May 17th, 2016 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 17.05.2016, 12:30
MOTION The lack of quorum on Tuesday prevented the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest from voting on a simple motion suggestively entitled The Biggest Disaster in the Romanian Agriculture after December 1989. The signatories of the document, Social Democrats and the Liberal-Democratic Alliance in Romania (ALDE) have blamed Agriculture Minister Achim Irimescu for having blocked EU fund accession and investment in the irrigation network. They have also criticised Irimescu for mismanagement at the Agriculture Ministry and for hindering direct payment to farmers. During debates on the motion on Monday, Irimescu denied allegations saying that his work is being appreciated by farmers associations.
HEALTHCARE Romanias technocratic Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos on Tuesday asked financial expert Vlad Voiculescu to consider taking over the Health Ministry portfolio vacant since the last weeks resignation of former minister Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu. A civic activist and currently a chief of cabinet at the Finance Ministry, Anca Dragu Voiculescu in 2008 initiated the so-called Cytostatics Network, a group of over 400 volunteers from Europe who used to bring free cytostatic drugs to Romanian patients. The head of the government also serves as interim health minister, coordinating emergency measures in a recent case involving the use of diluted disinfectant in hospitals around Romania. Hexi Pharma, the company producing these disinfectants, which is currently probed in for actions running counter to disease prevention and counterfeiting, withdrew its insolvency application on Tuesday. Prosecutors had earlier imposed on the company a ban on commencing insolvency procedures and selling assets.
HUMANITARIAN AID UN planes might carry out air drops over Syrian cities besieged by government troops, unless the UN convoys get access to these cities, the US Secretary of State John Kerry announced on Tuesday after talks in Vienna that brought together members of the International Syria Support Group, made up of the USA, Russia, Iran and the Arab countries. The meeting came after the Syrian opposition in April suspended its participation in peace talks in Geneva due to rising violence in the territory. Also on Monday in Vienna, foreign ministers from the EU the USA and from Libyas neighboring countries decided to help the national unity government in Tripoli with weapons supplies. The decision comes after the Islamic State has extended its influence over this country and is aimed at preventing another refugee surge to Europe.
VILLAGE MUSEUM Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos on Tuesday was attending the inauguration of a new wing at the Village Museum in Bucharest, which turns 80 this year. One of Bucharests landmarks, the Village Museum was inaugurated on May 10th 1936, while on May 17th that same year it was opened to the public. It was sociologist Dimitrie Gusti who had the idea, in the interwar period, to bring to Bucharest tens of traditional households from throughout Romania. The museum currently hosts 370 monuments and 60 thousand heritage objects.
