May 24, 2016 UPDATE

For a roundup of domestic and international events, click here.

Newsroom, 24.05.2016, 12:15

GENERAL AFFAIRS COUNCIL –State Secretary for European Affairs with the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Cristian Badescu, on Tuesday attended a meeting of the General Affairs Council, held in Brussels. The Romanian official expressed Romania’s support for finding common solutions at EU level to the migration crisis. According to the Romanian MFA, Badescu hailed the results of the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement, highlighting the need to maintain the commitment of both sides to consolidating progress on managing migration. Cristian Badescu also reiterated Romania’s support to joint efforts to ensure the security of the EU’s external borders.

PROSECUTION- The Speaker of the Romanian Senate, Calin Popescu Tariceanu is prosecuted for false testimony and encouraging the offender, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate has announced. His name appears in a file in which prosecutors are investigating illegal return of property. Tariceanu is the second most important official in the state, given the position he is currently holding, that of Senate Speaker. He is also co-president of the recently set up centre-rightist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, (ALDE). Between 2004 and 2008, when he was the leader of the National Liberal Party, he held the position of prime minister. We recall that scores of people have been sent to court by the anti-corruption prosecutors in the case of illegal return of land and forests on the outskirts of Bucharest.

HUMANITARIAN SUMMIT — Romania will show solidarity with other countries in the context in which, according to the UN, the world is facing the most severe humanitarian crisis since World War II, says labour minister, Dragos Paslaru, who leads the Romanian delegation at the World Humanitarian Summit organised by the United Nations in Istanbul. Dragos Paslaru has made clear that the Romanian delegation’s mandate is to support all commitments proposed by the UN, relating to such issues as refugees, for instance, and even to come up with private initiatives, in such domains as emergency assistance and education, where Romania has already had a significant contribution. The European Commission has decided to disburse additional funds to humanitarian aid aimed at reducing the effects of the Syrian crisis on its neighbours. Official data show that, at global level, some 60 million people have been forcibly displaced and 125 million are in dire need of assistance.

EUROPEAN FUNDS — Romania reports delays in the process of accessing European funds in healthcare, which is a matter of concern for the European Commission, the EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, has warned in Bucharest. In the healthcare sector, Romania’s degree of absorption since the start of the year is ZERO, the European Commissioner underlined. Corina Cretu has also drawn attention that Bucharest might lose the 326 million Euros available to it to develop infrastructure and medical assistance services if the needs in the domain of healthcare are not identified by the end of the year.

INVESTIGATION — Experts continue the investigation into the circumstances of the car crash in which Dan Condrea, the owner of the Hexi Pharma biocide producer, died on Sunday evening. Condrea has died at a time when his company is at the centre of the biggest scandal in the Romanian healthcare system, after it was disclosed that his company supplied diluted disinfectants. Prosecutors from the General Prosecutor’s Office have demanded a DNA identification analysis as well as technical analysis of the car in order to cast light on the circumstances in which the accident occurred. Hexi Phrama signed contracts worth 51 million lei for the delivery of biocides in the 2014-2016 period to 152 medical units across the country, the Prosecutor General’s office has announced.

FOOTBALL– Romania’s national football team will meet Congo in a friendly match in Como, Italy, on Wednesday. The match, just like that against Ukraine, scheduled for Sunday in Turin, is part of a campaign held in preparation for the European Championship due in France, this summer. Romania and the host country will play the opening match, in Paris, on June 10. Also playing in Group A are Switzerland and Albania.

(Translated by D. Vijeu and V. Palcu)