February 2, 2025

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 02.02.2025, 13:56

President. The joint permanent bureaus of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate rejected the proposal of the sovereignist parties to suspend president Klaus Iohannis from office. The members of the bureaus said the proposal did not comply with the parliamentary procedure in that it was not submitted at the same time by the leaderships of the two chambers. The request to suspend the president was submitted to Parliament on 16^th January by MPs from the Party of Young People POT), the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) and SOS. President Iohannis’ second and final term in office came to an end in December, but the Constitutional Court ruled that he was stay in office until a successor is elected through a new ballot, after the election process to elect the president was cancelled at the end of November over foreign meddling. According to the Constitution, in the event of serious actions, the president of Romania can be suspended from office by the two chambers in a joint meeting, with the majority vote of deputies and senators, following an opinion from the Constitutional Court.

Candidate. Former Liberal Party leader Crin Antonescu officially became the candidate of the ruling coalition to the presidential elections in May after being confirmed today at an extraordinary congress of the Social Democratic Party. His candidacy has already been given the green light by the two other parties in the ruling coalition, namely the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. “Leaving the country to fall prey to mystical nationalism would be an unforgivable betrayal for Romania’s future. We are obliged today to come before the Romanian people united and with a just alternative, we must come before the Romanian people with a man who has presidential stature, a capable man, with experience, education, who is honest and especially a patriot, a man with strong principles and who has fought for his values. This man is Crin Antonescu”, said the leader of the Social Democrats, Marcel Ciolacu. “We need to respect and defend our status as a country of the European Union, NATO, the Strategic Partnership with the United States. We have a fee things to do after we win these elections. I believe the big battle is not just the elections, but that the big battle begins after the elections, because these are not easy times”, Crin Antonescu said. 15^th March is the deadline for the submission of candidacies for the presidential elections. The first round will be held on 4^th May and the decisive round on the 18^th of May.

Trip. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is travelling to the US to meet president Donald Trump in an attempt to consolidate ties with Washington after tensions with the previous administration over the war in Gaza. Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to visit Trump since the latter took over his second term in office. In Washington, the Israeli prime minister will begin talks over the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza during talks with the US Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. Netanyahu is also expected to discuss Israel’s position with respect to the ceasefire, his office also said. Witkoff will later have talks with officials from Egypt and Qatar who have mediated between Israel and Hamas in the last 15 months with the support from Washington. Israel and Hamas last month reached a complex ceasefire agreement that will be implemented in three stages. So far, Hamas has released 18 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. More than 70 people are still held captive in Gaza.

Tariffs. The Chinese government has criticised the move by the Trump administration to impose a 10% tariff on imports from China, while leaving the door open for talks with the US that may prevent the conflict from deepening. Beijing will contest the tariffs at the World Trade Organisation and will take unspecified “countermeasures” in response, the Chinese finance and trade ministries said. Trump on Saturday ordered tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico of 25% and on those from China of 10%, warning that Beijing must put an end to the illegal flows of fentanyl to the US. In response to the accusations of the White House that Mexico has an “intolerable alliance” with the drug cartels, Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum described the allegations as slander and said her country is ready to work with the US. She asked the economy minister to respond with tariff and non-tariff measures for the goods coming from the US. Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau announced substantial 25% tariffs on American products.

Weather. The weather is cooling today in across most of Romania, with highs between 2 and 11 degrees Celsius. Precipitation is expected, especially snow, as well as wind, until Monday evening, in the northern half of the country, the centre, east and south-east. A layer of snow measuring between 5 and 10 cm is expected in the centre and north-east. Wind will pick up in the east, south-east and south-west, as well as in the mountains, especially at high altitudes. Temperatures will drop significantly to below zero. Weather forecasts warn of a cold spell over the next seven days. The high of the day in Bucharest today is 9 degrees Celsius.