30 August, 2018

A selection of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 30.08.2018, 19:00

Virus. The African swine fever virus
has so far been confirmed at 165 different locations in ten counties in the
south-east and north-west of Romania. To prevent the spread of the epidemic,
experts have recommended maintaining traffic checks to identify attempts to
take sick animals or products coming from these animals out of the quarantined
area. The Romanian authorities have started criminal investigations against the
persons who brought into the country illegally meat infected with this virus,
Raed Arafat, a state secretary in the interior ministry has announced. On
Thursday, the opposition officially filed a request in the Chamber of Deputies
asking for the creation of a parliamentary inquiry committee to look at how the
authorities have handled the situation.

Complaints. The Public Ministry in
Romania announced on Thursday that more than 760 criminal complaints were made
in connection with the violent incidents that took place during an
anti-government protest on the 10th of August in Bucharest. Around
100,000 gathered outside the government building and demanded the resignation
of the government and of the ruling coalition formed by the Social Democratic
Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and called for early
elections. Violent clashes took place between protesters and the riot police,
with the latter using tear gas and water canons to disperse the crowd. More
than 450 people, including 36 members of the riot police, needed medical care. The
case is being looked into by the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Defence. The Romanian defence minister Mihai Fifor attended an informal
meeting in Vienna on Wednesday and Thursday alongside his EU counterparts. He
highlighted Romania’s wish to include the Western Balkans on the list of
priorities during Romania’s presidency of the EU Council in the first half of
next year. He also reiterated the important role Romania is playing in the
region on account of its constant military contribution to the EU mission in
Bosnia-Hertegovina and the NATO mission in Kosovo. According to the Romanian
defence ministry, the following meeting in this format is due in Bucharest in
January.

Business. Victor
Negrescu, the minister delegate for European affairs in the Romanian government,
said Romania needed its voice to be heard where important decisions are made.
He said Romania’s term as holder of the EU presidency next year is an excellent
opportunity to present the country’s economic offer. The Romanian business
environment is facing strong competition and must find the means to increase
its competitiveness, Negrescu added. He made these comments at an international
business forum hosted by Bucharest on Thursday and Friday. Attending the forum
are representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Romania and of the
business community.

Military. 135 military from the Royal Canadian Air Force
and 5 Hornet fighter aircraft will take part, together with the Romanian Army’s
MIG 21 LancerR planes, in air policing missions carried out over the next four
months at the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in Constanta county, south-eastern
Romania. The Canadian detachment will replace the British forces who have so
far conducted air policing missions together with the Romanian pilots.
According to the Romanian defence ministry, a ceremony was held at the Mihail
Kogalniceanu military base to mark the hand-over. In the last four years, the
Canadian pilots have carried out three other missions in Romania, one at the
Campia Turzii air base in central Romania and the last two in Mihail
Kogalniceanu.

Celebration. Romanian Language Day is celebrated on the 31st of August.
The ministry for Romanians abroad and the Romanian Cultural Institute are
holding a number of events abroad to mark this celebration, including debates,
conferences, book launches, recitals and exhibitions, in countries such as
Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Israel, Sweden and Ukraine. The Romanian Academy and
the Science Academy in the Republic of Moldova, an ex-Soviet state with a
majority Romanian-speaking population, organise in the Moldovan capital
Chisinau an event entitled Academic readings. Romanian Language Day was
introduced in 2013 and intended to coincide with a similar celebration held in
the Republic of Moldova since 1990 and called Our Language.