The Week in Review 28 May – 3 June
A roundup of the week's main stories
România Internațional, 02.06.2018, 11:35
Cohesion funds for Romania
In the future EU draft budget for 2021-2027
Romania will receive cohesion funds worth 27 billion Euros, according to the
proposals made public by the European Commission on Tuesday. The amount is 8%
higher as compared to the current period. The EC has proposed the modernization
of the cohesion policy within the Union’s future multi-annual budget, which
will benefit from total funds amounting to 373 billion Euros. Through its
cohesion policy, the EU is set to bridge the development gaps among member
states or among regions. In a statement for Radio Romania, the European
Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu highlighted some of the regional
development priorities for the period 2021-2027.
Corina Cretu: First of all we’ll focus on
an innovation policy, on supporting small enterprises and digital technologies,
therefore we’ll focus on an intelligent policy. Another priority is investments
in all regions. Practically, in the new Programming Period 2021-2027 we’ll be
granting more support to local, urban and territorial authorities, which will
be more involved in managing the European funds, because we do believe that
regions and cities know better than us, the Brussels officials, in what they
need to invest and what their needs are.
According to Commissioner Cretu,
75% of the cohesion funds allotted as part of the future European budget
framework will continue to be channeled to those regions that badly need
investments.
Prince Charles pays another visit
to Romania
Prince Charles, the Heir to the
British Throne, has visited Romania again these days. He was received by the
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis who once again appreciated the Prince’s
involvement in various charities in Romania and in promoting Romania’s natural
beauties, its authentic traditions and the biodiversity of the Romanian rural
environment. The two officials reiterated the very good relations between the
two countries under the Romanian-British Strategic Partnership, which is based
on strong cooperation in the economic and security fields.
President Iohannis also
reconfirmed the binding role of the Romanian community living and working in
Great Britain in the bilateral relation. Prince Charles also met with the PM
Viorica Dancila with whom he tackled such issues as Romania’s economic
situation, the regional agenda as well as themes of common interest like
Romania’s future presidency of the Council of the European Union and the
general European architecture after Brexit. PM Dancila underlined that
protecting the rights and interests of the Romanian citizens living in the UK
was a priority for the Romanian government. Prince Charles also met with
Margareta, Crown Princess and Custodian of the Crown of Romania, the oldest
daughter of the former King of Romania, Mihai I, who died in 2017 aged 97.
(King Mihai was a distant cousin of Queen Elisabeth II of Great Britain.)
For 20 years now, Prince Charles
has visited Romania on an almost annual basis. He holds several properties in
this country and a charity that promotes the preservation of Romania’s
heritage, agriculture and sustainable development. Last year, Prince Charles visited Romania on several
occasions both on private and official visits. In 2017 Klaus Iohannis decorated
Prince Charles with the Order of the Star of Romania in the Rank of Grand
Cross, in sign of appreciation for his activity in Romania and for promoting
Romania’s image in the world.
Decision
by Romania’s Constitutional Court causes mixed feelings in Romania
The Constitutional Court of Romania on Wednesday
ruled on the existence of a conflict of interests between two state powers in
the case of the Romanian President refusing to dismiss the head of the National
Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi.
The justice minister Tudorel Toader had
previously notified the Constitutional Court about the Romanian President’s
rejection as ungrounded of his request for the dismissal of the chief
prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate.
According to Toader the president’s refusal
created an institutional deadlock. The presidency, however, begged to differ,
claiming that the president’s move was the completion of a procedure and the
fulfillment of a legal responsibility of a country’s president. According to
minister Toader, the decision of the Constitutional Court of Romania was based
on the constitutional principle according to which prosecutors carry out their
activity under the authority of the justice minister, and any Court decision
had to be observed. Klaus Iohannis said he was waiting for the motivation of
the Constitutional Court before acting on the matter.
The governing coalition considers the Court’s
decision normal, while the Opposition accuses it of confiscating the
president’s responsibilities. People gathered to protest in Bucharest and in
other cities of Romania against the Court’s decision obliging the president to
dismiss the head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate. The president
rejected the request for dismissal after the Superior Council of Magistracy had
given a negative opinion on the justice minister’s request, a consultative, yet
binding opinion in this procedure.
A new edition of Bookfest
Bucharest is hosting these days
the 2018 International BookFair, which has brought together over 150
publishers. This year, the US is a guest of honor. Under the motto ‘Celebrating
the South’ the event brings to Romania American authors from various fields.
For 5 days the visitors of Bookfest will have the opportunity to participate in
hundreds of events among which book launches and film screenings. For the 3rd
consecutive year, Bookfest has been organized under the high patronage of
Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis.
