February 11, 2024
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 11.02.2024, 13:44
LAW – The law combating deepfake content will enter into force by April, before the election campaign, the Romanian Minister of Research and Digitization, Bogdan Ivan, announced. The deepfake technique, by which artificial intelligence is used to create fake online content with the intention of deceiving users, has gained ground recently, including in Romania. Videos are often created in which apparently real public figures appear, but in reality they are images and speeches created with the help of artificial intelligence. The future law will introduce fines for those who produce such content, between 120 euros and 18,000 euros, the minister said, and in the case of very serious violations, prison sentences of up to two years can apply. Minister Ivan also said that the big social media platforms are to create filters, to identify and prevent the uploading of deepfake content.
ELECTIONS – The ruling coalition wants to organize the local elections in Romania on June 9, simultaneously with the European Parliament election. Social-Democrats also want the national parliamentary election to be held at the same time with the first or second round of the presidential elections. Social-Democrat leader and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu wants a clear timetable backed by the coalition. The opposition has criticized the idea, saying it would notify the Constitutional Court. The president of the nationalist party AUR, George Simion, says such a decision is against international recommendations. In turn, USR announced it will notify the Venice Commission regarding the decision to merge the election less than six months before the date of the vote.
FARMERS – The European Commission on Friday adopted a financial assistance package worth 241 mln EUR addressing Romanian farmers in the context of Russias war in Ukraine. The aid will be disbursed until June 30 as direct grants and will not exceed 280 thousand EUR for each beneficiary. The measure addresses Romanian farmers, in particular those who grow winter grain and rapeseed and who risk going insolvent due to the difficulties the grain market is experiencing as a result of Russias invasion of Ukraine. The measure is necessary, adequate and proportional to remedy a serious disruption of the Romanian economy, the European Commission argues.
TENNIS — Former world leader Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic (78 WTA) is up against Romanian tennis player Ana Bogdan (65 WTA) today, in the final of the Transylvania Open, hosted by Cluj-Napoca. Pliskova defeated in Saturdays semi-final the British Harriet Dart, while Bogdan knocked out another Romanian player, Jaqueline Cristian (81 WTA), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Bogdan is the third Romanian player to reach this phase of the competition after Simona Halep (2021) and Gabriela Ruse (2023), neither of whom won the trophy.
PRESIDENCY – The second round of voting in the presidential elections is held today in Finland. It is the first presidential ballot after Finland joined NATO in 2023. The governments decision to join the military alliance was triggered by Russias large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Around 4.3 million voters must choose between the centre-right former prime minister Alexander Stubb, who won the first round on January 28 with 27.2% of the vote, and former foreign minister Pekka Haavisto , who is a member of the Greens, but is running as an independent and won 25.8% of the votes in the first round. Both have a radical approach to Russia and are strong supporters of Ukraine. In Findland, the head of state, elected for a six-year term, decides the countrys foreign policy in close cooperation with the government, being also the supreme commander of the armed forces. This important role has gained even greater significance in the light of geopolitical developments in Europe and Finland’s joining NATO, as the country has 1,340 kilometers of common border with Russia.
RESIGNATION – Hungarys president, Katalin Novak, resigned on Saturday after she came under increasing pressure for her decision to pardon a man convicted of helping to cover up sexual abuse committed in a childrens home. Katalin Novak, a close ally of conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban, pardoned around 24 people in April 2023 – including the deputy director of the childrens home, who helped the former director of the institution cover up his crimes. This week, the opposition parties in Hungary demanded the resignation of Katalin Novak. On Friday, 1,000 protestors gathered in front of the presidential office demanding her resignation. In an attempt to limit the political damage, Viktor Orban, whose Fidesz party is starting the campaign for the European Parliament elections in June, submitted a constitutional amendment to parliament on Thursday night, which deprives the president of the right to pardon crimes committed against children. On Saturday, the former minister of justice, Judit Varga, who was at the top of the Fidesz list for the European elections and who also signed the pardon, said that she would resign from the position of MP. (EE)
