March 27, 2017 UPDATE
Klaus Iohannis promulgates law establishing March 27 as a national holiday/ Anti-Corruption Directorate's chief not to resign/ Policemen protest/ Government coalition moves
Newsroom, 27.03.2017, 19:44
March 27 — Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, on Monday promulgated the law establishing March 27, the Day of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania, as a national holiday. According to the presidential administration, the law has a special significance, marking an important moment in Romania’s history. Also on Monday Bucharest and other cities across Romania hosted manifestations devoted to the celebration of 99 years since the union of Bessarabia (in the east) with Romania. On Sunday, in Chişinău, the Republic of Moldova, hundreds of people participated in a march of the Three Colors, unfolding a flag 100 meters long. On March 27, 1918 against the backdrop of the dismantling of the Tsarist Empire, the Country’s Council in Chişinău, gathered in a solemn session, voted by an absolute majority the union of Bessarabia with the Kingdom of Romania, after 106 years of Russian occupation. In 1940, following an ultimatum, Soviet Moscow annexed both Bessarabia and the north of Bukovina, territories that are currently part of the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Ukraine.
Rome Declaration — The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, said that in the context in which populism and nationalism were gaining ground in the EU, member states had to remain more united than ever. In an interview granted to the Italian publication La Repubblica, he added that the Rome Declaration adopted by the European leaders at the end of the past week, conveyed a message of cohesion which proved the wish of all EU states to carry on with the common project. Romania’s objective is a EU which acts in solidarity at internal and external level and which is capable of adopting a key role at global level.
Govt coalition – Daniel Constantin, the co-president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), has lost the political support of his party for the positions of deputy Prime Minister and Environment Minister, which he was holding in the leftist government in Bucharest led by Sorin Grindeanu. Graţiela Gavrilescu has been proposed to replace Daniel Constantin. The decision was made after Constantin had contested a decision by some party colleagues to hold an extraordinary congress next month, the other ALDE co-president Calin Popescu Tariceanu explained. He also criticized Constantin for his latest political moves. Constantin rejected the allegations adding the decision runs counter to the alliance’s statute.
DNA — The chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruţa Kovesi, said Monday, after her meeting with justice minister, Tudorel Toader, that she was not asked to resign and that she did not intend to do so. The meeting took place in the context in which the justice minister announced he would present Wednesday the conclusions of his assessment of the activity of the Anti-Corruption Directorate’s chief and of the prosecutor general, Augustin Lazăr. Minister Toader decided to check on the two officials’ activity after the Constitutional Court ruled that there was an institutional conflict between the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and the Government. The Court was notified after the anti-corruption prosecutors started an investigation into the way in which the Romanian Government passed the emergency decree no. 13 on January 31, which changed the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes. The decree was subsequently repealed.
Foreign Intelligence — The Romanian Senate, as a decision-making body, on Monday passed a proposal which changes the way in which appointments are made at the top of the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service- SIE, in the sense that the director of the institution is appointed by Parliament, in joint session, upon the proposal of the Romanian President. Under the present law, the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service is headed by a director appointed by Romania’s Supreme Council of National Defense upon the proposal of the country’s President. Last week President Iohannis announced he would hold talks with the parliamentary majority over the appointment of a new Foreign Intelligence director. Also last week the Parliament’s two chambers took note of Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu’s resignation from the position of director of SIE and declared it vacant. Ungureanu, a former prime minister and foreign minister, resigned last September.
Protests — Negotiations between policemen, who are discontented with their low pays in comparison with other public employees, and government representatives continued, on Monday, after more than 2 thousand policemen protested on Saturday in Bucharest. The interior minister, Carmen Dan, said she would try to work out solutions together with the police trade unions representatives to increase their benefits. On the other hand, the Minister of Public Consultation and Social Dialogue, Gabriel Petrea, pointed out that salary gaps and the problems in the field could not be solved at once without significantly affecting the budget. The policemen are asking for a 20% rise in basic salaries as of April 1 and a different calculation system of benefits for night shifts, for work in difficult conditions, on weekends and on legal holidays. (translation by L. Simion)
