24 January, 2017

President Klaus Iohannis calls referendum on anti-corruption fight./ Cabinet holds final talks on 2017 budget./ 1859 Union of Principalities celebrated in Romania.

Newsroom, 24.01.2017, 13:42

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)