11 April, 2019

A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 11.04.2019, 13:57

Referendum. Romania’s president
Klaus Iohannis is today holding consultations on the May referendum on justice with
the representatives of the political parties that are not in the ruling
coalition, namely the Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union, the People’s
Movement Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, as
well as the group of ethnic minorities. He is due to have further talks on
Friday with the ruling Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats. The leader of the latter party, Calin Popescu Tariceanu says his
party will not take part in the consultations. The Social Democrats’ leader
Liviu Dragnea has said he will personally not attend, but that a party
delegation will take part in the talks. The Liberals’ leader Ludovic Orban says
his party fully supports the referendum on justice. The consultations look at
issues such as banning amnesty and pardon for corruption crimes and forbidding
the government to pass emergency orders that deal with crimes, penalties and the
judicial organisation and the right of other constitutional bodies to refer
such orders to the Constitutional Court.

Brexit. The European Union has
extended by 31st October the deadline for the UK’s withdrawal from
the community bloc, following intense talks late on Wednesday evening in
Brussels. The UK can leave earlier if the withdrawal agreement is ratified by
Parliament. The British government, which is trying to find parliamentary
support for the deal agreed with Brussels, will however have to hold European
elections on the 23rd of May or crash out of the EU without a deal
on the 1st of June. Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis, who was in
Brussels, says he is optimistic about the prospect of an orderly Brexit, but that
even in the case of a no-deal, Romania is capable to negotiate its best
interests, in particular those related to the Romanians living in the UK.

Summit. The
Romanian prime minister Viorica Dancila is attending the 16+1 summit, a
cooperation format bringing together central and eastern European countries and
China, hosted by Dubrovnik, in Croatia. Dancila is accompanied by the first
deputy prime minister Viorel Stefan, the minister for business, trade and
entrepreneurship Stefan Radu Oprea and the foreign minister Teodor Melescanu.
According to a government press release, apart from taking part in the summit
of heads of governments from the participating countries, Dancila will sign a
series of agreements and documents of bilateral cooperation between Romania and
China.

Protest. Almost 1,000 railway
employees staged a protest today outside the transport ministry in Bucharest. They
demand the urgent approval of the railway worker status and pay rises and
deplore the dire situation of the Romanian railways infrastructure. Engine drivers
have also spoken about the possibility of a general strike.

Cluj Napoca. A European Commission study has named the north-western
Romanian city of Cluj Napoca as the most foreigner-friendly city. The European
authorities have decided to finance a series of innovative projects, from
virtual public servants using artificial intelligence to smart lighting.
According to the local authorities, all this ecosystem has transformed Cluj
Napoca into a smart city. In 2015, Cluj Napoca held the title of European Youth
Capital and in 2018 that of European City of Sport. Also last year, it became
the first city in Eastern Europe to be included in the Urban Innovative Actions
programme, a European Union initiative promoting pilot projects for a
sustainable development.

EU funding. The European commissioner for employment and social affairs Marianne Thyssen proposed on
Thursday a 17% increase in the funding allocated to Romania under the European
Social Fund Plus. She made this proposal at a conference
in Bucharest organised by the Romanian ministry for European funds in the
context of Romania’s holding the presidency of the Council of the EU. Thyssen said the fund allocation
programme is a confirmation of the EU’s promise to concentrate on the social
factor.

Danube. More than 220
representatives of the academic, economic, social and political community are
attending the Danube Region Cooperation Forum hosted by the south-eastern
Romanian city of Galati. A declaration will be adopted at the end of the forum
which will form the basis of a communication platform aimed at finding the best
public policy solutions as part of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. The
latter is a European political project launched by Romania together with
Austria aimed at the economic and social development of the Danube macro-region
and acting as an instrument of cooperation among the states in the Danube
basin, including 9 EU and 5 non-EU member states.

Handball. The Romanian men’s
handball side today face Lithuania in a qualifying match for Euro 2020. Romania
are at the bottom of the group with no points after two matches played. The
return leg will take place on Sunday.