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July 27, 2018 UPDATE

VISIT — Romanian PM Viorica Dancila who is on an official tour of the West Balkans, visited Skopje on Friday, where she met with her Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev. Dancila reconfirmed Bucharest’s strong commitment to supporting Macedonia in its bid to join the EU and NATO. Dancila also discussed with Zoran Zaev about the Macedonian citizens in Romania and about the Aromanians in Macedonia. She also said she was confident that there are excellent opportunities for cooperation in the field of agriculture.

Newsroom, 27.07.2018, 19:05

JUSTICE – The Justice Ministry in Bucharest announced on Friday that it would resume the procedure for proposing a candidate for head prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA). The selection of candidates will start on August 6th and it will last one month, with the interviews to be held at the beginning of September. A conclusion will be presented on September 6, the Justice Ministry announced. The Ministry announced that all four candidacies submitted for the position of chief prosecutor of the Anti Corruption Directorate were rejected and that the procedure would be resumed. The four candidates were interviewed on Thursday by line minister Tudorel Toader. The four are Florentina Mirică, head prosecutor for the anti-corruption service of the DNA, Cristian Lazăr — head prosecutor with the criminal investigation section, Marius Iacob, deputy head prosecutor, and Elena Grecu, head prosecutor with the central section of the DNA. The position became vacant when former chief prosecutor Laura Codruţa Kovesi was dismissed by presidential decree on 9 July, compelled by a Constitutional Court ruling.

BUDGET – The general consolidated budget deficit in Romania in the first semester of this year reached 3.2 billion Euro, 1.61% of the GDP, according to the Finance Ministry. In the first half of the year, revenues were almost 13% higher, but expenditure rose more sharply, by almost 19% more than the same period of 2017.

BIAS — Baneasa Airport in Bucharest is hosting on Saturday the Bucharest International Air Show & General Aviation Exhibition, the biggest air show in Romania. Over one hundred pilots and parachutists from 13 countries will attend, with 150 civil and military aircraft. Poland will be attending for the first time, alongside pilots from Greece, Hungary, the US, Spain, Italy, Turkey and Germany.

ELECTION — The Chisinau Parliament decided on Friday that the next parliamentary elections in Moldova to be held on February 24th, 2019. The mandate of the current Parliament expires on November 30, and elections must be held three months after this date at the latest, that is end-February 2019, in keeping with the Moldovan law. Experts say the next election will be based on the mixed election system passed in 2017 against the Venice Commission’s recommendations.

EXTRADITION – Serbia rejected the Romanian Justice Ministry’s request for the extradition of former Romanian MP Sebastian Ghita. The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Belgrade has decided that Ghita is eligible for being granted asylum in Serbia. Being investigated in a number of criminal cases, Sebastian Ghita fled Romania in December 2016. After an international arrest warrant was issued, Ghita was detained, in April 2017, in Belgrade, after presenting a fake passport. In May, Serbia’s Supreme Court approved his release on bail.

REPATRIATION — The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has announced it finalized the procedure to repatriate from Syria, via Turkey, a group of seven people, six Romanian citizens, five of them minors, and a Syrian citizen, a member of the same family. The Ministry reiterates its firm calls on Romanian citizens to leave Syria. Since the beginning of evacuations from Syria, in 2011, over 750 Romanian citizens and their families were brought back to the country.

FIRE — In Greece, the number of victims of the fires close to Athens has reached 87, but the toll could be higher, since a number of people are still reported missing. The authorities, accused of having intervened too slowly, said that there are strong indications that the fires may be the result of criminal acts. In Bucharest, the Foreign Ministry announced that there is no information regarding Romanian citizens being among the victims. We recall that Romania sent two airplanes in support of the authorities in Greece: one fire fighting aircraft, and a C-130 Hercules for logistical support.