28 January 2017, UPDATE

Government to discuss 2017 budget on Tuesday./ Angela Merkel supports Romanias anti-corruption fight./ Changes to criminal laws must be made in Parliament, says leader of ethnic Hungarian party.

Newsroom, 28.01.2017, 18:21

2017 budget. The draft budget for 2017 will be discussed
on Tuesday by the government after a meeting of the Country’s Supreme Defence
Council called by president Klaus Iohannis on Friday to approve the draft
budget of national security institutions proposed by the government. Prime
minister Sorin Grindeanu explained that his cabinet’s wish was for the new
budget to cover all measures contained in the governing programme and that the
fact that certain institutions may receive less money does not threaten their
activity. The 2017 budget is based on a 5.2% economic growth rate, while the
budget deficit is estimated at 2.96% of the GDP.

Merkel-Iohannis. German
chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday called Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis to
express her support for the continuation of the fight against corruption in
Romania. She also voiced her concern about the possibility that certain actions
may affect the country’s efforts to combat this phenomenon. President Iohannis
assured the German chancellor that he was firmly committed to continuing the
fight against corruption in Romania with a view to building a mature and solid
democracy. The president said that, at regional level, Romania remains a
reliable partner and one of the most important pillars of stability. He said
that, in the context of complex crises at international level, Romanian-German
cooperation has become very dynamic, both within the European Union and NATO, a
trend that must continue. During their telephone conversation, the two leaders
also spoke about the excellent stage of the special strategic relationship
between their countries and the consolidation and deepening of bilateral
political dialogue, as well as enhancing coordination on European matters.

Prison pardon. The president of the Democratic Union of
Ethnic Hungarians in Romania Kelemen Hunor said any change to the criminal and
criminal procedure codes must be made in Parliament, in keeping with the
decisions of the Constitutional Court, and not by government’s calling for a
vote of confidence or by its issuing an emergency ordinance. Hunor said it was
also Parliament that must decide in the matter of prison pardon and when such a
measure should be made. The justice ministry will hold a public debate on
Monday on the draft emergency ordinances on pardon and the amendment of the
criminal and criminal procedure codes. The right-wing opposition, civil
society, the main judicial institutions and magistrates organisations have
described the proposals as ill-timed. The justice ministry says however that
collective pardoning and certain changes to the criminal laws are necessary to
ease prison overcrowding, something the European Court of Human Rights has
criticised, and to comply with certain decisions of the Constitutional Court.
The government has been accused of trying to lift the convictions of influential
persons from politics and the administration.

Trump immigration. A number of American civil rights
groups, including the powerful American Civil Liberties Union, filed legal
action on Saturday challenging an executive order by US president Donald Trump
banning entry to the US of nationals of a number of Muslim-majority countries.
On Friday, Trump announced a tougher legal framework for immigration and
refugee admission to prevent what he called radical Islamic terrorists from
entering the US. Trump banned the entry of Syrian refugees until further
notice. He also halted the issuing of visas for the citizens of seven
Muslim-majority countries, namely Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and
Yemen, for three months. Rights groups
have immediately condemned the
measures. The United Nations has
called on Trump to continue the US’s long tradition of protecting those who
are fleeing conflict and persecution and not to distinguish on account of
race, religion and nationality.

Handball. CSM Bucharest, the European defending champion in women’s
handball, drew 26-all at home against the Norwegian side Larvik HK in a
Champions League group match on Friday. CSM will next face the Slovenian side RK Krim Mercator on the 4th
of February in Ljubljana. The latter lost on Saturday to the Hungarian side ETO
Gyor, the leader of the group with 8 points. Krim are in the second position
with 6 points, followed by Larvik with 5, the Danish side FC Midtjlland with 4,
CSM Bucharest with 3 points and another Danish side, Team Esbjerg, with 2
points.