April 27, 2018 UPDATE

President Klaus Iohannis withdraws political support and confidence for PM, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South Korean President Moon Jae In met in Panmunjeom

Newsroom, 27.04.2018, 20:12

Politics — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Friday stated that he withdrew the political support and confidence granted to the Social Democrat PM Viorica Dăncilă almost three months after she took office, and has publicly asked for her resignation. The Romanian president claims that Viorica Dăncilă is not prepared to meet the requirements of the PM position, which makes Romania vulnerable. President Iohannis asked for Dăncilă’s resignation after she refused his invitation to participate, on Friday, in the discussions related to the dispute over inflation between the government and the national bank. The Romanian president also mentioned a recent foreign policy memorandum adopted by the government, which is about relocating the Romanian Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The decision caused confusion at national level. President Iohannis, who was not consulted in relation to the issue, said that an assessment of this move was not wrong but Romania needed to observe the international legislation in the field. The Romanian Foreign Ministry announced that consultations on this issue would be held with all relevant institutions and actors. The Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea said Friday that PM Dăncilă had no reason to resign and that the party continued to support her. The opposition parties will start consultations with a view to filing a censure motion after President Iohannis announced he had withdrawn the political support for the PM.

Corruption — The former finance minister Sebastian Vlădescu is being prosecuted for bribe taking and continued influence peddling, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate announced on Friday, several days after obtaining the approval of President Klaus Iohannis. Also prosecuted in the same case are a former MP Cristian Boureanu, Ionuţ Costea, a former secretary of state with the finance ministry and also the president of EximBank and Constantin Dascălu, a secretary of state with the Transport Ministry.

Seoul — The Romanian Foreign Ministry has hailed the meeting of the leaders of the two Koreas that took place on Friday in Panmunjeom, and has expressed hope that the meeting will be a first step towards working out a viable and sustainable solution to the tense situation in the region. The North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South Korean President Moon Jae In have agreed on their countries’ cooperation for the complete denuclearization of the peninsula. The two sides have also agreed to ask for the support and cooperation of the international community in this regard. The agreement is part of the common declaration conveyed in the wake of their meeting in the demilitarized area on the common border, the place where the truce was signed after the war of 1950 – 1953. This is the 3rd time in the history of the two Koreas when an inter-Korean summit is held. It was organized in the context of a thaw in bilateral relations reported over the past weeks. The summit might be followed, in a few weeks’ time, by a meeting between Kim Jong Un and the American President Donald Trump. Recently North Korea has announced its intention to give up nuclear and ballistic tests.

Military — The Mihail Kogălniceanu air base in southeastern Romania hosted on Friday a ceremony for the certification of the British Royal Air Forces detachment that will undertake enhanced air policing missions on the eastern flank of NATO. The 160-strong British detachment will undertake enhanced air policing missions with 4 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft between May 1 and August 31 alongside Romanian military and MiG-21 LanceR aircraft.

Europol — The European Police Office has announced that an unprecedented international operation gave a serious blow to the online propaganda machine of the Islamic State group. The operation mainly targeted the Amaq news agency, which the radical Islamists used to claim their attacks and to make public their appeals to jihad. The operation took place simultaneously on Wednesday and Thursday in Belgium, Bulgaria, France, the Netherlands, Romania, Great Britain, Canada and the US.

Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, world’s no. 1, was defeated on Friday 4-6, 1-6 by CoCo Vandeweghe (16 WTA) in the quarter finals of the WTA tournament in Stuttgart which has prizes up for grabs worth a total of 816,000 dollars. In the previous round, Halep defeated the Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova (18 WTA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. In last year’s edition of the Stuttgart tournament, Halep went as far as the semifinals. (news translated and updated by Lacramioara Simion)