2 September 2018

A roundup of the main stories in Romania.

Newsroom, 02.09.2018, 13:07

National Liberal
Party. The leadership of the National Liberal Party in opposition meet today in
Bucharest ahead of the start of the new parliamentary session to discuss the
party’s legislative priorities with its senators and deputies. The Liberals
have already said they want to ask the prime minister questions about the
violence that took place at the protests of August 10th in Bucharest
and the situation of the African swine fever epidemic. The leader of the
National Liberal Party Ludovic Orban has said the Liberal MPs have initiated
action to seek the creation of a parliamentary committee to inquire into how
the authorities have handled the African swine fever crisis.

Social Democratic Party. The
National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party, the senior partner
in the ruling coalition, met on Saturday in Neptun, on the Black Sea coast.
Talks focused on the activity of Viorica Dancila’s government seven months
after taking office and the implementation of the governing platform. The
leadership of the party together with the parliamentary groups also established
a series of legislative priorities to be finalised by the end of the year.
These include the new pension bill, to be passed by Parliament by October, the
amendment of the national security laws and the adoption bill. The president of
the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea said the government would pass an
emergency order to cancel the protocols between the Romanian Intelligence
Service and justice institutions and that a referendum on the definition of the
concept of family in the Constitution would be held on the 7th of
October.

Vacancy. The six applicants for the
position of chief prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate will be
interviewed by the justice minister Tudorel Toader on Monday and Tuesday. The
results will be made public on the 6th of September. The proposal of
the justice minister will then be submitted to the Supreme Council of
Magistracy for an opinion and later to president Klaus Iohannis. The former
head of the anti-corruption body Laura Codruta Kovesi was sacked in July following
a decree signed by the president, who was in effect forced to do so in order to
comply with a Constitutional Court ruling. The justice minister had requested
that Kovesi be sacked following a report that received a negative opinion from
the Supreme Council of Magistracy.

Meeting. The Romanian president
Klaus Iohannis has called for a meeting of the Country’s Supreme Defence
Council on the 4th of September to discuss the government’s proposals
to adjust this year’s budget of state institutions with responsibilities in the
area of national security. The president’s office has explained that not all
Council members agreed to approve the proposed adjustment. The president said
the government could have made the budget adjustment in any field with no need
for further approval, with the exception of national security. Earlier, the
government had called for an emergency meeting of the Council and warned that
the president’s refusal to hold one to approve the budget adjustment bill can
jeopardise not only the incomes of the most vulnerable categories, that is
pensioners, mothers and children, but also people’s access to medical services.

Singing contest. The award gala of
the anniversary edition of the Golden Stag International Festival was held in
Brasov, central Romania. The big trophy went to a 17-year-old singer from
Albania, Inis Neziri. Olivier Kaye from Belgium received the first prize and
the public’s award. The second prize went to Antonia Gigovsca from Macedonia
and the third prize to Kelly Joice from France. Lidia Isac from the Republic of
Moldova was awarded a special prize from the Romanian Radio and Television. The
guest acts included Edwin Marton with his Stradivarius violin, Eleni Koureira,
a member of the jury and Cyprus’ representative to the Eurovision, The Motans, Carla’s
Dreams and Nicole Scherzinger, the star of the band Pussycat Dolls. This was a
special edition of the Golden Stag festival owing to its 50th
anniversary and the celebration of the Centenary of the Great Union.

Sea crossing. Avram Iancu, a 42-year-old
librarian from Petrosani, in south-western Romania, said on his blog that he
plans to swim across the Black Sea, from Sulina in Romania to Istanbul in
Turkey, covering a distance of 630 km. He starts his journey today and plans to
finish in 40 to 50 days, according to News.ro. He is the first person in the
world to swim the length of the Danube river, 2,860 km, without a protective
suit, something that took him 89 days. He also crossed the English Channel
without wearing a neoprene suit.