February 11, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Daniel Bilț, 11.02.2025, 20:27
RESIGNATION Romania’s outgoing president Klaus Iohannis is ending his mandate and Senate Speaker Ilie Bolojan will be taking over as interim president. Klaus Iohannis stepped down on Monday after a suspension procedure had been initiated against him in Parliament. On Tuesday the Constitutional Court took note of President Klaus Iohannis’ resignation and ruled that Senate Speaker Ilie Bolojan take over as interim president starting February 12. Bolojan had stepped down as president of the National Liberal Party (PNL). Klaus Iohannis served as president in two mandates and his last one was supposed to end in December 2024. However, the Constitutional Court ruled to cancel the first round of election in December due to interferences in the election process. Romania will have presidential election in two rounds, on May 4 and 18.
TRADE The EU Polish presidency summoned the member states on Wednesday for talks over the effects and the response of the community bloc to the US decision to levy higher import taxes on all steel and aluminum entering the USA. According to our correspondent in Brussels, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen says the US decision will trigger a similar response from the EU. To similar decisions by president Trump in his first mandate, the EU responded by imposing taxes on a series of US products. The US taxes could trigger an inflow of steel and aluminum imports from the global market, and the oversupply could seriously affect the local producers, including from Romania.
REAL ESTATE As of Tuesday ruling coalition MPs are holding public consultations in order to regulate protection measures addressing people who conclude sale-purchase deeds with real estate developers. Representatives of real estate developers, public notaries and the National Agency for Land Registry and Real Estate Advertising are also expected to take part. The goal is to complete the legal framework with regulations that will offer the end beneficiaries robust guarantees for the advances paid in real estate transactions and that will also ensure the development and proper functioning of the relevant market in Romania. The initiative comes after hundreds of people who got scammed in the Nordis case called for amending the relevant legislation. Former PSD deputy Laura Vicol, her husband, Vladimir Ciorbă, the main shareholder of the Nordis group, and three other people were put on pre-trial arrest as part of this investigation. The inquiry targets individuals and companies accused of having collected over 195 million EUROS from clients without handing over the apartments.
112 The buildings of over 100 public and private institutions in Romania were lit in red on Tuesday, marking the European 112 Day. By means of a symbolic visual approach, the Special Telecommunications Service wants to draw attention to the instrumental role of the single emergency number and to encourage citizens to use it responsibly. Abusive emergency calls can jeopardize the swift intervention of specialized teams where it is needed the most, Service officials say. In 2024, as a result of the efforts of the relevant authorities and emergency response services, as well as other government partners and private telecommunications operators, the number of non-emergency calls decreased by nearly one million compared to previous years. 112 Emergency Service operators took over 9.7 million calls, of which 60.45% were actual emergencies, the Special Telecommunications Service also reports.
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