February 21, 2017 UPDATE
Romania's Chamber of Deputies rejects controversial emergency order 13
Newsroom, 21.02.2017, 19:42
FINANCES – Romanian Finance Minister Viorel Stefan met on Tuesday in Brussels with the European Commission’s Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, and with the EU Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici. According to a release by the Finance Ministry in Bucharest, the talks, that were held on the sidelines of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting, focused on the macroeconomic aspects in Romania and on the 2017 state budget proposed by the leftist government. At the meeting, Romania supported the measures aimed at curbing fiscal evasion at EU level and the adoption of a directive in this respect, due to be implemented in late 2019, the release also reads.
EMERGENCY DECREE — Romania’s Chamber of Deputies rejected on Tuesday the controversial emergency ordinance 13, amending the criminal codes, and endorsed ordinance 14 that repeals ordinance 13. The Chamber of Deputies is the decision making body on this matter. We remind you that the government’s move to change the criminal law by an emergency ordinance brought hundreds of thousands of Romanians into the streets. The anti-government protests started on January 31, when decree no. 13 was passed, and have continued daily ever since, even after it was repealed by means of decree no. 14. At the same time with the anti-government protests, rallies were also staged against president Klaus Iohannis who has been accused of being an inefficient mediator in the political crisis and for siding with the anti-government protesters.
LONDON — In Britain, Tuesday was a second day of discussions in the House of Lords on the governments European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, which, if passed, will allow Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, allowing formal talks with the EU to start. The House of Commons have already passed the bill. PM Theresa May has called on the House of Lords to take the example of the House of Commons and rapidly pass the bill. After last year’s historic vote in favor of Brexit, Theresa May promised to initiate the Brexit procedure by the end of March. At the same time, discussions are taking place in Brussels on the size of the bill to be presented to Mrs May when she launches the talks. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has recently said in a speech to the Belgian Federal Parliament that exit will not come “at a discount or at zero cost.”
WASHINGTON — The American President, Donald Trump, appointed general Herbert R. McMaster (54) as national security advisor. He replaces Michael Flynn who has recently stepped down for failing to tell the truth about a conversation he had with the Russian ambassador to Washington. Herbert R. McMaster is one of the most appreciated generals of the American army and an excellent strategist. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, general McMaster criticized the way in which the former president George W. Bush intervened in Iraq, drafting a different strategy against terrorism. General David Petraeus, a former commander of the American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, used this strategy that changed the fate of a war which the US was about to lose.
HANDBALL – Handball player Cristina Neagu will return home to play for CSM Bucuresti, the municipality’s club. Neagu, who has been playing for ZRK Buducnost (Montenegro) since 2014, signed a two-year contract with CSM Bucuresti. She will be officially presented during a press conference scheduled for early-March. The International Handball Federation voted Cristina Neagu World Handball Player of the Year in 2010 and 2015 but the Romanian player also won the title of Best Romanian Handball Player in 2009, 2010, 2015, and 2016.
(Translated by Elena Enache)
