December 20, 2016
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Newsroom, 20.12.2016, 12:00
PARLIAMENT – Senators and Deputies elected at the parliamentary ballot of December 11 are today meeting in separate sessions. Parliament is expected to validate their MP mandates, set up parliamentary groups and decide on the membership of Permanent Bureaus. President Klaus Iohannis has summoned parliamentary groups for consultations as follows: the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania on Wednesday, while the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the Peoples Movement Party and the Group of national minorities on Thursday. This week, the Social-Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, currently holding 54% of the seats in Parliament, have signed a cooperation protocol and are expected to announce their nomination for the position of Prime Minister. Once appointed by the President, the Prime Minister has 10 days to set up his Cabinet and decide on his governing program, after which time he will receive Parliaments vote of confidence.
ATTACK IN BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her outrage and grief in the wake of Monday nights attack in the German capital city, promising its perpetrators will be brought to justice. Angela Merkel added that the German people must be confident they can live freely in Germany. In turn, Interior Minister Thomas de Miziere has labeled the attack as an act of terrorism, saying that Christmas fairs will remain open and adequate security measures will be taken. 12 people were killed and another 48 wounded on Monday night after a lorry ploughed into the crowd of shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin. The attack has some resemblance to the one committed in Nice this summer, when a truck driven by a Tunisian national ploughed in the crowd of people on Promenade des Anglais, killing 86 people. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State at the time. Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu condemned the attack, adding that there were no Romanians among the victims. Defense Minister Mihnea Motoc conveyed a message of condolence to the victims families, saying that terrorism must be dealt with swiftly. Presidential Advisor Bogdan Aurescu also expressed condolences on behalf of the Presidential Administration.
ASSASSINATION – Six people were detained after Russian Ambassador to Ankara Andrei Karlov was shot dead on Monday while holding a speech at a photo exhibition opening. The perpetrator was killed and identified as a former Turkish police officer. Aged 22, the killer said his gesture is an act of vengeance for Syria and the victims in Aleppo. The assassination has been condemned by the Turkish and Russian presidents, Recep Erdogan and Vladimir Putin respectively, who said the attack was an attempt at destabilizing relations between the two countries and blocking the peacemaking process in Syria. Russian experts will be involved in the investigation. In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Ankara authorities not to make any concessions to terrorists regarding the Syrian crisis.
FUNDING – The European Union, the European Bank for Investment and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will make available a financial aid package worth 92 million euros for the construction of a natural gas pipeline linking Romania to the Moldovan capital city Chisinau. The European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will each provide 41 million euros, while the remaining 10 million euros will be funded by the EU. The project will thus interconnect the natural gas supply systems of Romania and Moldova, linking Chisinau to the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline built in 2014 and aimed at helping Moldova diversify its energy resources. Over 90% of Moldovas gas consumption relies on imports.
VICTORY DAY – Victory Day is today marked in Timisoara, western Romania. On December 20, 1989, four days after protests broke out against the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, Timisoara became the first Romanian city free of communism. It was the day when the Romanian Democratic Front was set up, the first democratic political fraction in Romania that met popular demands. The anti-communist protest quickly spread to Bucharest and the whole country. Romania remains the only Eastern Bloc country where the communist regime was brought down through violence and the communist leaders were executed.
CONFIRMATION – The Federal Electoral College in the US on Monday voted Donald Trump as president, six weeks after he won the presidential election. Seen as a mere formality, this year the vote has taken place amidst concerns regarding the Russian hackers alleged involvement in the US presidential election, the BBC reports. 40 members of the Electoral College had asked for an official intelligence report on the purported attempt to influence the vote. In early January, the US Congress will take the College vote under advisement and is expected to validate the result of the elections. Donald Trump is to be officially sworn in on January 20.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
