May 3, 2016 UPDATE
State Secretary Corina Suteu was nominated for Culture Minister post
Newsroom, 03.05.2016, 19:13
State secretary Corina Şuteu, former director of the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, was nominated on Tuesday by PM Dacian Cioloş as the new culture minister, after Vlad Alexandrescu was discharged, reads a news release issued by the Government of Romania. The dismissal comes against the backdrop of a scandal at the Romanian Opera House in Bucharest, triggered by discontent with the successive appointments for the director post as well as with the substantial imbalances between the salaries paid to the Romanian and the foreign dancers. Protests led to the cancellation of three shows, and PM Ciolos asked for Vlad Alexandrescus resignation. In messages posted on Facebook or published in the media, Vlad Alexandrescu says he was forced out because he upset various interest groups. The head of government said he had not been informed of the problems Vlad Alexandrescu claimed to have been facing and added that the nomination of Corina Suteu is intended to help carry on the reform process.
Romania will see an economic growth peak this year, before a moderate growth rate next year, the European Commission estimates. According to its spring forecast, the high growth rate is due to the increase in revenues and to the tax relaxation. The European Commission warns Romania, however, that new legislative initiatives in the financial sector pose macroeconomic risks. According to Brussels, the domestic macroeconomic risk has deepened, as a result of the uncertainty induced by the debt discharge law, which may have a negative impact on investor confidence. This year, Romania is expected to have an economic growth rate of 4.2%, and next year 3.7%. In March the inflation rate dropped substantially, after the VAT was cut down, and it will likely remain negative midway through the year, with an expected increase afterwards triggered by planned salary raises.
The European Commission has warned Turkey that the prospective lift of visa requirements for Turkish citizens may be quickly suspended in case Ankara fails to meet the criteria set by the European bloc. Turkey, which wants its citizens to be able to travel freely in the EU in exchange for enforcing the migrant deal, must meet 72 criteria set by Brussels. Early this week, Turkey agreed to cancel the travel visas for all EU citizens, including citizens of Cyprus, which is one of the requirements, but, as a Turkish official stated, this is not an official recognition of Cyprus by Turkey. The European Commission will decide on Wednesday whether these criteria are complied with, and should the report be positive, it will draft a legislative proposal to be endorsed by the European Parliament and the EU member states.
On World Press Freedom Day, celebrated on May 3, the Council of Europe Secretary General, Thorbjorn Jagland, called on the 47 member countries to make sure that their national legislation on defamation does not silence the media and does not weaken public debate. The Council of Europe says it is critical for democracy that the media carry on its monitoring and criticising of those in power. In Romania, some people continue to abuse the journalist profession in order to intimidate, blackmail or trade influence, and some public authorities have attempted to block the access to information on major topics in the recent history of Romania – the 1989 Revolution, the miners riots of June ’90 or the Colectiv tragedy, reads the latest FreeEx report released by ActiveWatch. The document also reveals that the global Press Freedom Index worked out by Reporters without Borders puts Romania in the 49th place in the world, up three positions since the previous year.
The Romanian Simona Halep (no. 7 WTA) Tuesday qualified to the eighth-finals of the Premier WTA tournament in Madrid, with 4.7 million USD in total prizes, after defeating Karina Knapp (Italy) (6-1, 6-1). Halep is the third Romanian to reach the third stage of the tournament in Madrid this year, after Patricia Ţig (134 WTA) and Irina Begu (34 WTA). Halep played the final of this tournament in 2014, when she lost to Russias Maria Sharapova.
