February 14, 2017 UPDATE
The Senate of Romania unanimously endorsed an emergency decree which repeals the controversial amendments to the criminal law that generated political tension in Bucharest/ President Klaus Iohannis voices concern regarding this years public budgets
Newsroom, 14.02.2017, 19:53
SENATE– In a plenary meeting on Tuesday, the Senate of Romania unanimously endorsed an emergency decree that repeals the controversial amendments to the criminal codes, which generated the current political crisis in Bucharest. The draft was sent to the Chamber of Deputies. Amendments can be submitted by Friday, and a plenary session of Parliament is due early next week to vote on the document. The Government building was once again picketed last night by over 1,500 protesters. For two weeks, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in the country and abroad have been demanding the resignation of the government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania. They accuse the Cabinet of amending the criminal codes in order to exempt influential politicians and local and central administration officers from criminal liability. Concurrently, several hundreds of supporters of the Government request the resignation of President Klaus Iohannis, who they claimed has stepped out of his role as a mediator by joining in the anti-government protests. A referendum regarding the fight against corruption has been initiated by the President, and was approved on Monday by the Senate. Well have more on this after the news.
BUDGET– The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, has voiced concern after discussing in Bucharest with PM Sorin Grindeanu and the Finance Minister, Viorel Stefan, about the state budget bill and the social security budget bill, sent to the President for promulgation. The head of state sees the 2017 state budget as problematic, because the budget deficit risks exceeding 3%. In his opinion, the budget bill relies on overestimated revenues and very high expenditure. In exchange, the president of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, said the 2017 state budget is sustainable and it should come into effect without any delays. On Monday, the European Commission estimated that this year Romanias budget deficit would account for 3.6% of the GDP, which might lead to the initiation of the excessive deficit procedure. On the other hand, the economic growth forecast for Romania was improved to 4.4%, which is nonetheless below the 5.2% rate estimated by the Government.
JUSTICE – The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest has postponed for March 28 the trial of the case in which the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and head of the ruling Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, is charged with instigation of abuse of office. According to the National Anti-corruption Directorate, Dragnea ordered the fictitious employment of two members of his party with the Directorate General for Social Assistance and Child Protection in Teleorman County in the south. The two were paid from public funds although they were actually working for the Social Democratic Party alone. Last year Dragnea received a suspended two-year prison sentence, for having attempted in 2012 to rig a referendum to dismiss then-president Traian Basescu.
FIGHTING EAGLES – The 500 US soldiers of the First Battalion “Fighting Eagles on Tuesday arrived at the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase in south-eastern Romania. They are equipped with tanks, armoured vehicles and self-propelled mortars. During their nine-month stay in Romania, the US military will take part in the drills, planned jointly with the Romanian Ground Forces. In the opinion of the US ambassador to Bucharest, Hans Klemm, the presence of the US forces in Romania is a confirmation of the strong Strategic Partnership between the two countries. In turn, the Romanian foreign minister, Teodor Melescanu, has said that apart from taking part in missions, the decision to increase defence spending to 2% of the GDP, according to a NATO objective, is further proof of Romanias firm commitment towards its international partners. The deployment of US troops in Romania is meant to strengthen NATOs eastern flank.
TENNIS – Romanias womens tennis team will play against Great Britain at home on April 22 and 23, in the play-offs for Fed Cup World Group II. The drawing was held in London on Tuesday. Last weekend Romania was defeated in Bucharest by Belgium, 3-1, in the first round of World Group II. The national team now has to play to keep its spot in the second group. Fed Cup is the most important international team competition in women’s tennis.(Translated by Ana-Maria Popescu and Diana Vijeu)
