February 7, 2017
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 07.02.2017, 12:00
ADDRESS In a Parliament address Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has called on the left-wing government to find solutions to the crisis it caused with the ordinance on amending the Penal legislation, an ordinance they later withdrew. The head of state has blamed the ruling PSD-ALDE coalition for having collided with a large part of society only a month after coming to power and has recollected the large-scale protests triggered by the government’s decision. Iohannis has pleaded for a responsible governing predictable and transparent and has called on Parliament to issue laws for Romania, not for a group of politicians with penal issues. He has cautioned that unless the PSD finds a rapid solution to the crisis he will summon talks to settle the issue. At the same time, the president has reiterated his decision to call a referendum in which the Romanians will have their say on the continuation of the anti-graft fight and on ensuring the integrity of public functions. Leaders of the ruling PSD-ALDE coalition have accused the president of partisanship and of not playing his part as a mediator in society.
BUDGET Parliament in Bucharest will today host talks on the 2017 state budget. On Monday, Prime Minister Grindeanu has underlined the budget contributes to raising the Romanians’ standard of living and is based on a GDP under 200 billion euros, an economic growth of 5.2% and a deficit of 3% of the GDP. Grindeanu has pointed out the investors’ trust in the economy must be maintained and the Romanians must be a nation that is united and shows solidarity. The right-wing opposition believes the income estimates at the basis of the budget have been overestimated. The final vote has been scheduled for tonight.
EUROPOL 58 people have been arrested and 48 firearms seized in a Europol operation against arms trafficking in the Western Balkans. 127 persons have been prevented from illegally crossing borders, 8 of them trying to use false documents; 12 people have exceeded the legal period of staying in a foreign country. The Europol operation involved countries from the ex-Yugoslav area and also from countries like Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain, Belgium and the USA. Frontex and Europol have reported a significant information exchange during the operation.
PROTESTS Romania’s capital city Bucharest has seen another day of anti-government protests in front of the government building in Bucharest for the seventh day in a row. Roughly 15 thousand people have taken to the streets calling for the resignation of the left-wing government. However the latest rally was of a lower intensity as compared to the previous days. Sunday saw the largest protests so far, when over half a million people took to the streets of Bucharest and other cities of Romania to protest the government ordinances aimed at amending the penal codes, although the law was abrogated on the same day. Also on Monday, several hundreds of people protested against president Klaus Iohannis. The government has announced it gives up amending the Penal Codes for a while. The Justice Ministry has explained that it is not concerned about drawing up a draft law on this issue, but presently centralizing Constitutional Court rulings on the aforementioned laws, which are to be further analyzed.
