March 31, 2017 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 31.03.2017, 20:28
ROYAL VISIT – The heir to the British throne, Prince Charles of Wales, on Friday ended his second formal visit to Romania at the National Theatre in Bucharest, regarded as a cultural symbol of the country. Previously, he had meetings with Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu, with Crown Princess Margareta of Romania, the Custodian of the Romanian Crown, and with the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. On Wednesday, President Klaus Iohannis awarded Prince Charles the “Star of Romania” National Order, in Rank of Grand Cross, in appreciation of his activity in Romania and for helping promote the countrys image worldwide.
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE – On Monday, Romanias President Klaus Iohannis will sign the decree on the removal from office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment Daniel Constantin, and the one replacing him with Gratiela Gavrilescu, a former Minister for the Relation with Parliament, the Presidential Administration has announced. The new minister will be sworn in also on Monday. We recall that Daniel Constantin, co-president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, lost his position in the Executive because his party, which formed the government together with the Social Democratic Party, withdrew its political support for the minister. Gratiela Gavrilescu used to be a Ministry of the Environment in the Social-Democratic Government headed by Victor Ponta. For the office of Minister for the Relation with Parliament, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats has proposed Senator Viorel Ilie.
BREXIT – The European Council President Donald Tusk revealed on Friday the EUs negotiation strategy on Brexit. The document, submitted to all the 27 EU members, states that there must be “sufficient progress” as regards withdrawal talks, including a divorce bill potentially running as high as 50 billion pounds, before negotiations on future relations begin. London, which presented its exit strategy on Thursday, wants to start parallel talks on all issues, at the same time. Britain has chosen to leave the Union after 44 years of membership, during which time it has enjoyed a privileged status within the community bloc, pundits say.
NATO MEETING – On Friday, the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu attended in Brussels the meeting of the NATO Foreign Ministers, the first such meeting attended by the new US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the meeting was the last before the special summit of the heads of state and government due in May 2017. The Romanian Foreign Minister underlined the importance of remaining united within NATO and stressed that responsibilities must be fairly shared, as a prerequisite for strengthening the trans-Atlantic ties. The situation in the eastern flank of the Alliance and the fight against terrorism were among the topics approached at the meeting. The agenda of talks also included NATOs role in the Eastern neighbourhood and the Western Balkans, as well as the situation in Ukraine.
NATO EXERCISE – Between April 3-5, some 400 Romanian and Turkish navy military personnel will take part in the Starfish exercise, aimed at increasing inter-operability between the two countries navies, reads a communiqué issued on Friday by the Romanian Defence Ministry. The Romanian navy will participate with the “Contraamiral Eustatiu Sebastian” corvette, the minesweeper “Locotentent Lupu Dinescu” and the guide missile ship “Lastunul”. The Turkish side takes part in the exercises with the “Turgutreis” frigate and the guide missile ship “Yildiz”. According to the Romanian Defence Ministry, the exercise, just like the ones before, is held as part of NATOs measures aimed at providing joint security to the allies.
DEBT – In April, Romania has to pay to the EU some 39 million euros in interest and fees, out of the stand-by loan contracted in 2009. In 2017 Romania has to pay a total of 1.26 billion euros to the EU and the World Bank and some 4.7 billion by 2023. We recall that in 2009, in the context of the world financial crisis, Romania got a 20-billion euro loan from the IMF, the EU and the World Bank.
MEASLES – Romanian authorities confirmed on Friday the 18th death caused by measles. The total number of confirmed cases of measles in Romania has reached 4025, in 37 counties. Most deaths were reported in the counties of Arad, Timis, Dolj and Caras Severin. Physicians say that children aged 9 months to 9 years should be vaccinated, in order to prevent measles from spreading.
VISAS – All Romanian citizens will be able to travel to Canada without visas starting December 1st. The Canadian Ambassador to Bucharest Kevin Hamilton has said that he wants to separate the EU-Canada Free Trade Agreement from the visa issue. In his opinion, these are two complementary but not identical things. Ambassador Hamilton has said that Canadian officials evaluated Romania and saw the progress made with regard to passport and migration regulations. Regarding the free trade agreement between the EU and Canada, Kevin Hamilton has said that Romania is positioned to benefit directly from all the agreements fields, whether its goods trade, customs tariffs reduction, intellectual property rights or work force mobility. We recall that Romania and Bulgaria conditioned their signing of the agreement on the elimination of visas for Canada.
WRESTLING – The Romanian athlete Krista Incze (aged 20) on Friday won the bronze medal in the 63 kg category of the Under-23 European Wrestling Championship underway in Szombathely, Hungary. She defeated the Turkish Sinem Topcu. Incze is a Balkan and European junior champion. At the current edition of the European Championship, she has won the second such medal, after the one won on Thursday by Alexandra Nicoleta Anghel, in the 69 kg category.
