July 19, 2019 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 19.07.2019, 19:50
EUROPEAN PROSECUTOR – According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Presidential Administration, in a phone conversation on Friday, the French President Emmanuel Macron told the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis that he would withdraw the candidacy of Jean Francois Bohner and support the Romanian Laura Codruta Kovesi as European Chief Prosecutor. Previously, the European Parliament had recalled its support for the former head of Romanias National Anticorruption Directorate. The European Parliament decided in spring to support Laura Codruta Kovesi, but the Council of the EU preferred the French candidate Jean-Francois Bohnert. Several rounds of negotiations between the delegations of the two institutions have ended in no result. According to the Regulation establishing the future European Public Prosecutors office, “The European Parliament and the Council shall appoint by common accord the European Chief Prosecutor for a non-renewable term of 7 years.”
JHA – On Thursday and Friday, the Romanian Justice Minister Ana Birchall participated in the informal meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Helsinki, the first organized by the Finish Presidency of the Council of the EU. According to a communiqué issued by the line ministry, the Romanian official said that, in the past years, Romania had paid growing attention to alternatives to detention, as viable solutions to the development of judicial cooperation in criminal matters. The minister also said that the Finish Presidency would continue the discussions started by the Romanian Presidency in the first half of the year, with regard to the path to be followed in that respect. Topics of common interest were discussed at the meeting in Helsinki, such as strengthening the rule of law, the independence, quality and effectiveness of the national justice systems and the importance of fair trials, as well as detention and alternatives to detention against the background of judicial cooperation.
MINISTERIAL – At the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, organized by the US Department of State in Washington, the Romanian State Secretary Maria Magdalena Grigore has stressed the fact that Romania will always be a supporter and promoter of religious freedom and tolerance, reads a communiqué issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry. We believe that ethnic and religious diversity are sources of development, which enrich any culture or society, and the recent visit paid by Pope Francis to Romania confirmed the inter-confessional harmony in the country, the Romanian official also said. The ministerial conference gathered some 100 foreign ministers and high-ranking government officials from all over the world. The participants discussed current challenges to religious freedom and analyzed and identified concrete means to fight religious persecution. The meeting, hosted by the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is the largest event of its kind in the world. Romania adhered to two of the declarations adopted at the conference, one concerning the respect for religion and faith, and the other one on the protection of places of worship.
FINANCING – The Romanian Finance Ministry has finalized the external financing plan for this year, by collecting 2 billion Euros from the second issue of Euro-bonds in 2019, the institution announced on Friday. The issue was oversubscribed 2.6 times, and the ministry speaks of a balanced presence of European and American investors. Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici has stated that the interest in the Eurobonds issued by the Romanian state confirms investors long-term trust in the performance of the Romanian economy.
DEFICIT – In the first quarter this year, Romania registered the highest government budget deficit in the EU. According to Eurostat, public spending was higher than revenues, with 4.5% of the GDP, against a European average of only 0.6%. Romania ranked first also with regard to the increase in the government budget deficit compared to the last quarter of last year, with an increase of 1.7%. As regards the government debt against the GDP, at the end of the first quarter this year Romania was among the countries with the lowest levels, being one of the 13 countries that registered a drop.
FESTIVAL – The 11th Rasnov Histories and Film Festival kicked off on Friday, to last until the 28th of July. Spectators will have the opportunity to watch film screenings, theatre performances, rock and baroque music concerts, held in a special place in the center of the town. The festival will also host debates on topics such as the 1989 anti-Communist revolution, economic freedom, the music of freedom, earned freedom – lost freedom or cinema and freedom. Romanian emigration, the future of Europe after Brexit, digitization and minorities are other topics to be approached. The festival will also mark 70 years since the setting up of the North Atlantic Alliance and 50 years since the first moon landing.
(translated by M. Ignatescu)
