January 10, 2017 UPDATE

The cold snap continues to affect Romania, with snowstorms and blizzard sweeping the south and the southeast of the territory, as of Tuesday night/ President Klaus Iohannis is meeting PM Sorin Grindeanu on Wednesday

Newsroom, 10.01.2017, 12:30

WEATHER IN ROMANIA – 5 people died to the cold snap in Romania so far, Radio Romania quotes representatives of the Department for Emergency Situations as saying. Code yellow and orange alerts against extreme cold were in place for the whole country on Monday and Tuesday. Snowstorms and blizzard are again forecast for the south and the east, as of Tuesday night. A code orange alert comes into effect in 7 counties and a code yellow alert comes into effect in 11 other counties and the capital city Bucharest, valid until Wednesday evening. Late last week, snowstorms and gale force wind disrupted road, rail and air traffic and caused electricity blackouts. In another move, also on Tuesday, navigation on a segment of the river Danube was shut down indefinitely. School inspectorates in 22 counties and the capital city Bucharest have shut down schools and kindergartens, while nine counties only partially suspended classes. Classes will resume on Monday in Bucharest.

WEATHER IN EUROPE– Hungary and Bulgaria on Tuesday banned shipping on the Danube, because the river is freezing. Over 60 people died to the cold snap in Europe, as low temperatures continue to hold Europe in their grip. Most victims were reported in Poland, where lows hit minus 30 degrees Celsius in certain regions. Five people died in the Republic of Moldova from carbon monoxide poisoning after the stoves they used to heat their homes caught fire. Hungary also reported record-high lows, both at national level and in the capital-city Budapest. In Serbia, low temperatures dropped to minus 20 degrees. The worst hit were the refugees sitting in makeshift camps. Turkey too is seeing a very harsh winter. The city of Istanbul was hit by the biggest blizzard in the last seven years. Scores of flights were cancelled while the Bosphorus Strait was closed to traffic. Low temperatures and heavy snowfalls were also reported in Greece. The Doctors without Borders Humanitarian Organization expressed concern regarding the thousands of people across Europe who are left vulnerable to the cold.

TALKS – President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday is meeting Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu to discuss the Governments plans related to the 2017 state budget amidst concerns regarding the sustainability of certain measures announced by the Government and their impacts on the economy, the presidency reports. Attending the meeting will also be the Minister of Public Finance Viorel Stefan. The Government adopted, among other things, an increase of the minimum wage salary to 320 euros, as well as a 50% increase of the salaries of actors and other categories of artists. Besides, all pensions below 400 euros will become tax deductible, while pensioners will be exempt from paying health insurance contributions.

CONDOLENCES – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday sent a condolence message to his German counterpart, Joachim Gauck, for the death of Roman Herzog, former president of the Federal Republic of Germany. In his message, Klaus Iohannis says that Roman Herzog, the first elected president of reunified Germany, was a remarkable personality, a relentless advocate of economic reform during a stagnation period and a promoter of historical reconciliation. Klaus Iohannis also recalls that Roman Herzog was the first president of reunified Germany to visit post-communist Romania, in 1995, the year when he also became a member of the Romanian Academy.

INVESTIGATION – The budget-finances committees of the two chambers of the Romanian Parliament will investigate the budget revisions made by the former government led by the technocrat Dacian Ciolos in the months of August and November 2016. The decision was made on Tuesday, by the leadership of the legislature, who endorsed a request made by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Liviu Dragnea. The initiator of the move says the relevant authorities should find out why the former cabinet approved positive revisions, in the context in which budget revenues were lower than estimated. The setting up of a commission to investigate the issue has been supported by the ruling parties. The opposition voted against the move, deeming it as political revenge.

JUSTICE – The Chair of the European Parliament Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, Claude Moraes, stands for a strong and independent judiciary, which must be fair to all European citizens and one of the pillars of the European project. The British MEP, who is a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats says he is following the events in Romania with great interest and considers that an alleged involvement by the intelligence services and public actors in the activity of the judiciary can only undermine its credibility. Moraes underlines that the fight against corruption should not have a political bias and its direction should not be guided by various interests. In his opinion, corruption should be cracked down at all levels, based on democratic and fair trials, and observing the rights of those investigated.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu, WTA no. 40, has qualified to the quarter-finals of the WTA tennis tournament in Hobart, Australia, totalling over 225 thousand dollars in prize money. In the round of 16 she ousted Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, 73 WTA, 6-3, 6-2. In the next round Niculescu will play the winner of the game pitting Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic against Risa Ozaki of Japan. Niculescu has also secured qualification in the quarterfinals of the doubles event, alongside Abigail Spears of the United States. The two are first-seeded in the Hobart competition and will play the winners in the match between Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands and Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic and Pauline Parmentier of France and Fracesca Schiavone of Italy. Also in the womens doubles, Raluca Olaru of Romania and Olga Savchuk of Ukraine, who played the Shenzhen finals this month, advanced to the quarterfinals after winning 6-4, 6-2 against the pair made up of Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands and Johanna Larsson of Sweden. Olaru and Savchuk will be playing Ukrainian twins Lyudmyla and Nadia Kichenok.(Translated by Diana Vijeu)