October 24, 2019

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 24.10.2019, 14:33

CABINET Romania’s Prime Minister-designate, Ludovic Orban is expected to
formally present today a list of candidates for the positions of ministers and
the ruling programme after their validation in a session of the National
Liberal Party PNL. The Liberals may not muster the necessary majority for the
investiture vote after the first round of talks with the Pro Romania party, led
by Romania’s former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, ended in a deadlock yesterday.
The cabinet cannot rely on support from the People’s Movement Party as the PMP do
not agree with the Prime Minister’s decision to forge a single-color cabinet.
On the other hand the USR and ALDE have announced they have reached a political
agreement with the Liberals. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
Romania (UDMR) says that the cabinet stands good chances to get the investiture
vote while the representatives of the national minorities have announced their
support for a PNL government. Prime Minister Orban has also voiced optimism saying
that he hopes to convince the other undecided MPs. We recall that the National
Liberal Party rallied support from the other political parties in opposition to
bring down the PSD government led by Viorica Dancila on October 10th.

EPPO
A decision to appoint Laura Codruta Kovesi, Romania’s former anti-corruption chief
prosecutor as head of the future European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) was
signed by European Parliament President David Sassoli and by the Finnish
Minister for European Affairs Tytti Tuppurainen on Wednesday. The idea for
setting up the aforementioned institution has been launched and promoted by
another Romanian, former minister and MEP, Monica Macovei. The EPPO is expected
to become operational at the end 2020 as an independent institution in charge
of investigating and prosecuting crimes against the EU budget, such as fraud,
corruption or cross-border fraud. 22 member countries have so far joined the
EPPO. Five other countries like Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Ireland and Denmark
are expected to join any moment now.

NATO
Defence ministers from NATO countries are to convene on Thursday and Friday in
Brussels for talks over key issues for the organization. Before the meeting,
the Alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg presented the talks agenda,
which includes NATO latest operations and missions, ways to improve the
training of NATO troops, the progress made in the process of sharing tasks and
the resilience of the alliance’s communication systems. According to the same
sources, the meeting is expected to settle divergences sparked off by the military
operations Turkey launched in northern Syria. NATO hasn’t so far condemned the
military operation Turkey launched on October 9th against the Kurdish
militias in northern Syria, which are allies of the international anti-ISIS coalition.

FOOTBALL Romanian football champion team CFR Cluj tonight faces French
team Rennes in an away fixture counting towards Europa League’s Group E. CFR
Cluj’s record so far includes a 2-1 home win against Lazio Rome and a nil-2
defeat by Scottish opponents Celtic Glasgow. Celtic are at the top of the table
with 4 points, followed by CFR Cluj and Lazio, with 3 points each. Rennes are
fourth-placed, with one point on their record sheet.

(translated by bill)