January 12, 2017
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 12.01.2017, 00:00
EXTREME WEATHER The code yellow warning for severe cold has expired today, but temperatures are still extremely low. Weather specialists have warned that glazed frost might cover the roads putting drivers and passengers in danger. Also, the wind will keep on blowing hard especially in the south-east, south and center of the country. In the mountain areas the gusts will exceed 60-70 km per hour. The highs of the day range from minus 8 to 2 degrees Celsius, with a minus 8 degree reading in Bucharest at noon. Most national and local roads are now open, except for just a few in the south-east. Because of the bad weather, some 100 train journeys have been cancelled today, and schools and kindergartens in the capital remain closed.
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT Romania’s Constitutional Court decided on Thursday that the law enabling the Government to issue ordinances is constitutional. Previously, the Court had rejected the notification filed by the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the People’s Movement Party. The opposition parties had claimed that the law would allow the Grindeanu cabinet to amend organic laws through simple ordinances, which would run counter to the Constitution. The head of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea had stated that the opposition was merely attempting to block the Government’s activity.
CVM Romania meets all conditions for the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism to be terminated this year, said on Thursday the Romanian Justice Minister Florin Iordache after a meeting with the Deputy Secretary-General in charge of Institutional and Administrative Policies of the European Commission Paraskevi Michou. The mechanism was introduced in 2007 as a prerequisite for Romania’s and Bulgaria’s joining the EU and it focuses in particular on the reform of the judiciary, the fight against corruption and organized crime. The Justice Minister has also said that Romania has taken major steps towards consolidating important institutions, which is a guarantee for the fact that the rule of law is extremely important in Romania.
PROTEST Hundreds of people protested in Bucharest and Cluj on Wednesday night against the Ombudsman Victor Ciorbea, calling for his resignation, following his decision to notify the Constitutional Court about the law that bans people with criminal convictions from becoming Government members. The very fact that we are actually talking about the possibility of criminal convicts holding top positions in the state is outrageous and inadmissible. Integrity is not negotiable said one of the protesters. Last week, Ciorbea stated that his notification was based on solid arguments, because the law in question was in violation of both the Constitution and several international conventions. He denied media allegations according to which he had talked to the head of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea about the issue. A month ago, the Social Democratic Party won the parliamentary elections in Romania, with 45% of the votes, but Dragnea could not become the prime-minister, because he had already been given a suspended sentence of two years in prison for attempting to rig the referendum on the impeachment of the former president Traian Basescu in 2012.
DIPLOMACY Romania’s Ambassador to Washington George Maior has had a meeting with top Republican members of the US Congress. The topic of the meeting was Romanian – American cooperation against the background of the soon to be instated Trump administration. The former Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner hailed the exemplary conduct of Romania as a NATO member, US ally and partner. US politicians have stressed that fact that the strength of the Romanian – American relation is measured through joint cooperation projects, such as the management of the missile defense system, the efforts to fight terrorism, energy security and cyber security. Also, they have stated their belief that the cooperation with Romania has reached excellence standards and underlined the intent to continue to support the development of economic relations between Romania and the US, correlated with the priorities of the future US administration.
NATO Some 3,000 US soldiers, accompanied by tanks and armoured vehicles have started to arrive in Poland today. The contingent is part of the troops that the acting US president Barack Obama has decided to deploy in order to reassure the NATO allies, currently worried by Russia’s aggressive actions. Their deployment takes place just a few days prior to the investiture of the new US president – elect Donald Trump, who is very much into improving the relations with Moscow. 80 combat tanks and hundreds of armoured vehicles have already arrived in Germany, and are to be deployed in Eastern Europe, including Romania.
TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu, ranking 40th in the WTA classification, has today qualified for the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Hobart, Australia, with 225 thousand dollars in prize money. In the quarters she defeated the Japanese Risa Ozaki 6-4, 6-4. On Friday, Niculescu will fight to qualify for the final, and play against the Ukranian Lesia Tsurenko. In the doubles, the Romanian Raluca Olaru and the Ukrainian Olga Savciuk, both finalists in Shenzehn, on Wednesday managed to qualify for the quarters. They defeated 6-4, 6-2 the pair made up of the Dutch Kiki Bertens and the Swedish Johanna Larsson. Olaru and Savciuk will play in the next round against the Ukrainian twins Liudmila and Nadia Kicenok.
