September 5, 2018
President Iohannis invites PM Dancila to consultations on forthcoming budget adjustment
Newsroom, 05.09.2018, 12:58
CONSULTATIONS – President Klaus Iohannis has invited the PM Viorica Dancila to consultations on Thursday concerning the forthcoming state budget adjustment. The invitation comes after on Tuesday the head of state suspended the meeting of the Supreme Defence Council on this topic and explained that an agreement had not been reached with the Government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. The President criticised the cuts in the budgets of the intelligence services. In response, the Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici says the Presidents decision will obstruct the payment of salaries, investments and compensations for the African swine fever cases.
PARLIAMENT – The Chamber of Deputies Wednesday rejected a request by the right-wing Opposition to set up 2 inquiry committees, one on the Governments handling of the African swine fever crisis, and another one on the intervention of riot police at the anti-government protests in Bucharest on August 10th. The authors of the request said they wanted to identify the causes for the quick spreading of the disease in Romania and to find out whether certain public institutions were involved in activities beyond their legally defined powers. At present swine fever outbreaks are reported in 11 counties in Romania, triggering the culling of over 140,000 pigs and spreading further, in spite of the measures taken by authorities. On Tuesday the Senates defence committee cancelled the hearings on this topic, at the request of the Social Democratic Party in power. Scheduled to be heard in Parliament were the Interior Minister, Carmen Dan, the coordinator of the gendarme intervention Laurenţiu Cazan, and the Prefect of Bucharest, Speranţa Cliseru. So far 770 people affected by the brutal police intervention during the protests have filed criminal complaints.
ANTI-CORRUPTION – A nomination for the new chief of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate will be announced on Thursday, said the Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader. On Tuesday he interviewed the last 3 candidates for the post, after the interviews of another 3 candidates on Monday. The Justice Minister is to send his proposal to the Higher Council of Magistracy, which is to communicate an official opinion on the candidate, and then the nomination is to be approved by President Klaus Iohannis. The former chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, was dismissed in July, under a presidential order imposed by the Constitutional Court of Romania. The dismissal had been requested by the Justice Minister, further to a report that had not been approved by the Higher Council of Magistracy.
SPORTS MINISTER – The Romanian media hail the appointment of Romanian-born swimmer Roxana Mărăcineanu as the new sports minister in France. She has been living in France since 1984, when her parents fled communist Romania. Aged 43, the athlete born in Bucharest won a silver medal at the 200-m backstroke event of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, when the Romanian Diana Mocanu won the gold. “I felt it was my anthem as well, she said after hearing the Romanian national anthem played at the award ceremony. Two years before, Roxana Maracineanu had won the first world champion title for France, and in 1999 she had won the European swimming championship.
FESTIVAL – Over 100 artists, representing the music and culture of some 70 countries, are taking part in World Experience Festival, held these days in Bucharest. The main theme of the event is World Music, promoted through concerts and workshops such as the ones focusing on Irish dances, the tea ceremony or the kimono dressing ceremony. Music instruments from 30 countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia and so on are also presented. The main stage of the festival is located in one of Bucharests parks.
FORUM – The International Economic Forum carries on in the Polish town of Krynica. Romania is represented by some 50 politicians, analysts and business people. Participants from 60 countries in Europe, Asia and North America are looking at the prospects of world economy, and discuss topics such as the future of Europe, the energy field, international cooperation between EU member countries, the state of the European agriculture, as well as continental security. According to the Radio Romania correspondent, special attention will also be paid to the Black Sea region, where security has been vulnerable since 2014, when Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
FOOTBALL – Romanias national football team carries on its preparations for the first game in the newly created League of Nations, which it is to play on home turf in Ploiesti against Montenegro on Friday night. On Monday the national team will play against neighbouring Serbia in Belgrade, and in October they will take on Lithuania, also away from home, in Group 4 of the competition. The results in the League of Nations are counting towards the preliminaries of the 2020 European Championship.
(translated by Ana-Maria Popescu)
