January 28, 2018 UPDATE
Parliament to convene on Monday to validate Dancila Cabinet members and programme
Newsroom, 28.01.2018, 19:07
GOVERNMENT – The ministers nominated to be part of the new Cabinet in Bucharest Sunday took part in a meeting with the MPs of the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, and the PM designate Viorica Dăncilă presented some of the measures included in the governing programme, including the pension law and the education law. The new government also intends to scrap several taxes. The meeting took place ahead of Mondays vote in Parliament on the validation of the new government. Before the vote, the ministers will also be heard by the specialised parliamentary committees. This is the 3rd cabinet backed by the ruling coalition in the past year. The new team, headed by the MEP Viorica Dăncilă, will include 27 ministers and 4 deputy PM, one more than the outgoing Mihai Tudose cabinet. Also on Sunday, the leaders of the National Liberal Party in opposition convened to define the partys strategy for the new parliamentary session and with respect to the validation of the Dăncilă government. The Liberals have announced they would vote against candidates proposed by the Social Democrats and ALDE. Also in opposition, Save Romania Union announced they would give no votes in favour of the Dancila Cabinet. The head of Save Romania Union, Dan Barna, said on Sunday that the governing team proposed by the ruling coalition was the weakest in the past few years.
EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER – The European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Creţu, will be on an official visit to Romania on Monday and Tuesday. She is scheduled to have a meeting with the PM designate Viorica Dăncilă, to discuss European funding. Corina Creţu will take part in a conference, jointly with the Governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isărescu, and will receive a diploma from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. The European official will also be the host of the award ceremony of 2017 European Reporter and Blogger competition.
DATA PROTECTION – The European Data Protection Day was celebrated on January 28. In May this year a new European regulation will take effect in this field, replacing national laws and introducing elements designed to consolidate the rights of individuals. The regulation lays emphasis on the obligations of data operators. Companies will be bound to nominate officers in charge of data protection, otherwise they risk fines of up to 10 million euros in the private sector. In the public sector, penalties will be set by national regulations. For misdeeds like data security breaches, fines may reach 20 million euros for the private sector. The new rule was adopted by the European Parliament and Council in April 2016.
TERRORISM – The Romanian Foreign Ministry has strongly criticised the terrorist attack that killed more than 100 people and wounded another 200 in Afganistans capital city Kabul on Saturday. Bucharest expressed solidarity with the Afghan people and authorities, and reiterated Romanias firm commitment to the fight against international terrorism. The attack, claimed by the Taliban, is one of the most violent Kabul has seen in recent years. Afghanistan declared a day of national mourning on Sunday for the victims of the attack.
RUSSIA – The leader of the Russian opposition, Alexei Navalny, was arrested on Sunday after he joined the protests in Moscow against Russias presidential election due on March 18, which Vladimir Putin is the most likely to win. Russian police forces Sunday raided the campaign headquarters of Putins main critic, Aleksei Navalny, and questioned and arrested members of his team, according to sources close to Navalny. Russian election authorities ruled that Navalny cannot run in the March ballot because of a previous suspended sentence for embezzlement. A long-time and well-known opponent of President Vladimir Putin, Navalny denied any irregularities and said the accusations against him were political. He was also arrested several times for illegal organisation of protests.
HANDBALL – Romanias mens handball team will take on Macedonia in the playoffs for the 2018 World Championship, as decided in a drawing in Zagreb. The final tournament will be hosted by Germany and Denmark between January 10 and 27. The mens team last took part in a World Championship final tournament in 2011. In other news, 3 Romanian womens handball teams won matches in European competitions over the weekend. HC Zalău managed its 3rd running victory in the EHF Cup, at home on Saturday, 31-28, against the Czech team DHK Banik Most, in the competitions Group D. In Group A, SCM Craiova defeated the Russian side Kuban Krasnodar, 30-24, also on Saturday. On Friday, the champions CSM Bucharest outplayed 28-22 at home, the Hungarian team Gyor Audi ETO KC, in the first match in the Champions League main groups. CSM tops the standings with 8 points, followed by Gyor, 6 points. In 2016 CSM won the trophy, while Gyor are the defending European champions.
TENNIS – The Romanians Sorana Cîrstea and Irina Begu will take part in the WTA tournament in Sankt Petersburg, with 733,900 US dollars in total prize money. Simona Halep, who lost the Australian Open final on Saturday, has withdrawn from the competition. The Melbourne winner, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, the new World No. 1, will be the top seed in Sankt Petersburg. Sorana Cîrstea will play in the first round against Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia), and Irina Begu will face a player coming from the qualification round.
(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)
