELD 16 is an exercise aimed at assessing the structures of the Romanian Naval Forces, nominated to become part of the NATO Reaction Force in 2016 and 2017. For five days, 1,000 Romanian soldiers will be participating alongside 1000 foreign soldiers from seven countries in joint drills during which they will be applying NATO operation procedures for various situations when faced with surface, air and submarine threats.
RESIGNATION Queen Elizabeth of Britain has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron. Pro-European Cameron announced his intention to resign on June 24th shortly after the Brexit referendum. His mandate was to last until autumn but he resigned so that he may allow Interior Minister Theresa May to take over. She is the one to activate Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which regulates the procedure of leaving the EU. Theresa May will thus become Britain’s second woman Prime Minister after Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990).
PROTEST In an unprecedented situation in Romania, numerous inmates have been protesting as of yesterday in 11 penitentiaries out of the country’s total 45, denouncing the overcrowded detention centers and the inapropriate medical services at the same time calling for reduced prison sentences and terms set by the Parole Commission. Some of the inmates have refused food, some protested verbally, while others protested by rattling bars or climbing up a detention facility. In early July, the Justice Ministry announced it had adopted jointly with the National Administration of the Penitentiaries a series of measures aimed at improving the inmates’ access to work, hiring additional medical personnel, cleaning and sanitizing detention places and providing dental treatment for inmates. The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly asked Romania to pay damages to some inmates for the improper detention conditions.
