December 4, 2019 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 04.12.2019, 20:00
NATO – Wednesday
marked the close of the NATO summit in London, where the leaders of the 29
Member States adopted a joint declaration reiterating the solidarity, unity and
cohesion of the Alliance. The document also shows that Russia’s repeated
aggressions represent a threat to Euro-Atlantic security. Attending the summit
President Klaus Iohannis said NATO must clearly identify its threats and
enemies as well as its position towards the rising powers. President Iohannis
said after the summit that NATO remains united and strong. NATO wants a fair
and equitable disbursement or resources for defense, whereas states that have
so far not allotted 2% of the GDP to defense spending have pledged to
accelerate procedures to this end, President Iohannis pointed out. According to
the President, the Alliance wants to kick off a reflection process on the
establishment of new strategies. On Tuesday evening, Klaus Iohannis attended
the reception hosted by Queen Elisabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
LAW – The Romanian
Chamber of Deputies, a decision making body, on Wednesday adopted the bill for
the repeal of the compensatory appeal law with 272 votes for and 5 abstentions.
The law was quite controversial because it allowed for the liberation of
thousands of detainees ahead of due date. Some of them, who had been convicted
for serious crimes, retuned to criminal behavior. Justice Minister Catalin
Predoiu explained recently that he supported the abrogation of the law, given
that its faulty content endangered Romania’s citizens. He pointed out that the
justice ministry representatives drafted a document including transitory
measures to be applied in penitentiaries in the future. The bad conditions
existing in penitentiaries generated lots of complaints at the European Court
of Human Rights. The authorities mainly want to improve the quality of
detention places.
EBRD – Prime
Minister Ludovic Orban wants a closer cooperation with the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, which would translate into investment and
technical assistance projects in such fields as transport, energy, healthcare
and constructions. Ludovic Orban on Wednesday met in Bucharest with a
delegation of the EBRD led by Charlotte Ruhe, managing director for Central and
Eastern Europe. The meeting was meant at presenting the Bank’s strategy for Romania
for the 2020-2025 period.
SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC
PARTY – The Social Democratic Party’s executive committee on Wednesday
decided the future party leadership would be elected at a special congress on
February 29. We recall Viorica Dancila resigned from the position of leader
after her failure in the recent presidential election won by Klaus Iohannis,
supported by the National Liberal Party. This was the second electoral defeat
of the Social Democrats after that in the EP elections of May 26.
OSCE – Foreign Minister
Bogdan Aurescu on Thursday will attend the 26th meeting of the Ministerial
Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). On
this occasion Minister Aurescu will reiterate Romania’s key objectives
referring to security and cooperation in Europe. Bogdan Aurescu will attend
debates on the prospects of Europe’s security and will reaffirm Bucharest’s commitment
to observe the values of multilateralism and to support efforts to consolidate
the role of the OSCE, the Foreign Ministry reports. On the sidelines of the event,
Minister Aurescu will have a series of bilateral meetings with counterparts
from participant states.
HANDBALL – The
Romanian national women’s handball team lost 26-27 to Montenegro in Group C at the
World Championship hosted by Japan. In the previous matches the Romanian
handballers lost to Spain and won against Senegal and Kazakhstan. To qualify to
the main groups, Romania needs to defeat Hungary in the last group fixture. In
the same group, Spain defeated Kazakhstan and advanced to the next phase.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
