May 16, 2023 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 16.05.2023, 20:00
Government. The leaders of the National Liberal (PNL) and Social Democratic (PSD) parties, members of the ruling coalition in Romania, met, on Tuesday, in separate meetings, to establish the mandates that their representatives will have during the negotiations for the formation of the future Government, which will be led by the Social Democrats, after the rotation of premiers. The Social-Democratic leader, Marcel Ciolacu, would take over the position of head of Government from the current Liberal Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă, based on a protocol concluded between the two parties in November 2021. Nicolae Ciucă said that he would resign on May 26. PSD wants the future Executive to have fewer portfolios, fewer state secretaries and fewer government agencies. The Social Democrats priorities include the drop in inflation, an increase in the purchasing power and more investments. The Liberals also want to reduce the number of secretaries of state and undersecretaries of state, while preserving the protocol that is in force and on which the governing coalition is based. If the protocol is not observed, the PNL wants the renegotiation of the distribution of the ministries, but also the reduction of the number of portfolios.
Visit. The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, is participating in the Council of Europe Summit hosted by Reykjavik, Iceland. Held under the motto United around our values / United for Europe, the fourth edition of the high-level meeting emphasizes the role of the Council of Europe in the current geopolitical context marked by Russias war of aggression against Ukraine. The organization responsible for democracy, human rights and the rule of law was among the first international institutions to react with a concrete action, namely by excluding the Russian Federation from among the member states. On Wednesday, on the second day of the summit in Reykjavik, President Klaus Iohannis will reiterate Romanias commitment to the system of the European Convention on Human Rights and highlight the role that the Council of Europe has played in the 30 years of the countrys membership of the organization in Strasbourg, to the consolidation of a stable and mature democracy. At the end of the summit, a Declaration will be adopted reconfirming the particular role of the Council of Europe in the multilateral architecture at the European and international level.
Strike. Education employees will go on a two-hour warning strike on Wednesday, and on Monday, May 22, they could start an all-out strike. According to trade unionists in the field, 70% of the teaching staff and other categories of workers in the system support this form of protest. They say that the Government must invest more in education. The claims mainly concern salary increases, an annual indexation in keeping with the inflation rate and the payment of additional hours performed by auxiliary teaching and non-teaching staff. In recent months, employees in education have participated in several protests and marches. Signatures are also being collected for a general strike the health-care and welfare system, starting June 15. Last but not least, in Bucharest, several hundreds metro trade unionists picketed the Ministry of Transport on Tuesday, dissatisfied with the companys underfunding, the lack of staff and the ban on the right to negotiate.
Timisoara. The famous American actor John Malkovich will be in Timisoara, western Romania, on July 20 and 21 with a show entitled “The Infernal Comedy”, held at the National Theatre in the city. This is an absolute first for Timisoara, a European Capital of Culture this year. An Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominee, John Malcovich has performed in many successful movies, among which Dangerous Liaisons or Being John Malkovich, where he played his own character. The Infernal Comedy is a show written and directed by Michael Sturminger, created especially for John Malkovich, which has been performed in over 150 theatre halls all over the world.
Bulgaria. The European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Maria Gabriel, nominated for the post of Prime Minister of Bulgaria by the GERB-SDS coalition, submitted her resignation and it was accepted by the President of the European Commission. Ursula von der Leyen has expressed her confidence that Ms. Gabriels experience in this European Commission and the previous one will benefit Bulgaria. Maria Gabriels portfolio has been taken over by the Executive Vice President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age, Margrethe Vestager, and by the EC Vice President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas. We recall that, following the elections on April 2, the center-right party GERB, of which Maria Gabriel is also a member, ranked first, with 69 mandates out of the total of 240 in the Parliament of Bulgaria, faced with a political deadlock for more than two years.
Tennis. The Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian qualified, on Tuesday, for the round of 16 of the ITF tournament in Madrid, with 100,000 dollars in prize money, after defeating the Argentinian Nadia Podoroska in two sets, 6- 1, 6-4. The next opponent of the Romanian in Madrid will be the Japanese Mai Hontama (183 WTA). (MI)
