30 March 2019, UPDATE

A roundup of the latest local and international news.

Newsroom, 30.03.2019, 18:51

Energy. The European
commissioner for climate action and energy Miguel Arias Canete will be in
Bucharest on Monday and Tuesday, according to the European Commission Representation
in Romania. On Monday, he will attend a meeting on the regional cooperation
initiative in the field of energy in Central and South-East Europe, an event
bringing together ministers and senior representatives from EU states and the contracting
parties of the Energy Community. On Tuesday, Miguel Arias Canete will attend the
first informal meeting of the energy council. The first energy ministerial
meeting between EU member states and the Eastern Partnership states will also
be held, with a view to consolidating regional energy cooperation.

Quadrilateral meeting. The prime
ministers of Romania, Viorica Dancila, Bulgaria, Boyko Borisov, and Greece,
Alexis Tsipras, and the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, adopted a
joint declaration at the 4-way meeting held at Snagov Palace, near Bucharest.
According to a government press release after Friday night’s meeting, the four
countries say in the declaration that they agree that the EU enlargement
process, which is a priority of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the
EU, remains an opportunity to demonstrate the European Union’s transformative
power at a time when the Union is faced with difficult challenges. Romania,
Bulgaria and Greece have hailed the efforts and progress made by Serbia’s
government in the EU accession process and encouraged Serbia to maintain the
pace of reforms. The four leaders meeting in Bucharest also reiterated support
for regional projects of common interest, particularly in the area of
transports, energy, information technology and communications, as well as youth
and sports, in order to promote the development and overall connectivity of the
region.

United Nations. The
Romanian foreign minister Teodor Melescanu has reiterated in New York Romania’s
commitment to supporting the United Nations’ peace-keeping activities. He attended
a UN ministerial meeting on uniformed capabilities, performance and protection.
According to a foreign ministry statement published on Saturday, the Romanian
official briefed UN members on the cooperation between the Department of Peace
Operations and Romania’s Mihai Viteazul Gendarmerie School of Applications. On the
sidelines of the meeting, Teodor Melescanu met the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and expressed an interest in Romania’s expanding cooperation
with the United Nations in its capacity as current holder of the presidency of
the Council of the EU.

Measles. The number of measles cases
has grown in Romania despite the fact that more children are being vaccinated.
More than 80 new cases have been confirmed this week. Since the end of 2016,
when the measles epidemic broke out, around 16,300 cases have been reported,
including 60 deaths. More than 15,300 of those who got the virus had not been
vaccinated. Measles is a contagious disease which often leads to complications.
Doctors have emphasised the importance of vaccination, especially of children.
The health ministry has been running vaccination campaigns in underprivileged
areas. While in 2017 Romania had the highest number of measles cases in the
European Union, last year it fell to 10th place.

Education. New tests for elementary
school children in years 3 and 7 and different types of baccalaureate exams are
some of the changes to the education system proposed by the education minister Ecaterina
Andronescu, who has launched a project to this effect. She wants to introduce
four types of baccalaureate exams: science, socio-humanistic, vocational and
technological. She also proposes that children are consulted about their future
careers beginning in year 7 of elementary school and that year 4 classes should
also have teachers specialised on various subjects besides a generalist
teacher. These proposals will be subject to public discussions with teachers,
trade unions and parents.