18 February, 2016
Romanian president Klaus Iohanis attends crucial EU summit to secure a deal on Britains EU future.
Newsroom, 18.02.2016, 12:00
EU leaders meet in a crucial summit in
Brussels, trying to reach a compromise to keep Britain in the European Union.
Britain’s demands include changes in the field of social protection, political
integration and financial regulations. Among others, London wishes to introduce
a 4-year ban of in-work benefits for foreign workers and limit the level of
benefits to those payable in the migrants’ country of origin unless their
children reside in the UK. Romania is represented at the summit by president
Klaus Iohannis, who says his country stands for finding a suitable solution
that meets Britain’s expectations and keeps it in the European Union. At the
same time, he said this solution must be in keeping with the EU treaties,
respecting the Union’s fundamental values and principles and the European
legislation. The EU summit will also tackle migration and the distribution of
refugees among member states.
A group of doctors from the European Centre for
Disease Prevention and Control are expected in Romania today to help find the
cause of an infection that developed in a number of children from Arges county,
in the south. Romania has activated the European common support mechanism more
than a week after the first cases of infants with serious digestive infections,
followed by major complications, were reported. The authorities say they will
expand the epidemiological inquiry in Arges to test the animals in the areas
where the children live. Three infants have died and three others are in
intensive care. Meanwhile, the case has reached Parliament, with the Social
Democratic Party saying it might call for a no-confidence vote against the
health minister Patriciu Achimas Cadariu. In another related development,
several hundred people took part in a rally on Wednesday night in Pitesti to
protest against the situation in the Romanian healthcare system and express
their solidarity with the families who lost their children.
The Romanian government has
launched a public debate on its proposed integrated package to fight poverty,
which entails 47 different measures for all age categories. The programme aims
to provide assistance for the following four years to more than 1 million
Romanians living under the poverty line, many of whom are children and old
people. The goals include raising employment levels for people between the age
of 20 and 64 from 66% in 2014 to 70% in 2020 and reducing by at least 580,000
the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion by 2020. The
anti-poverty package also entails a series of measures to help families such
as: home improvement loans, preventing the separation of children from their
families and incentives for day workers. All these goals are in line with the
Europe 2020 Strategy.
Illegal migration was the biggest challenge for
Romania and the European Union in 2015, said the head of the Romanian General
Immigration Inspectorate Viorel Vasile in a review of the inspectorate’s
activity last year. He says 43% of the asylum applications registered in
Romania come from Syrian nationals. 2,300 controls were carried out in 2015,
with expatriation orders being issued for more than 2,000 foreign citizens. 189
of them were escorted out of the country, while 258 were taken into public
custody. Currently, there are 104,000 foreign citizens in Romania.
Romania’s Simona
Halep, the top seed at the WTA tennis tournament in Dubai, on Wednesday lost to
Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic in the second round. In the next round, Ivanovic faces
the Czech player Barbora
Strycova, number 47 in the world. Currently ranked third in the world, Halep
will go down once place in the world ranking for the first time in the last two
years. This is the second tournament in a row where she loses her opening match
after being eliminated from the Australian Open in the first round. Next week,
Halep will play in the tournament in Doha, which she won in 2014.
(Translated by: C. Mateescu)
