December 18, 2016 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 18.12.2016, 12:30
MINORITIES On Sunday Romania celebrated the Day of National Minorities, established through a government ordinance in 1998. On the same day but in 1992 the UN General Assembley passed a statement guaranteeing the rights of of people belonging to national, ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities. According to the state secretary with the Department for Interethnic Relations, Aledin Amet, the message of this day is one of interethnic unity of learning and observing the rights and values of all communities. 18 ethnic minorities in Romania are represented in Parliament, while the UDMR, the party representing the Hungarian minority boasts several seats in Parliament. According to the 2011 census, the largest minorities in Romania are the Hungarian minority, with 6.9% and the Roma, 2.46%.
EVENTS The city of Timisoara, in western Romania has seen a series of events aimed at commemorating the heroes of the December 1989 Revolution. 27 years ago, on December 18th, the city witnessed a series of reprisals mounted by the communist authorities against the anti-communist protesters. Religious services were conducted on Saturday, wreaths of flowers were laid at various monuments around the city while flags were flown at half mast. Scores of candles were lit at night on the steps of the Cathedral in Timisoara, where the first protesters were killed on December 17th 1989. Tens of people were killed in the events 27 years ago while 400 others were wounded. Triggered by a spontanous revolt of the people in Timisoara against the abusive measures taken by the communist authorities, the revolution soon spread all throughout Romania, climaxing on December 22nd when ruthless dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife fled in a helicopter. Over 1,000 people were killed and roughly 34 hundred were wounded between December 16th and 25th 1989. Romania was the only country in the estern bloc which saw a violent overthrow of the regime and where the communist leaders were executed.
TALKS The Senate and Chamber of Deputies have announced that centers will open starting Monday for receiving the MPs elect for the 2016-2020 Legislature. These centers will be functioning daily until all legal procedures have been completed. In this period, senators and deputies are to provide all the documents needed for taking over their mandate, such as filled-in MP forms, statutory declarations over the relations with the former political police, the Securitate, as well as resumes. The new MPs will also have to provide a wealth declaration within 30 days from their validation. Romania’s Parliament in its new form after the election of December 11th has been summoned for talks by president Iohannis on Tuesday. Klaus Iohannis announced he would be having talks with representatives of Parliamentary parties for the designation of a new Prime Minister.
WB The World Bank has decided to grant Romania 500 million euros in a second loan targeting the country’s development programmes: the streamlining of its public finances and fostering economic growth. The objective of this programme is to streamline certain institutions, create fresh better-paid jobs and raise the Romanians’ standard of living. The World Bank opened offices in Romania back in 1991 and ever since it has given Romania over 10 billion dollars in loans and grants, money that was used in sectors such as education, health, agriculture, environment projects, social assistance, justice and transport.
PROJECTS The European Commissioner for regional policy Corina Cretu has approved the continuation of 19 projects in several Romanian regions amounting to 1.3 billion euros. The projects include water supply, sewerage, water treatment facilities as well as centralised urban heating sytems. Another project is aimed at the road and rail transport infrastructure.
CONFERENCE France has decided to postpone for January the International Conference aimed at kick starting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which it intended to stage in December, Francois Delattre, the French ambassador at the UN, has said. Paris believes the continuation of settlement construction is posing a threat to the two states solution and announced it would stage a conference to bring together all the partners involved with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
