January 7, 2020 UPDATE
Click here for an update on domestic and international news
Newsroom, 07.01.2020, 19:47
Bavaria — On Tuesday the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis paid a working visit to the State of Bavaria where he attended a meeting of the local government. The Romanian head of state met with the prime minister of Bavaria, Markus Söder, who is the president of the Christian Social Union (CSU). The two discussed bilateral relations as well as European issues such as the EU future multiannual budget, Brexit and the migration policy. Klaus Iohannis has promised that Romania will get involved alongside the other member states to make the EU stronger and more united. He has also announced that there will be a meeting of the Romania-Bavaria joint committee, which is critical both for the political and economic relations. The PM of Bavaria Markus Söder underlined that from a geographical point of view Romania is very important to Europe. On Tuesday President Iohannis participated in the annual meeting of the parliamentary group of the CSU in the Bundestag, and met with the speaker of the Bavarian Parliament, Ilse Aigner.
Brussels — The Romanian PM Ludovic Orban on Tuesday met with the president of the European Council Charles Michel on his first day of his working visit to Brussels. PM Orban said that Romanian would back the promotion of the EU strategic agenda, which focuses, besides protecting the citizens and their liberties, on building a green Europe, fair and neutral from the point of view of the climate impact, on promoting the European interests and values in the world. As to the challenges facing the EU, Ludovic Orban said they should be solved in a balanced manner, while taking into account the citizens’ interests. Also on Tuesday the Romanian PM and the EU chief negotiator for Brexit Michel Barnier highlighted the importance of the Brexit deal, especially for the protection of the citizens’ rights. Mr. Orban said that the future partnership with Great Britain needs to be ambitious and balanced and should take into account aspects beyond the commercial and economic framework. On Wednesday Ludovic Orban will talk with the president of the EP David Sassoli and will participate in the meeting of the European People’s Party in the EP. On Thursday, the Romanian PM is to meet with the president of the EC Ursula von der Leyen and with the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Baghdad — The 14 Romanian military on mission in Iraq will be temporarily relocated to another coalition base. The measure follows the decision made by the ambassadors of NATO’s North Atlantic Council during Monday’s meeting to temporarily suspend the mission of training the Iraqi troops against the backdrop of escalating tensions in the Middle East. NATO subsequently announced that it also temporarily withdrew part of its personnel from Iraq. The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said he was closely monitoring the situation in Iraq and that the crisis in the region could be solved by diplomatic means and the return to calm. He added that the Strategic Partnership with the US is solid and unfolding well, and that the antimissile defense shield in Deveselu, a part of the NATO defense system, is functioning optimally. The Romanian president underlined that the situation in Iraq also concerns Romania because there are many Romanian citizens who live and work in the Middle East.
Damascus – The Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday met with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on the occasion of a surprise visit to Damascus, the first visit he pays to the Syrian capital since the beginning of the conflict in 2011. According to the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, Vladimir Putin referred to the ‘immense’ progress made by Syria and the peaceful atmosphere on the streets of Damascus. Reuters news agency recalls that president Putin had previously visited Syria in 2017 when he visited the Hmeimim air base, the largest Russian base in that country. In turn, the Syrian president expressed gratitude for Russia’s help in the fight against terrorism and for the restoration of peace. The conflict started in Syria through the repression of the pro-democracy manifestations turned into a complex civil and military war which involved Jihadist groups and foreign powers. The conflict has left behind more than 380 thousand dead and millions of people displaced and stranded.
Madrid — The Spanish Socialist Pedro Sanchez was reconfirmed as prime minister after narrowly winning Parliament’s confidence vote. This ends a period of 8 months of political deadlock. Sanchez will be able to form a new government coalition together with the radical left Podemos that will be supported by several small regional and national parties. In their highly criticized program, the Socialists and Podemos promised to make a left turn in the sense of increasing the minimum wage, introducing taxes for the richest and for companies, and partially abrogating the controversial labor market reform, adopted by the Conservatives.
Consumer protection — The European Commission has hailed the enforcement of the new EU consumer protection rules. The EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders considers the rules a strong warning to traders who should play by the rules, not bend them. The new rules will ensure greater transparency of online marketplaces: it will become clearer whether products are sold by trader or a private individual, and fake reviews will be forbidden. Moreover sellers will not be able to advertise fake price reductions and price comparison sites will need to inform consumers about the ranking criteria. The new rules will also enforce consumer rights: by ensuring compensation for victims of unfair commercial practices and imposing penalties in case of “mass harm situations” affecting consumers across the EU. Member states have 2 years to transpose the rules into their national legislation. (news udpate by L. Simion)
