September 19, 2018 UPDATE

EU Council President to call extra Brexit summit of EU leaders in mid-November

Newsroom, 19.09.2018, 19:07

EU COUNCIL – European Council President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday he would call an extra Brexit summit of European Union leaders in mid-November, to finalize a deal with Britain. In a letter to EU leaders on Monday evening, ahead of a summit in Salzburg, Austria, Tusk told the heads of state and government that they would discuss the joint political declaration on the EU’s future relationship with the U.K., and that they should consider calling a November summit in Brussels in the hope of completing a withdrawal treaty.

MILITARY EXERCISE – Air Solution 2018, a joint military exercise of the Romanian and Serbian Air Forces, started on Wednesday and is held in the two countries’ airspace. American pilots are also taking part as observers. Its goal is to exercise air police missions, airspace defence, rescue missions and managing crisis situations at the border. The Air Solution exercise is now at its fifth edition, with the first one being held in 2009.

EU COUNCIL MEETING — Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday and Thursday is attending the informal meeting of the European Council held in Salzburg, Austria. The agenda for talks focuses on migration, internal security and Brexit. According to the presidency, Iohannis will argue in favor of continuing talks over the Dublin Regulation with a view to reaching consensus and strike a balance between the solidarity and responsibility of member states and preserving an asylum seeker’s ability to opt out of any form of relocation. As regards internal security, the meeting will address three priority topics: the protection of external borders, the EU’s internal security and cyber security. As regards Brexit, President Iohannis will reiterate the importance of maintaining a coherent and unitary voice within the European Union in negotiations with Britain so that Brexit should be fair for all sides. According to the President, Romania will insist on protecting the rights and interests of Romanians living in Britain.

REFERENDUM — The Save Romania Union in opposition has called on the Ombudsman to challenge at the Constitutional Court the Government’s emergency decree voted on Wednesday, calling a referendum on redefining the notion of family on October 6 and 7. Save Romania Union claims the Government and the ruling coalition have changed the referendum regulation after the process was initiated, which goes against best practices recommended by the Venice Commission. The Government called a referendum after Parliament recently voted a law to revise the Constitution, which stipulates that the family is the freely consented marriage between a man and a woman and not between spouses, as it is at present.

HEARING — The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest set the first hearing in the case where Social-Democrat leader and Chamber of Deputies Speaker Liviu Dragnea was sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment in the court of first instance for October 8. In June, the High Court of Cassation and Justice handed Dragnea the sentence for instigation to abuse of office. Anticorruption prosecutors say Liviu Dragnea ordered the fictitious employment of two party members at the Social Assistance and Child Protection Directorate. The two were paid with taxpayer money, although they allegedly worked exclusively for the Social-Democratic Party. Liviu Dragnea denied the accusations. In 2016, Dragnea was handed a 2-year suspended prison sentence for attempted election fraud. This summer the High Court cancelled the ruling to suspend the prison sentence. In another development, the Social-Democratic leadership will convene on Friday to discuss discontent expressed by certain party leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development and Public Administration, Paul Stanescu, Senate vice-president Adrian Tutuianu and Bucharest Mayor, Gabriela Firea, who have called for Dragnea’s resignation.

AFRICAN SWINE FEVER — The African swine fever compels Bucharest authorities to take active measures to prevent the virus from spreading. In Vaslui County, northeastern Romania, a thousand boars must be put down by the end of February 2019, while in Tulcea County, southeastern Romania, the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve is seeking help to remove the populations of wild boars and jackals from the area. In Gorj County, southwestern Romania, although no virus cases have been signaled, veterinarians are on high alert, all animal trade fairs were closed down and the police are carrying out road traffic checks. Since the first outbreak was identified in Romania in late July, 2017, a total of 900 hotbeds have been confirmed in 13 counties in the northwest and southeast.

RRI CONTEST — Tuesday Jonas Sell and Sabrina Friesenborg of Dortmund, Germany, ended their trip to Romania, won as part of RRI’s prize-winning contest “Alba Iulia, the City of the Great Union”. For nine days, the two winners, accompanied by editors of the German Service, visited the main tourist, cultural and religious attractions, as well as nature reserves and caves in the Apuseni Mountains, the city of Alba Iulia and its surroundings. Over April 1 and June 30 Radio Romania International organized a prize-winning contest devoted to the Centennial of the Great Union. Participants were required to provide written answers to 3 questions related to Alba Iulia and Alba Iulia County. Over 268 correct answers were sent in by our listeners.