January 30, 2018 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 30.01.2018, 20:03
MESSAGE The European Council president, Donald Tusk has conveyed a message of congratulation to Romania’s new Prime Minister Viorica Dancila. According to the European official, the rule of law and the irreversible progress in the anti-graft fight, in accordance with the high expectations of the Romanian society, are crucial so that people may fully benefit the opportunities offered by the country’s EU membership. The major responsibility of the Bucharest government in supporting the European values lies at the foundation of the prosperity, stability and security of both Romania and the Union, Tusk went on to say. The EU official has also recalled that Romania is to take over the EU’s rotating presidency in the first half of 2019.
TENNIS Romanian tennis player Irina Begu (WTA 37) on Tuesday clinched a two-set win 7-6, 6-1 against German Andrea Petkovic in the first round of the Saint Petersburg tournament in Russia with 750 thousand dollars in prize money. The tournament’s odds-on favourite is Danish Caroline Wozniacki who became the world’s number 1 tennis player after her Saturday’s win over Romanian Simona Halep in the Australian Open. Halep doesn’t participate in the Russian tournament. Also on Tuesday in the tennis tournament in Taipei, Taiwan, Romanian Ana Bogdan secured a two-set win 6-4, 6-1 against the competition’s odds-on favourite Shuai Peng of China. Monica Niculescu, another player representing Romania in Taipei, has also qualified after Tunisian Ons Jabeur abandoned the competition.
AMENDMENTS Romania’s Constitutional Court (CCR) on Tuesday ruled unconstitutional some amendments to the law on the standing of judges and prosecutors, the Court’s president Valer Dorneanu announced. In another development, CCR on Tuesday postponed for February 13th the talks on notifications regarding amendments to the law on the organisation and functioning of the Higher Council of Magistracy. Complaints regarding the unconstitutional laws were filed by the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the opposition National Liberal Party, after the majority PSD-ALDE ruling coalition backed by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania had brought numerous amendments to the justice laws. One week ago, the Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional by unanimous vote the changes in judiciary law on judicial organization, rejecting the other objections brought by the Liberal opposition. These sweeping changes in judicial law sparked concern among Romanias western partners and criticism from President Klaus Iohannis, but more importantly brought to the streets hundreds of thousands of protesters, who claimed that the people in government are trying to undermine the fight against corruption. The ruling coalition claims that the changes they are pushing through are meant to harmonize that legislation with previous Constitutional Court and European Court of Human Rights rulings.
