December 21, 2017 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 21.12.2017, 19:39
DECEMBER 1989 – 28 years since the December 1989 anti-Communist Revolution, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis has conveyed a message, saying that in 1989, Romanians called for the fall of Communism, an urge that can still be heard today. This should be a warning to politicians, who have proven lately they are not willing to leave the past and its bad habits behind. Upholding the ideals of the anti-Communist Revolution means defending the rule of law, freedom and democracy and respect for citizens, wrote the president on a social network, stressing that the investigation of the Revolution Case File must be completed and the crimes and abuses perpetrated in 1989 must be punished. Romania’s Parliament convened on Thursday in a solemn session to mark the Romanian Revolution. Commemorative events were held in Bucharest and other cities across the country to honor the martyrs of December 1989.After four days of protests, which started in Timisoara on December 16th 1989, during which dozens of dead and wounded were reported, the army joined the population and revolutionaries developed the first democratic platform. Started as a protest staged by citizens of Timisoara against an abusive measure taken by local officials, the revolution spread rapidly across the country, culminating on December 22nd with the presidential couples attempt to flee. More than 1,000 people died and some 3,400 were wounded between the 16th and the 25th of December 1989. Romania was the only country in the Eastern Bloc where the regime was changed violently and its communist leaders were executed by firing squad.
BUDGET BILL — Romanian Parliament on Friday will cast its final vote on the 2018 state budget and the social security budget. The budgets of some of the most important institutions have been maintained as they were in the draft proposed by the government, as the amendments filed by the opposition were not voted by the majority. The budget was built on an estimated 5.5% economic growth rate, an average exchange rate of 4.55 lei for one Euro and a monthly salary of 565 Euro, as well as an estimated budget deficit standing at 2.97% of the GDP. The priority fields in 2018 are health, education and infrastructure. The right-wing parliamentary opposition has criticized Governments measures, saying the structure of the budget is dangerous and will trigger an increase in the public debt.
JUSTICE LAWS – The Romanian Senate, the decision making body in this matter, on Thursday adopted the bill modifying the Law on the organization and functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy. This was the last in the justice law package that the Senators had to rule on, after the adoption of the ones on judicial organization and the status of magistrates. Also on Thursday, the High Court of Cassation and Justice decided to refer some of the articles modifying the justice laws to the Constitutional Court. The changes that the ruling coalition, formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, has brought to these laws have been vehemently criticized by the right-wing opposition and a large part of civil society. Moreover, hundreds of magistrates have protested in Bucharest and in other cities across the country against the way in which these changes have been brought, saying the process has lacked transparency.
EMBASSIES — The embassies of several European countries on Thursday called on Romanian authorities involved in the reform of the judiciary to refrain from any action that might weaken the independence of the justice system and the fight against corruption. In an open letter, the embassies of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden have highlighted the risks the current modifications to the justice laws might bring about. The embassies recognize Romania has reported important progress in terms of building a roadmap and implementing reliable reforms in the field of the judiciary. Still, embassies believe the recently adopted laws, as well as the recent proposals to amend the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes, risk endangering this progress, the letter also reads.
SANCTIONS — The EU has extended by six-months economic sanctions on Russia for its involvement in the Ukrainian conflict. The sanctions affect banks, businesses in the defense industry and oil companies, also forbidding European citizens to invest in Russia. The sanctions were first introduced in 2014, months after the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. So far, the conflict in Ukraine has killed over 10,000 people, France Press reports.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
