November 18, 2014 UPDATE

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

Bogdan Matei, 18.11.2014, 12:15

REACTION — German president Joacim Gauck congratulated the winner of the presidential runoff in Romania Klaus Iohannis. The German official gave assurances that Berlin would continue to support the line of reforms carried out by Bucharest authorities, especially in what regards the consolidation of the rule of law. Iohannis’s win was also hailed by the acting president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, who expressed his confidence that Iohannis would do his best to help Romania cope with the upcoming political, economic and social challenges and would contribute to the growth of the European Union. The president of the Republic of Moldova Nicolae Timofti extended an invitation to Iohannis to visit Chisinau. The Moldovan official expressed confidence that bilateral relations, of friendship and strong cooperation, which have seen a substantial growth in recent years, would continue to develop at a rapid pace.

AMNESTY LAW — The amnesty draft law on Tuesday was ruled out by Parliament by majority vote. Put forward nearly a year ago, the draft law provided for the pardoning and writing off certain corruption deeds. The law sparked heated debates and the anger of the civil society. Parliament is also to vote on requests filed by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, asking to place under pre-emptive arrest Conservative MP Ion Dinita, Social-Democrat MP Ioan Adam and Liberal MP Mircea Rosca, all three facing corruption allegations. The judicial committee of the Senate has approved the request of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate to launch procedures to call for the criminal investigation of former Social-Democrat Ministers Ecaterina Andronescu and Serban Mihailescu, who are senators at present. The two are being investigated in another high-profile corruption case. Meanwhile, Liberal Akos Mora tendered his resignation after being declared incompatible by the National Integrity Agency and courts of law.

SUCCESSION – Romania’s Ambassador to the European Union Mihnea Motoc is the name put forward for the position of Foreign Affairs Minister, Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced on Tuesday. Former Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu announced he was submitting his resignation against the backdrop of the scandal sparked by the flawed voting process for the Romanian Diaspora, in the second round of the presidential runoff. Melescanu apologized to Romanian citizens from abroad who didn’t manage to cast their votes this past Sunday. Melescanu announced his ministry had taken special measures to unclog the voting process, among which providing extra staff for the polling stations and a supplementary number of voting stamps, also providing for the electronic download of the voting form. In another move, Melescanu criticized what he called the rigidity of the election legislation that ruled out the setting up of extra polling stations. Melescanu has also pleaded for the implementation of the electronic voting system as well as the correspondence voting. We recall Melescanu had taken over the Foreign Affairs Minister position last week, as his predecessor Titus Corlatean also handed in his resignation, on account of the voting difficulties the Romania Diaspora had in the first round of the presidential election on November 2. The second round of the presidential runoff saw a record turnout for the Romanian Diaspora, accounting for 380 thousand people or thereabouts, however, many of the Romanians abroad had to line up for hours on end at the polling stations, and some of them were unable to cast their votes before closing time. Large scale protest rallies were staged in Romania, Bucharest included, as a sign of solidarity with the Romanian Diaspora.

RULING — The High Court of Cassation and Justice has again postponed a ruling in the case where Sibiu Mayor Klaus Iohannis was declared incompatible by the National Integrity Agency. A new ruling is expected on November 25. The court case was referred to the High Court after the National Integrity Agency challenged the decision of a local tribunal, which ruled in favour of Iohannis. In April 2013, the National Integrity Agency announced that the mayor of Sibiu was in a state of incompatibility, since he was also a representative of the municipality in general meetings of shareholders of two companies in Sibiu. Under the law, the mayor is thus forbidden from holding other public office for a period of three years of the termination of his term in office.

GAUDEAMUS — The Russian Federation is guest of honour at the 21st edition of the Gaudeamus International Book and Education Fair, which kicks off on Wednesday in Bucharest. Organized by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, Guadeamus is the most important event of its kind in Romania. Taking part are over 400 Romanian and foreign publishers. Last year’s guest of honour was the Group of Nordic Countries — Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

MINING — The European Commission is looking into a request Romania has filed regarding the disbursement of state aid for he mining sector in Valea Jiului, central Romania. Minister Delegate for Energy Razvan Nicolescu, together with a group of representatives of the administration, have called on Tuesday on the European Commission to accept, among other things, that the Government should earmark subsidies and funding up to 60 million euros, reduce the number of people about to be made redundant and to keep the mine open. According to Radio Romania’s Brussels correspondent, The European Commission is generally against national authorities earmarking state funding, as this might wrangle competition.

WAR ON TERROR — The Romanian Foreign Ministry has harshly condemned the terrorist attack on Tuesday on a synagogue near Jerusalem, which killed four people and wounded another eight people. The Romanian Foreign Ministry issued a press release, expressing its deep sympathy for the loss of human lives and solidarity with the Israeli people, confronted with such tragic events. Attack targeting places of worship represent a serious threat to fundamental human rights and liberties, the Ministry writes, adding that it will not tolerate any forms of violence. Israeli-Palestinian cooperation in the field of security is key to preventing further incidents of this kind, the Ministry also writes. Radio Romania’s Jerusalem correspondent says the main Palestinian terrorist cells, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, have claimed Tuesday’s attack. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warned Israel will retaliate.