March 25, 2019 UPDATE

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 25.03.2019, 20:12

VISIT King Abdullah ll of Jordan has cancelled his three-day visit to
Romania, which was supposed to start on Monday after Romanian Prime Minister
Viorica Dancila announced Bucharest’s intention to move its embassy from Tel
Aviv to Jerusalem. The head of the Romanian state Klaus Iohannis has said the
move will take place only after the completion of a study, which is presently
underway and hasn’t been submitted to the Romanian presidency yet. A final
decision on this matter belongs to the Romanian president, who, under the
Constitution, is entitled to any foreign policy decision, being also Romania’s
representative at international level, says a communiqué issued by the Romanian
presidency. The EU is keeping its position concerning Jerusalem, adding that the
only realistic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine involves
the existence of two states with the same capital. European officials on Monday
said the community executive had been notified about the Romanian Prime
Minister’s statement over the intention to move the country’s embassy to
Jerusalem as well as the statement of the Romanian president who said the final
decision on the issue belonged to him. In October 2018, the Romanian Foreign
Ministry submitted to the government a study over the effects of moving the
country’s embassy to Jerusalem. The idea was first launched by the strongman of
the ruling coalition in Bucharest, Social-Democrat Liviu Dragnea in late 2017. In
response, the Palestinian Authority has provisionally recalled its ambassador
in Bucharest.

COMMISSIONER The European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis
Andriukaitis will be paying a formal visit to Bucharest over March 26th
and 27th, the European Commission’s Representation in Bucharest has announced.
On Tuesday Andriukaitis will be delivering a speech on Tobacco control,
sustainable development and the right to health and will be attending a round
of Q & A discussions. The European Official will be received by Romanian
president Klaus Iohannis, Agriculture Minister Petre Daea and the Minister of
Healthcare Sorina Pintea. On Wednesday, the European official is to attend the
opening of the fourth annual conference on tobacco control staged by the
European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention jointly with the Romanian
Society of Pneumology.

POPE
The apostolic visit to Romania by Pope Francis will be taking place over May 31st
and June 2nd during which he will be visiting Bucharest, Sumuleu
Ciuc in the centre of Romania, Iasi in the north-east and Blaj also in central
Romania, the presidential administration announced on Monday. According to the
same sources, the Pontiff and Romanian president Klaus Iohannis will be having
talks on May 31st, followed by a meeting with the authorities, civil
society and the diplomatic corps. The Pope is also to see the head of the
Romanian Orthodox Church, patriarch Daniel in Bucharest. The Pope’s visit comes
upon the invitation of the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis. This is the
second visit paid to Romania, a country with an Orthodox majority, by a
Pontiff, after that of Pope John Paul II in 1999.

(translated by
bill)