December 24, 2019 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 24.12.2019, 20:00
CHRISTMAS – Orthodox, Eastern-Catholic and Roman-Catholic Christians in Romania on Wednesday celebrate the Nativity of Christ. On Christmas Eve, the Romanian Orthodox Church Patriarch Daniel highlighted the importance of family, which is often confronted in present-day society with a series of challenges and crises, caused by poverty, migration, depression and alcohol and drug consumption. In turn, the Archbishop of the Bucharest Roman-Catholic Bishopric Ioan Robu has stated that Jesus continues to be born even in todays world, such as it is. The High Bishop of the Eastern Catholic Church in Romania, Cardinal Lucian, has said in his message that the blood shed in the name of faith and liberty compels us to take a stand whenever the rights and liberties of the underprivileged are being discarded. Recalling the words of Pope Francis during his visit to Romania, Cardinal Lucian has called for fraternity and dialogue among Christians.
MESSAGES – On Tuesday, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis conveyed a message for Christmas. “The celebration of Christs Nativity brings us closer together. Lets feel the joy of being together, united by compassion, solidarity and generosity”, the president said in his message. In turn, PM Ludovic Orban urged the Romanian people to make sure they dont forget about helping the others, as the celebration of Christs birth has the blessed power of making us better, more empathetic and united. Also, the custodian of the Romanian Crown, Margaret, wishes all Romanians happy holidays, good health, and she too urges them to make sure they dont forget about the lonely and the suffering.
SAFETY – More than 21 thousand employees of the interior ministry in Romania will be on duty these days to ensure the safety of the citizens who celebrate Christmas. Special attention will be paid to preventing accidents especially along the routes leading to the main resorts. Also guarded will be the markets, fairs and shopping centers, where public events will be staged these days. According to estimates, some 220,000 people are about to take part in various religious, cultural-artistic and sport events.
BUDGET – The Constitutional Court of Romania on Tuesday announced it had received the notification filed by the Social-Democratic Party regarding the manner in which the Government adopted the state budget for 2020 and the amendments brought to emergency decree no. 114. The Court expects opinions from all parties by January 10, and will set a date for the subsequent debate. The Government has passed the budget law in Parliament with no debate or voting, arguing it needed a balanced budget that could be adopted by the years end.
RATIFICATION – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday signed the decree ratifying the law on declaring November 1 National Radio Day. Central and local authorities can organize cultural and scientific events to mark this special day or provide logistic or financial support to NGOs and other institutions that organize similar events, the law stipulates. The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation and the Romanian Television Station can include in their programmes shows and excerpts from events dedicated to this day as public broadcasters. In 2019 the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation celebrated 91 years of uninterrupted public service.
FUNDS – The European Commission has disbursed some 16 million Euros to Romania. The funds are non-reimbursable and serve as compensations for the losses incurred this year due to the African swine fever virus. The president of the National Sanitary, Veterinary and Food Safety Authority, Robert Chioveanu, says the authorities have presented the Commission with all the measures taken to combat the virus, as well as the challenges the authorities were faced with in their efforts to eradicate it. The Romanian official said that, in the last two weeks, some 10,000 checks were carried out in traffic in order to limit the circulation of livestock, especially pigs. Fines were handed out, dozens of pigs were seized in addition to some 2 thousand kg of meat products.
CONVICTIONS – On Tuesday, the former Liberal Chamber of Deputies Speaker, Bogdan Olteanu was sentenced by the Bucharest Tribunal to seven years in prison for influence peddling, in a case where he was charged with receiving 1 million Euros from a businessman. The court also ordered the seizure of an equivalent in local currency of the peddled sum. In another move, former Social-Democrat deputy Viorel Hrebenciuc was sentenced to three years in prison in a case where the former head of the National Audio-Visual Council, Laura Georgescu, was also sentenced to 4 years and 4 months in prison. In the same case, Gheorghe Stefan, the former Liberal mayor of Piatra Neamt, and Narcisa Iorga, a former member of the Audio-Visual Council, were also handed down prison sentences. The rulings can be appealed.
