April 1, 2019
EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy pays official visit to Bucharest
Newsroom, 01.04.2019, 14:30
MEETING – Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu, paying an official visit to the US, is today meeting in Washington DC with the American Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Also today, in New York, Melescanu attends the reception hosted by Romania’s Permanent Mission to the UN, marking Romania’s Presidency of the Council of the EU and the International Francophonie Day. Melescanu travelled to the US on March 27, to attend a number of meetings held at the UN offices, thus continuing efforts to promote Romania’s candidacy for the position of non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 mandate.
TURKEY – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, AKP, has lost control of the capital Ankara in local elections, for the first time in 25 years, according to official partial results. Anadolu news agency has reported that the secularist Republican Peoples Party (CHP) candidate, Mansur Yavas, won in Ankara. With almost all votes counted, he has a 3% advance as compared to the AKPs Mehmet Ozhaseki. Both parties have been claiming victory in the city of Istanbul.
UKRAINE – Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian with no political experience has won the most votes in the first round of Ukraines presidential elections, followed by the current leader Petro Poroshenko, according to early results. Thus, Volodymyr Zelenskiy got about 30.3%, while Petro Poroshenko got only 16.6%. Former PM Yulia Tymoshenko came out third, with 13.1%. Aged 41, Zelenskyi won the Ukrainians’ support in the context of their disappointment with the political elites, regarded as corrupt and inefficient.
VISIT – EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Canete is paying a two-day official visit to Bucharest, starting today, the European Commissions Representative Office in Bucharest has announced. Today, the EU official is attending the meeting titled “The Regional Energy Cooperation Initiative in Central and Eastern Europe”. The event brings together ministers and high-ranking officials from member states and contracting parties of the Energy Community. The meeting includes ceremonies for the signing of energy grants under the European Interconnection Mechanism. EU officials will also look at progress obtained so far and will address the priorities for the future of natural gas and energy markets and the development of infrastructure and sustainable energy sources. On Tuesday, Miguel Arias Canete will attend the Informal Energy Council, on the sidelines of which the first meeting of Energy Ministers from EU states and the Eastern Partnership will be held, with a view to consolidating regional energy cooperation.
MOTION — The simple motion against the transport minister, initiated by the opposition parties Save Romania Union (USR) and People’s Movement Party (PMP) is debated today in the Chamber of Deputies and will be voted on, on Wednesday. Its signatories are demanding Minister Razvan Cuc’s resignation and say that the governing coalition, made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), through their programs, pledged to build 350 km of motorway by 2020 and that the current Government, after almost 15 months, only inaugurated 58 kilometers. The motion’s initiators also denounce the lack of applications for EU funds for infrastructure, the poor state of railway infrastructure and the problems of Tarom national air company, which is on the verge of bankruptcy.
CONFERENCE — An inter-parliamentary conference on the future of the EU is held today and tomorrow in Bucharest. The event is organized by Parliament, within Romania’s Presidency of the Council of the EU. Debates will focus on the defense of European values and citizens, the need for a reform of the economic model, cohesion and Euro-Atlantic ties. The conference will end with the signing of a joint declaration. (Translated by Elena Enache)
