August 9, 2016 UPDATE
Romanias President Klaus Iohannis and PM Dacian Ciolos will go to Peles Castle to present a message of condolences for the death of Queen Anne of Romania/ Romania dismisses diplomatically gunrunning allegations made in a recent report by Sky News
Newsroom, 09.08.2016, 12:30
ROYALTY FUNERAL – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, and PM Dacian Ciolos will go to Peles Castle in Sinaia, the Southern Carpathians, to present a message of condolences for the death of Queen Anne of Romania, the wife of Romanias last sovereign, King Michael I. The remains of Queen Anne were flown to Bucharest on Tuesday. Representatives of the Diplomatic Missions accredited to Bucharest, of the European Union, NATO, of other international organisations, of the Presidency and Government of the Republic of Moldova, a country with a majority Romanian speaking population, are also expected to arrive in Sinaia, among others. The coffin with the remains of Queen Anne will remain at Peles Castle until Wednesday noon, and then it will be brought to Bucharest. The funeral is scheduled for Saturday, at the royal final resting places in Curtea de Arges, southern Romania. Queen Anne, 92, died of cancer, on August 1, in Switzerland. Himself severely ill, King Michael I will not be able to attend the funeral. The Romanian Orthodox Church and the Roman-Catholic Bishopric in Bucharest agreed to hold religious ceremonies alternatively, because Queen Anne was a Catholic, but she married King Michael I in the Orthodox rite. 1,400 policemen, gendarmes and fire fighters will ensure public order and safety during the funeral.
NOMINATION – Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos on Tuesday submitted to President Klaus Iohannis for approval the nomination of Delia Popescu for the position of Communications and IT minister. The president signed the decree of appointment and consequently Ms. Popescu will be sworn in on Wednesday. Delia Popescu has been active in the field of e-governance since 2003, developing and implementing IT systems meant to provide electronic public services to both citizens and the business community. Since 2014, Delia Popescu has been president of the Agency for Romanias Digital Agenda. The communications and IT portfolio in the current technocratic cabinet has been temporarily held by the head of the Prime Ministers Chancellery, Dragos Tudorache, following the government reshuffle of early July.
RIGHT TO REPLY -
The Romanian Embassy in London on Tuesday announced it took over the stands
taken by the relevant institutions of the Romanian state and sent them as a
right to reply to the British TV Channel Sky News. Also, the Romanian Embassy
notified the communications regulator in the UK, OFCOM, of the report Criminal
Gang Selling Military Weapons, broadcast by the aforementioned channel on
August 7. The British journalists claim in the report that, at the end of
two-month negotiations, they were guided to an isolated area in Romania, where
they reportedly met gun dealers. The weapons had allegedly been brought over
from Ukraine, their final destination being Western Europe and the Middle East.
Preliminary investigations by Romanian policemen, jointly with other national
security institutions, show the guns featured in the report are not assault
weapons, but hunting guns, and so far, there is no indication they have been
smuggled in. The Romanian Embassy in London underlined the imprecise,
incomplete and incorrect character of the information, meant to create a
negative image of Romania among the British public.
PHYSICIANS – Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu and Labor Minister Dragos Paslaru, meeting with representatives of physicians, have signed a joint declaration stating that the raise in pay for overtime night shifts starting on October 1 is a step forward towards normalizing wages in the healthcare sector. The Minister of Health said that this was a fix in the system of payments, increasing efficiency in the sector. The impact on the healthcare budget will be 100 million lei (about 22 million Euro), bundled with additional measures to reduce waste and boost efficiency in the system. These decisions come after a blanket 10% raise in the salaries of healthcare employee, valid as of August 1. The raise varies between 300 lei, around 70 Euro, and 900 lei, around 200 Euro, benefiting 163,000 people.
RUSSIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS – Russian President, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday underlined Moscows and Ankaras will to resume dialogue and bilateral relations. He received his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Saint Petersburg, after a months-long diplomatic crisis between their countries. In turn, President Erdogan pointed out that Turkish-Russian relations enter a completely different stage and that solidarity between Ankara and Moscow will contribute to solving problems in the region. This is the first visit abroad by Recep Tayyip Erdogan since the attempted coup of July 15, in Turkey. The visit also comes against the backdrop of souring relations between Turkey and the West, following the reprisal by the Ankara authorities of those involved in the failed coup.
POLL – 77% of Romanians would vote to stay in the European Union, were a referendum to be held, according to an IRES poll run between July 13-15. The same poll revealed that 74% of respondents believe that Romania is on the wrong path. In another move, 65% of them believe the Brexit will have a negative impact on Romania. 90% of them say Romania should play an active role in the effort to re-launch the European project and 93% of respondents believe that Romania has to show commitment to the fundamental values and principles of the European Union.
(Translated by Calin Cotoiu and Diana Vijeu)
