President Klaus Iohannis calls referendum on anti-corruption fight./ Cabinet holds final talks on 2017 budget./ 1859 Union of Principalities celebrated in Romania.
Referendum. President Klaus Iohannis has called a referendum in which citizens will be able to express their views with regard to the continuation of the fight against corruption and ensuring the integrity of public office. On Monday night, the president said the government's intention to pass two emergency ordinances granting collective pardon and amending the criminal code was never discussed during the election campaign for the parliamentary elections on the 11th of December, but that the Romanian people have a right to express their views on the subject. The Social Democratic Party, the senior partner in the ruling coalition, says the president's move is politically motivated and an attempt to win back popular support after the opposition lost the elections. The National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union, in opposition, said they supported the president's move. Last Sunday, Klaus Iohannis took part in a massive protest held in Bucharest against the government's proposals. Rallies were also held in other cities across Romania. Justice minister Florin Iordache says the changes proposed are needed in order to ease overcrowding in prisons and harmonise the legislation with some Constitutional Court rulings.
Council of Europe visit. Romania's president Klaus Iohannis today begins a two-day visit to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. He will attend today a ceremony to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the opening of an exhibition staged by Romania containing archive documents and photographs paying tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. Also today, president Iohannis will have talks with the president of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio and the president of the European Court of Human Rights Guido Raimondi. Iohannis is expected to assure the two officials of Romania's firm and continued commitment to the Council of Europe values and standards, in particular with regard to democracy and the rule of law. On Wednesday, the Romanian president will address the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly and have talks with the Assembly's president Pedro Agramunt. The visit to Strasbourg is Iohannis' first foreign trip this year.
2017 budget. Prime minister Sorin Grindeanu has called a meeting of his cabinet formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for final talks on this year's budget. In the version published on Monday, the budget bill provides for more money for agriculture, labour, transport, culture, justice, healthcare and the economy, as well as the Romanian Intelligence Service. Funds were slashed for education, youth, energy, regional development, home affairs, foreign affairs, the president's office, the two chambers of Parliament and the Foreign Intelligence Service. Romania's budget for 2017 is based on an economic growth rate of 5.2%, while the budget deficit is estimated at 2.96% of the GDP. The bill will be adopted by the cabinet on Wednesday and then submitted to Parliament.
Union of Romanian Principalities. Romania and Romanian communities abroad today celebrate the 158th anniversary of the Union of the Romanian Principalities. On the 24th of January 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, who, one week earlier, had been elected ruler of Moldavia, was also unanimously elected by the Elective Assembly of Bucharest ruler of Wallachia and thus proclaimed ruler of the United Principalities. This represented the de facto union of the two countries inhabited by Romanians. Three years later, on the 24th of January 1862, this union was recognised internationally and the new state was named Romania. The reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1859-1866) laid the institutional foundations of modern Romania through a series of radical reforms. In 1918, the process for the creation of a Romanian nation state ended with the union with the Kingdom of Romania of the historical provinces with a majority Romanian population that had until then been controlled by neighbouring multinational empires. After World War Two, however, Romania lost the provinces of Bessarabia and Bukovina.
International Space Station live chat. This afternoon, a group of teachers and pupils from Timisoara, western Romania, will be in contact with the International Space Station in a live video chat. The astronaut Thomas Pesquet will answer their questions from aboard the station. The live chat will also be streamed in Ireland and Portugal. Dumitru Prunariu, the first and only Romanian astronaut ever to fly to space, on the 14th of May 1981, will also be in Timisora to talk about the role of space in people's daily lives. Prunariu took part in the Soyuz 40 mission forming part of the Interkosmos space programme and spent 7 days, 20 hours and 42 minutes in space.
Brexit. The UK Supreme Court says the government must seek Parliament's vote before it can start the formal procedure for Britain's exit from the European Union. Theresa May's Conservative government hoped it would be able to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal mechanism for leaving the European Union, without a vote in Parliament. The Supreme Court says this would violate constitutional principles. (Trans.: C. Mateescu)
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