The Week in Review: December 3-9, 2017

A review of the main headline-grabbing events this past week

Leyla Cheamil, 09.12.2017, 13:06

Romania’s
last sovereign, King Michael I has passed away

Romania’s last king,
Michael I, died at the age of 96, after a long and painful illness, at his
residence in Switzerland, where he had lived in exile. Michael I was the last
of the four sovereigns of the German Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty, which
took the throne in Bucharest in 1866 and built modern Romania. Many messages of
condolences have been sent to the Royal Family, after the announcement that
King Michael passed away. Romania’s President, Klaus
Iohannis, evoked the impressive personality of His Majesty:

King
Michael was one of Romania’s greatest personalities, who played a big role in
Romania’s history. It is a great loss for Romania, for Romanians. Condolences
to all the members of the Royal House.

In a televised declaration to the country, the
eldest daughter of King Michael, Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Crown, said:

Romanians, the country lost King Michael I. For more than nine
decades, he served Romania with all his power, devotion and patience. With
endless love and strong principles, King Michael wrote the most valuable page of
contemporary history in the Book of the Nation. His kindness and forgiveness outshined
all the evils of the past century. His wisdom gave continuity to our identity
at times of deviation from the natural
course of the country. Our king is an intrinsic part of the Romanian state.

The European
Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, has expressed deep sadness at the
news and paid homage to His Majesty, recalling that back in 1997, King Michael toured
the European capitals to promote Romania’s accession to the European Union. In
the country, the Romanians continue to pay tribute and light candles in front
of the former Royal Palace in downtown Bucharest and of Elisabeta Palace, the
Bucharest residence of King Michael. The remains of the King will be repatriated
on Wednesday, December 13, and will lie in state at Peles Castle in Sinaia, the
Southern Carpathians, until later in the evening, when it will be brought to
the Royal Palace in Bucharest. The funeral is scheduled for Saturday, December
16, at Curtea de Argeş (in the south), the last resting place of the Romanian
kings. The Romanian Government has declared three days of national mourning for
December 14, 15 and 16. On Monday,
December 11, the two chambers of the Romanian Parliament will pay homage to the
former sovereign, in a joint solemn session. Michael I ruled between 1940
and 1947. According to historians, with the decisions made during WWII he
shortened the war by at least six months and saved hundreds of thousands of
lives.

The
Romanian Government has endorsed the 2018 budget bill

The 2018 budget and social security bill, approved by the Romanian
Government on Wednesday, is based on a 5.5% forecast economic growth rate and
an average annual inflation rate of 3.1%. Romanian PM Mihai Tudose has said it is
for the first time that Romania’s GDP exceeds 200 billion Euros, which allows
the Government to increase salaries and pensions. The bill will be adopted by
the Romanian Parliament on December 21, according to a timetable set on Thursday
by the joint Standing Bureaus of the Parliament’s two chambers. Also on
Thursday, a revised estimate issued by the European Statistical Office, Eurostat, shows Romania
registered the biggest economic growth rate across the EU in the third quarter
of the year. In July-September, Romania’s GDP increased by 8.6% as compared to
the same period of last year.

Controversial justice
bills in Romania

The specialparliamentary commission on the justice laws has
decided that it is necessary to set up a special section for the investigation
of offences committed by prosecutors and judges in relation to their
professional duties. The same commission has also approved a proposal under
which services, bureaus and other operational compartments within the National
Anti-corruption Directorate can’t be set up without the approval of the
Prosecutors Section of the Higher Council of Magistrates. The
proposals have been backed by the MPs of the ruling coalition made up of the
Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, as well as
by MPs of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. The National
Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union, in opposition, voted against the
setting up of a Section for the investigation of prosecutors and judges, on
grounds that it would be used in order to intimidate and put pressure on
magistrates. The ruling coalition’s plan to amend the justice laws has
generated protests in Bucharest and other big cities across the country.

Romanian women handball players have qualified for the
round of sixteen of the World Championships in Germany, and Romania’s football
vice-champions have qualified to the Europa League round of 32

Romania’s
national handball team has qualified from the first position in the group to
the round of sixteen of the World Championships in Germany, after defeating
Angola on Thursday evening. The national team has had an excellent performance,
with 4 wins in the matches with Paraguay, Slovenia, Spain and Angola. In the
previous edition, held in 2015, Romania won the bronze medal. It is the only
team which has participated in all the 22 world championship final tournaments
so far. In another move, Romania’s football vice-champion FCSB (former Steaua
Bucuresti) on Thursday evening lost on home turf, 1-2, the last match of the
Europa League Group G, to the Swiss team FC Lugano. FCSB has qualified to the
round of the last 32, from the second position in the group.