November 24 – 29

A look at the main headline-making events this past week

Leyla Cheamil, 30.11.2019, 13:05

The Constitutional Court of Romania validates the result of Sundays presidential runoff

On Thursday, the Constitutional Court of Romania validated the result of Sundays presidential runoff. The winner of the election is the incumbent president of the country, Klaus Iohannis, supported by the governing National Liberal Party. Iohannis has stated that this victory is a big responsibility and has stressed the fact that the first term was a real challenge, during which he stayed fully connected to the real problems, firmly opposing the regressive tendencies that were a real threat to democracy. The president has given assurances that, during his second term at the helm of the country, he will continue to be a defender of citizens fundamental rights and freedoms. Klaus Iohannis:

” In keeping with the constitutional role of the president of the country, I will take action to make sure the public authorities and institutions will function better, in order to really serve the citizens. I will ensure compliance with the Constitution and uphold the values of the rule of law and the European course of Romania.”

The data centralized by the Central Electoral Bureau show that the head of state got 66.09% of the votes, double the result obtained by his contender, the former Social Democratic PM Viorica Dancila. Approximately 10 million voters went to the polls in Romania, accounting for 54.46% of the total registered voters. 944,077 people voted abroad, and some 94% of them voted for Klaus Iohannis.

The former PM of Romania, Viorica Dancila, steps down as president of the Social Democratic Party

After losing dramatically the presidential runoff, the former PM Viorica Dancila was asked by her colleagues in the Social Democratic Party to step down as president of the party. She has stated that her resignation is a way of taking responsibility for the result of the presidential election. Viorica Dancila:

“I understand the opinion of my colleagues; its not a sign of weakness, its a sign of dignity and it was my decision to resign as leader of the Social Democratic Party. I have done this for the party.”

The president of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Ciolacu is the interim president of the Social Democratic Party. A party congress is to be held early next year.

The Supreme Defence Council of Romania decides to enhances its participation in missions abroad

The Supreme Defence Council of Romania has decided this week that Romania will enhance its participation in missions abroad in 2020. The staff of the Defence Ministry will increase by 200, reaching 2,100 military and civilians. Also, a 790-strong staff was approved for the Interior Ministry. The Council also adopted Romanias stand at the upcoming NATO summit in London, during which the head of state will insist on the importance of the Black Sea area and will ensure the allies that Romania will continue to earmark 2% of the GDP for defence.

The Romanian Government approves the second budget adjustment this year

The second budget adjustment this year, approved on Thursday by the Romanian government, raised the budget deficit to 4.4% of the GDP, as compared to 4.3% as it was established in the document that was initially put up for public debate. The Finance Minister Florin Citu has explained that, in the past two days, expenses have been discovered for which no budget had been established by the previous government. Also, he has announced that social security funds have been supplemented for the rest of the year. The additional payments will cover pensions, child allowances, welfare for the disabled and other payments of this kind. Florin Citu has also announced that more money has been allocated for salaries in the public health-care units and for medicine.

Prosecutors ask for severe punishments for the Colectiv tragedy

Prosecutors have asked for severe punishments for those guilty for the tragedy that occurred four years ago, when a fire broke out at the Colectiv club in Bucharest, killing 64 people and wounding another 200. Also, one of the victims committed suicide because of the trauma. The owners of the club and the owner of the company that provided the fireworks risk 13-14 years in prison. They are charged with manslaughter, bodily injury and, in one case, destruction of evidence. Early this week, the anti-corruption prosecutors requested 14 years in prison for the former district mayor Cristian Popescu Piedone, and the victims families asked for hundreds of millions of Euros in damages. The judge with the Bucharest Tribunal will finalize on Monday the debates in this trial.

Mirel Radoi is the new coach of Romanias national football squad

The board of the Romanian Football Federation has approved the appointment of Mirel Radoi as coach of the national football squad. Mirel Radoi has replaced Cosmin Contra, who resigned after failing direct qualification to Euro 2020. A former international player, Mirel Radoi was coach of the under-21 team, which he managed to lead to EURO 2019, where it got up to the semi-finals. That performance translated into qualification for the Olympic games, for the first time in 56 years. On the other hand, Romanias national football team has failed to pass by the preliminaries, but it still holds chances of qualifying through the Nations Leagues playoffs, in March, after which four teams will get to Euro 2020. On March 26th, Romania will play against Island, and, if it wins, it will meet the winner of the match between Bulgaria and Hungary, on March 31st.