October 18, 2018 UPDATE

For a roundup of domestic and international news, click here

Newsroom, 18.10.2018, 18:55

EU COUNCIL MEETING – Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis on Friday is attending the 12th Asia-Europe
Summit in Brussels. On Wednesday and Thursday, President Iohannis attended the
European Council meeting. Talks focused on migration, security and the future
of the Eurozone. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, EU leaders agreed
on a set of measures to prevent cyber-attacks and protect EU citizens against
aggressions of any type. With respect to migration, EU leaders highlighted the
need to cooperate with transit countries and set clear objectives for Eastern
Mediterranean, so as to put a stop to the flow of migrants. In his address, the
president said that preventing and combating radicalization and terrorism
should remain top concerns for Member States.

OMBUDSMAN – The Ombudsman on Thursday demanded additional
information from the Government and the Justice Ministry over the notifications
regarding the Government emergency decree on the justice laws, filed by the Prosecutor
General’s Office, the Save Romania Union and National Liberal Party in
opposition, who claim that several points in the decree go against the
Constitution. The Ombudsman was requested to challenge the decree at the
Constitutional Court. The emergency decree stipulates, among other things, that
prosecutors with the Prosecutor General’s Office, the National Anticorruption
Directorate and the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism
should have a seniority of at least 10 years. Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar
said the new regulations could result in numerous irregularities in the system,
while Justice Minister Tudorel Toader said the decree only transposes the
points of view of the European Commission, the Venice Commission and the
Superior Council of Magistracy.

VISIT – Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on
Thursday continued her visit to the Arab Emirates. The Romanian official had
talks with Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, State Minister for Economic Affairs and
Trade, the chairman of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. Talks focused on new
ways of consolidating bilateral relations in terms of economic cooperation and investment.
On Wednesday, the heads of government in Bucharest and Abu Dhabi adopted a
joint declaration on the establishment of a strategic economic partnership
between the governments of Romania and the United Arab Emirates. The document
underlines the important regional role played by the latter and Romania’s
membership of the EU, which provides significant opportunities of bilateral
cooperation in priority sectors for Bucharest, such as trade, investments,
industry, agriculture, the financial and banking sector, energy, transport and
infrastructure, the IT sector, education, culture, research and innovation and
tourism. The declaration also highlights the important role of the Romanian and
Emirati communities in the respective countries in the economic, social and
cultural development of the two states. Also on Wednesday, the Romanian prime
minister visited the Sheikh ZayedMosque,
after on Tuesday she travelled to Dubai for talks with the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed
Bin RashidAlMaktoum,
whom she presented with the most recent investment opportunities in Romania.
Viorica Dancila will next travel to Kuwait, the last leg of a tour that also
took her to Turkey. She said the purpose of these official visits is to promote
economic relations.

AFRICAN SWINE FEVER VIRUS – A delegation of the European Commission
will carry out an audit in Braila, southeastern Romania, until October 25, to
see if the authorities have taken the appropriate steps in combating the
African swine fever, the virus that led to over 200,000 pigs being culled in
this county. A report will be made public compiling their conclusions on the
European Commission website. The audit
follows as Romania has been taking part, since 2015, in a multiannual European
programme designed to combat the African swine fever, 75% of which is funded by
the EU. Bucharest pledged to spend the money, along with its own contribution,
to prevent the spread of this disease. The number of outbreaks has reached
1,021 in 260 towns in villages in 14 counties, the National Veterinary and Food
Safety Authority announced on Thursday. According to centralized data, some 107
boars were reported as infected, while the total number of pigs culled so far
stands at 350,000.

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT – Romania has managed to recover 220 million
euros accounting for around a quarter of the European funds allocated under the
Regional Operational Programme, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy
Corina Cretu told Radio Romania. Thus, some of the 800 million euros available under
this programme and which Romania was no longer able to spend by the end of the
year due to a lack of applications, have been redirected to the development of
small and medium sized enterprises and to purchasing medical equipment and
ambulances for all counties in Romania. In another development Commissioner
Cretu attended the 7th edition of the Annual Forum of the EU
Strategy on the Danube Region (EUSDR), hosted by Sofia. The EU official said
the Danube Delta boasts huge potential with tourism bringing great economic
benefits to the entire region. On November 1 Romania will take over the
presidency of the EUSDR for a year.

TENNIS – Romanian and world no. one in
women’s tennis Simona Halep has withdrawn from the WTA Finals held in Singapore
between the 21st and the 28th of October and which brings
together the world’s best eight players in 2018. Halep was recently diagnosed
with a herniated disk injury which also forced her to forfeit the Moscow
tournament and withdraw in the first round in Beijing. Halep, who won the
French Open this year, ends the year in the top position regardless of the
result in Singapore. Playing in the WTA Finals are Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, Angelique Kerber of Germany, Naomi Osaka
of Japan, Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, Petra
Kvitova of the Czech Republic, Sloane Stephens of the United States and Kiki
Bertens of The Netherlands.

(Translated by C.
Mateescu & V. Palcu)