December 30, 2019 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 30.12.2019, 20:00
GOVERNMENT The Government of Romania convened on Monday for its last meeting this year. Bills on the reorganization of several ministries, including the foreign ministry and the education ministry, were presented at first reading. Prime-minister Ludovic Orban said that the reorganization of the interior and defense ministries would take longer, because that required the endorsement of the countrys Supreme Defense Council. A final decision will most likely be made around January 15. The current Liberal Government has 16 ministries, as compared to the 24 of the previous Social Democratic cabinet headed by Viorica Dancila. Also on Monday, the excise duties on cigarettes were increased.
CORRUPTION Nicolae Robu, the Liberal mayor of Timişoara (the largest city in western Romania), and the former Christian Democratic mayor Gheorghe Ciuhandu, have been sent to court by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate under charges of abuse of office.According to anti-corruption prosecutors, between September 1996 and January 2014, 9 civil servants in the Timişoara City Hall overstepped their powers and illegally sold 207 buildings owned by the mayoralty to individuals who had no right to purchase them. The affair caused the state to lose over 9.5 million euro.
HOSPITAL The Romanian National Authority of Quality Management in Health on Monday suspended the accreditation of Floreasca Hospital in Bucharest, the largest emergency hospital in Romania. The decision was made because the hospital did not report within 24 hours the incident as a result of which a 66-year old patient died because of severe burns she suffered on the operating table. The police are conducting an investigation for manslaughter. The hospital must prove it can take measures to resolve the problems that led to the terrible incident. If the accreditation had been withdrawn, not merely suspended, the hospital would not have been able to conclude a contract with the National Health Insurance Authority, and the patients would have had to pay the medical services themselves.
TOURISM Winter tourism is on the rise in most EU member countries, but the biggest increase is reported in Romania, where the number of nights spent in accommodation facilities in the 2018-2019 season was 8.6% higher than in the previous winter, according to data released by Eurostat on Monday. The increase rate reported for Romania is almost 4 times the EU average of 2.6%. The most popular destinations in the EU in the 2018-2019 winter season were Spain, Italy, the UK, Austria, Germany and France.
STRIKE France on Monday saw the 25th day of strikes against a planned pension reform, with the next negotiations between the Government and trade unions scheduled for January 7. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Paris, the Transport Minister promised that there would be enough trains for all passengers who had purchased tickets. Unions are currently divided over the provisions of the pension reform legislation. Meanwhile, ministers carry on talks with the employees with whom they have reached some agreements. Airline personnel have already cancelled a strike planned for January 2 and 3, after they secured derogations regarding their retirement age. Other professional categories, such as the police and gendarmes, have also got some advantages in the negotiations.
CHILDREN The number of attacks on children in conflict areas has nearly tripled over the past decade, UNICEF warns in a news release issued on Monday. The agency documented over 170,000 severe violations of childrens rights in conflict zones since 2010, including killing, maiming, sexual violence, abduction, aid denial, recruitment into armed groups, and attacks on schools and hospitals. UNICEF also says that the number of countries affected by war is the highest in 30 years. According to the organisation, “Attacks on children continue unabated as warring parties flout one of the most basic rules of war: the protection of children.” In Afghanistan, Mali, Syria or Yemen, conflicts are costing millions of children their health, education, future and lives, UNICEF also said, and called for an end to childrens rights violations and to attacks on civilian infrastructure.
HANDBALL Romanias mens national handball team Sunday lost 24 to 20 to North Macedonia in the final of the 42nd Carpaţi Trophy. The Netherlands defeated Algeria and finished 3rd. The games were part of the training campaign for the first stage of the 2021 Egypt World Championships qualifiers, the first in which 32 teams will take part. Next month in the preliminaries in Italy, Romania will be playing against the host country, Georgia and Kosovo.
