March 13, 2017

Romanian PM Sorin Grindeanu to give explanations in the Chamber of Deputies about two emergency orders criticised by the opposition and civil society.

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Newsroom, 13.03.2017, 13:46

Prime
Minister’s Hour. The Romanian prime minister Sorin Grindeanu will appear in the
Chamber of Deputies today at the Prime Minister’s Hour to give explanations
about his cabinet’s emergency orders no. 6 and no. 9 criticised by the
opposition and civil society. Both orders were passed by the Senate and are
next to be voted on in the Chamber of Deputies, which has decision-making
powers in this case. Order no. 6 refers to the financing of the National Local
Development Programme, while Order no. 9 eliminates expenditure caps for public
authorities. The National Liberal Party in opposition says these orders allow
the channelling of huge sums of money to the political clientele of the ruling
Social Democratic Party and cancels fundamental provisions of the fiscal
responsibility law. The Liberals called for the two emergency orders to be
immediately rejected.

Verdict.
The magistrates of the High Court of Cassation and Justice postponed for the 28th
of March a verdict in a case known as the Bute Gala involving the former
development minister Elena Udrea and seven other persons. They are accused of
bribe taking, abuse of office and attempt to use false documents and statements
to obtain European funds illegally. In essence, prosecutors accuse the
defendants of illegal use of public funds to finance a sports event organised
by a private company and signing a contract with this company to purchase
services although the law did not allow it. Previously, prosecutors requested
that Elena Udrea be given close to maximum sentence in prison, given that she
played the biggest role in the perpetration of the incriminated deeds. The
National Anticorruption Directorate also requested that the former economy
minister Ion Ariton be given a prison sentence. The former minister and MP
Elena Udrea is the subject of several other criminal investigations.

Migrant workers abuse.
Around
7,500 Romanian female farm workers in the Sicilian province of Ragusa, in
Italy, are victims of abuse, including threats and sexual violence, being
perpetrated with almost total impunity, according to an investigation published
by the British weekly The Observer. The authors of the article spoke to ten
Romanian women working on farms in Ragusa who described their exploitation and
sexual abuse as routine occurrences. They say they are forced to work 12 hours
a day in extreme heat, with no water and without pay and to live in degrading and unsanitary conditions in isolated
outbuildings. They are often subject to
physical violence, threatened at gunpoint and blackmailed with threats to their
children and family. Italy’s agriculture heavily relies on migrant labour,
including from the EU, with an estimated 120,000 migrants working in southern
Italy.

Justice. Romania’s
Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar today said he had no intention to resign as
suggested by the justice minister Tudorel Toader. The latter said he would
assess the activity of the Public Ministry in the next two weeks and did not
rule out the possibility to sack Lazar and the head of the National
Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi.

Republic of Moldova. Igor Dodon, the pro-Russian
socialist president of the Republic of Moldova, an ex-Soviet state with a
majority Romanian-speaking population, makes a trip to Moscow on Friday and
Saturday, his second since coming to power less than three months ago. He said
he would attend a Moldova-Russia business forum looking at the potential for
investment and partnership. Dodon may also meet Russian officials. Commentators
say, however, that this appears to be a purely electoral visit aiming to secure
Russia’s support for the Socialists in next year’s parliamentary elections.
During his visit to Moscow in January, Dodon said he was considering denouncing
his country’s association agreement with the European Union and expanding ties
with the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as the federalisation of the Republic
of Moldova as a way of bringing peace to the pro-Russian break-away region of
Transnistria, in the east of the republic.

Sports. World no.
4 Simona Halep of Romania qualified for the third round at Indian Wells, a US
tournament worth almost 7 million dollars in prize money. She will next play
world no. 26 Kristina Mladenovic. Another Romanian player, Irina Begu, no. 32
in the world, was eliminated in the third round by world no. 3 Karolina
Pliskova. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecau and
Jean-Julien Rojer made it to the second round and will next face the all-British
pair Andy Murray and Daniel Evans. Florin Mergea also qualified for the second
round together with his doubles partner Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and will next play
Gilles Muller and Sam Querrey.

In other sports
news, the defending Romanian and European women’s handball champions CSM
Bucharest on Sunday defeated the Danish side Team Esbjerg, 25-20, in their
final match as part of the Champions League main round Group 2. In the
quarterfinals, CSM will face the Hungarian side Ferencvaros Budapest.