December 5, 2019 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 05.12.2019, 20:03

EU – On
Thursday, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis met with the EU ambassadors
accredited to Bucharest, on the occasion of the traditional biannual meeting
organized by the country holding the presidency of the Council of the EU. At
the meeting organized by the Embassy of Finland, the country that is currently
holding the presidency of the Council, the participants discussed issues that
are on the agenda of the European Council meeting to be held in Brussels on the
12th and 13th of December. The topics of discussion
included climate change, the future EU budget, the Eurozone, the EU foreign
affairs and Brexit. The Romanian head of state stressed the importance of
maintaining the EU’s unity and cohesion. Also, he highlighted the key
principles that will guide Romania’s actions at European level: the need to
avoid division between member states, more convergence and equity and a Union
closer to its citizens. The Romanian president also emphasized the need for a
balanced EU budget, able to respond to both the EU’s new priorities and the
need for proper financing of the traditional policies, such as the cohesion
policy and the common agricultural policy.

GOVERNMENT – On Friday, the Romanian
Government will establish a responsibility calendar for several bills,
including the one on budget caps. The Liberal PM Ludovic Orban has announced
that the executive intends to resort to such a procedure next week, in order to
pass the amendments brought to the justice laws. In turn, president Klaus
Iohannis has stated that assuming responsibility for next year’s budget is
strictly a decision of the government. He has stated that, when there is a
minority cabinet, this method can work for any type of law.

NATO – NATO is the most powerful alliance of all
times, which has passed the test of time for 70 years now, said Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest on Thursday. He also said that the
participants in the latest summit discussed matters concerning the Black Sea
area, and also intervention plans for the eastern flank. Also, the Romanian
head of state announced that space would be part of NATO’s concerns in terms of
security. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Klaus Iohannis took part in the NATO summit
in London.

OSCE – On Thursday in Bratislava, the
Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu attended the 26th meeting of the Ministerial Council of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). On the occasion,
the minister stressed Romania’s key security and cooperation objectives. During
the debates, Bogdan Aurescu reconfirmed Romania’s commitment to multilateralism
and the consolidation of the role of the OSCE. He also stressed the need for a
full implementation of the principles and commitments made by all the participating
countries, along the three main dimensions: political and military, economic
and environmental, and human. He
highlighted the support that Romania gave while holding the presidency of the
Council of the EU, in the firs half of 2019. On the sidelines of the events,
Bogdan Aurescu also met with the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities
Lamberto Zannier, his Bulgarian counterpart Ekaterina Zaharieva and the
Moldovan foreign minister Aureliu Ciocoi.

ECOFIN – The Romanian Finance Minister Florin Citu has
attended in Brussels the meetings of the Eurogroup and of the Economic and
Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN). The agenda of talks included topics such as
the implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact, the Banking Union, energy
taxation, the climate change action plan, sustainable funding and the Council
conclusions regarding strategic priorities for countering money laundering and
the financing of terrorism.

HANDBALL – Romania’s national women’s
handball team on Friday takes on the Hungarian squad, in a match that will decide
qualification for the main groups of the World Championship in Japan. Because
of the goal difference, Romania must win Friday’s match in order to qualify. So
far, Romania has defeated Senegal and Kazakhstan, and has been defeated by
Spain and Montenegro. The last two have already qualified for the main groups.