June 14, 2017 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 14.06.2017, 23:51
GOVERNMENT Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu announced on Wednesday night he would not resign. We recall that both parties in Romanias ruling coalition, PSD, (the Social Democrats) and ALDE (the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats) on Wednesday decided to withdraw their political support for the government headed by Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu and that his ministers stepped down. Grindeanu explains he has a responsibility for Romania and that he will only resign after Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has appointed another Prime Minister from PSD, the main ruling party. Earlier PSD leader Liviu Dragnea said he wasnt pleased with the activity of some ministers. According to him 60% of the measures included in the governing programme have not been accomplished. Part of the members of the executive havent taken the programme seriously, have failed to coordinate themselves and cooperate with their colleagues. Also according to Dragnea, PSD is ready jointly with ALDE to forge a new government with a well-structured roadmap.
DEFENCE Romanian Defence Minister Gabriel Les on Wednesday reiterated in Cincu, central Romania, Bucharests decision to continue to earmark 2% of the GDP for this sector in the following 10 years. Minister Les made the statement before the NATO officials attending the military exercise Noble Jump 2017. The minister has described the exercise as a historic moment, being the first big allied drill staged in southeastern Europe. The exercise, which began on May 26th, is taking place on the territories of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania until Friday.
VISIT Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday received in Bucharest the Minister President of the German state of Saxony, Stanislaw Tillich. According to a presidential administration communique, talks focused on bilateral economic cooperation, Germanys support for Romania so that the latter can attract European funds, the European agenda with an emphasis on Brexit as well ways of solving security issues caused by migration. President Iohannis encouraged German investments in the Romanian economy hailing the openess of the German official towards cooperation in the field of science. We recall that between June 19th and 21st, the Romanian official will be paying a visit to Berlin for talks with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier and chancellor Angela Merkel.
POLLUTION Romania was cautioned on Wednesday by the European Commission on the significant deficiences in terms of monitoring pollution over its territory. According to Brussels, Bucharest has failed to create a monitoring network to include all the regions and urban areas as well as the main pollutants. Air pollution is a major health hazard, which in Romania causes over 25 thousand premature deaths a year.