December 3, 2018

Romanian PM Dancila visits Croatia; The Senate in Bucharest to debate motion against Minister of Tourism

Leyla Cheamil, 03.12.2018, 14:36

ZAGREB – Romanian PM Viorica Dancila takes part in Zagreb in the opening of the Central European Initiative heads of government summit. The main topics for the meeting are regional cooperation, with emphasis on promoting democratic values and practices, good neighborhood relations, and ensuring regional stability. The prime ministers will also discuss economic projects in energy interconnection and transportation. Dancila will also hold a series of meetings, holding talks with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, the country’s prime minister, as well as the speaker of the parliament in Zagreb. On Tuesday and Wednesday, PM Dancila, together with her cabinet, will visit Brussels to attend the joint session that the government in Bucharest will hold with the European Commission. The visit comes as Romania gets closer to taking over, on January 1, the presidency of the EU Council.

JUDICIAL – In Bucharest, all criminal cases on the Supreme Court docket, scheduled to be ruled on today, have been delayed for January 14. Involved are over 20 cases under appeal, including that involving Social Democrat leader and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea. Initially he was sentenced to three and a half years mandatory prison for instigation to abuse of office. The delay is the result of a ruling of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, canceling the decision on the drawing of lots for choosing the panels of five judges, which was in line with a specific disposition from the Constitutional Court. The drawing of lots was attacked in court by Liviu Dragnea, who claimed that the Constitutional Court has not issued its motivation in that decision.

SENATE – The Senate in Bucharest will debate and vote on the simple motion against Minister of Tourism Bogdan Trif, introduced by the Liberal Party and Save Romania Union. The two parties claim that Romania trails every other EU country in terms of tourism at all levels, and that the activity of the Ministry of Tourism lacks transparency completely. The signatories of the motion also say that Minister Trif is unsuitable for the position, and that he missed a great opportunity by not promoting Romania this year, the year of the Centennial.

HANDBALL – Romania’s national women’s handball team plays today against Germany in Group D of the European Championships held in France. In the first games, Romania defeated the Czech Republic, while Germany scored a surprise victory against Norway. The first three ranked go to the main groups. The Romanians are in the competition for the 13th time. They came in fifth at the European Championships in 2016, but their best performance was getting the bronze in 2010.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis star Simona Halep, still ranking first on the WTA tables, will take part in the tournament in Sydney, Australia, scheduled for January 6 to 12, organizers announced, which they provide with $823,000 total prize money. Attending there will also be German player Angelique Kerber, second in the world, to defend her title. Joining them will be Japanese player Naomi Osaka, world no. 3.

AGRICULTURE – Romania’s grain crop this year is up to 30 million tons, up from 27 million last year. Maize and sunflower crops are the highest in the EU, said on Monday for Agerpres Romanian Minister of Agriculture Petre Daea. The total surface growing maize was over 2.4 million hectares, and about 1 million for sunflower. According to data published in November by Eurostat, Romania had the eighth agricultural system in the EU in 2017.

ENVIRONMENT – Patricia Espinosa, UN executive secretary for climate change, said that the threats against humanity posed by climate change were never greater than today. Speaking in the opening of the climate change conference in Katowice, Poland, she said that next year will among the hottest on record. Over 20,000 delegates gathered in Poland at what is considered to be the most important global warming meeting after the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015.