26 May 2016, UPDATE

Romanias Supreme Defence Council chaired by president Klaus Iohannis meets on Friday in Bucharest.

Newsroom, 26.05.2016, 12:15

Romania’s
Supreme Defence Council chaired by president Klaus Iohannis meets on Friday in
Bucharest. According to the president’s office, talks will focus on the
activity carried out in 2015 and the objectives for 2016 of the Romanian
Intelligence Service, as well as Romania’s military strategy. Other topics on
the agenda are the preparation of the NATO summit in Warsaw in July and the
situation in the healthcare sector, according to the presidential release.

Supplying cheap
and efficient medicines to hospitals and reducing hospital-acquired infections
are some of the priorities of the new Romanian healthcare minister, Vlad
Voiculescu. The latter said he intended to use European funds to build three
regional hospitals in Iasi, Cluj and Craiova. Vlad Voiculescu is thus trying to
regain Romanians’ trust in the national healthcare system.

The plenary meeting of the International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance, whose presidency is held by Romania until March 2017, was held in
Bucharest on Thursday. For three days, more than 200 experts and government
representatives from 31 member states of the Alliance, 10 observer states and 7
partner international organisations are discussing policies and projects in the
field of education, research and Holocaust remembrance from the perspective of
contemporary political relevance.

The surveillance and control methods used by
the Securitate, the political police of communist Romania, were the focus of an
exhibition and debate held on Thursday. Details were given about surveillance
and censorship techniques and the tapping of telephone conversations. The
National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archive and the Francophone
Regional Centre for Advanced Research in the field of Social Sciences organised
this event at a time when the international community is faced with terrorist
threats and many states are considering tougher surveillance laws. According to
historians, more than 600,000 Romanians were imprisoned for political reasons
during the communist regime, between 1947 and 1989, a regime instated by the
Soviet occupation troops at the end of World War II and later consolidated
through a bloody repression.

The European Commission has requested
Romania to adopt measures on waste management and waste prevention as a
prerequisite for using EU funds. Romania had a waste management plan for
2003-2013, but it has not been revised or extended. If Romania fails to act
within two months, the case may be referred to the Court of Justice of the EU.

A local referendum and local elections
cannot be held on the same date, Romania’s Constitutional Court has ruled.
Previously, the Ombudsman challenged a government emergency order allowing for
a local referendum to be held on the same day as local elections, using the
same polling sections, electoral constituencies and voting stamps. The Court
has ruled that the government’s order infringes on provisions of the
Constitution according to which the government can only pass emergency orders
in exceptional situations.

The Romanian player Irina Begu, ranked 28th
in the world, reached the third round in Roland Garros after defeating the
American player Coco Vandeweghe in three sets. Begu will next face the German
player Annika Beck for a place in the fourth round. Another Romanian player,
Simona Halep, who is world no. 6, faces the Japanese player Naomi Osaka, no.
101 in the world. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian-Indian pair Florin Mergea
and Rohan Bopanna have made it to the second round, where they face the
all-French pair Gregoire Barrere and
Quentin Halys.

In
their preparation matches ahead of the European Football Championship in France
next month, Romania face Ukraine in Turin on Sunday. On Wednesday, Romania drew
against Congo 1-all in their first friendly.
On June 3rd the Romanian side play against Georgia in
Bucharest in their final preparation match. Romania take on France on June 10
in Paris in the opening match of the Euro 2016. Apart from Romania and France,
Group A also includes Switzerland and Albania. (Translated by: L. Simion and C. Mateescu)