January 20, 2020
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 20.01.2020, 13:55
BILL – The Romanian Government has submitted to Parliament a bill on a two-round system for the election of mayors, which the Liberal government aims to pass through collective responsibility. According to the Government, the two-round system is likely to offer more legitimacy to mayors and improve democratic standards at the level of local communities. Prime minister Ludovic Orban says his cabinet has resorted to the collective responsibility procedure because the Social Democratic Party in opposition has blocked the amendment of the election law in a parliamentary committee. President Klaus Iohannis has summoned the two chambers for an extraordinary meeting next week, to allow PM Orban to present the bill as soon as possible. Stay tuned for more, after the news.
POLLUTION – The Minister of Environment, Waters and Forestry, Costel Alexe, is today meeting with representatives of Brasov, Iasi and Bucharest, the three cities with serious air quality problems. Currently, Romania is in infringement procedure, triggered by the European Commission for exceeding, for several years, the limit values of the harmful substances present in the air (sulphur dioxide, dioxide nitrogen and nitrogen oxides, suspended particulate matter and lead) in three cities. Although environmental and energy taxes levied by the state are above the European average, the results take time materialize. For the pollution in the capital city Bucharest, Romania might receive a fine of 100,000 to 400.000 euro.
BRUSSELS – The Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is today attending a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. Talks will be looking at the situation in the Sahel region and climate diplomacy. EU foreign ministers will also exchange views on the stage of the peace process and the general situation in the Middle East. On Sunday, also in Brussels, the Romanian foreign minister attended the ministerial meeting of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Founded in 1998 and based in Berlin, this organisation has 31 member states, 11 observatory states and 7 permanent international partners and acts to consolidate Holocaust remembrance, research and education worldwide. Romania held the rotating presidency of this organisation between March 2016 and March 2017.
REPORT – In 2018 almost 7% of the households in the EU were unable pay utility bills (heating, electricity, gas, water, etc.) on time, due to financial difficulties, the Eurostat reports. However, this share has fallen steadily in the EU as a whole, from over 10% of households in 2013. Among households, in particular those with dependent children faced difficulties in paying utility bills on time. In the EU, just below 14% of households consisting of a single adult with dependent children faced such difficulties in 2018, compared to less than 3% of households consisting of two adults (with at least one of them 65 years or older). In 2018, more than a third of households in Greece (36%) had experienced problems paying their utility bills on time during the last 12 months, with many households facing such problems also in Bulgaria (30%) and Romania (14.4%). In contrast, few households had been unable to pay their utility bills on time in the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Austria (all around 2%).
BIRD FLU – Almost 23,000 hen have been culled after a new bird flu hotspot was confirmed at a commercial chicken farm in the same area in northern Romania where the first bird flu outbreak was reported on the 14th of January, the authorities have announced. Strict restrictions are in place concerning the movement of people, animals and vehicles at all farms, as well as in the established protection and surveillance areas. On the 17th of January, the European Commission announced that infected fowl from Hungary reached a number of EU member states, including Romania. Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Northern Ireland have also reported cases of bird flu. Experts suspect wild birds could be spreading the disease and have reminded people that bird flu is not harmful to humans.
ECUMENISM – Bucharest is playing host, until next Saturday, to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, a yearly ecumenical event bringing together Christians of various denominations. They gather at the churches of the participating denominations, where the services are held by a representative of a different denomination. The first prayer was said in Bucharest at the Roman-Catholic cathedral, and the last will take place on the 25th of January in an Orthodox church. Participating in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are the Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran Evangelical, the Calvinist Reformed, the Anglican and the Armenian churches.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea (74 WTA) has today qualified to the second round of Australian open, the first Grand Slam of the year, after defeating Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic (34 WTA), 6-2, 7-6. Cirstea will next be up against the American Cori Gauff. Another three Romanians will play on Tuesday in the singles competition: Simona Halep against American Jennifer Brady, Irina Begu against the Dutch Kiki Bertens and Monica Niculescu against the French player Alize Cornet.
WATER POLO – The Romanian mens water polo side are facing Greece today in the play-offs of the European Water Polo Championships under way in the Hungarian capital Budapest. Romania finished third in Group B after defeating Russia and losing to The Netherlands and Serbia. Greece finished second in Group D following two wins, against Georgia and France, and a defeat at the hands of Italy. In the other play-off matches to determine the quarterfinalists, Montenegro play Turkey, Germany play Spain and Russia play Georgia. Italy, Serbia, Hungary and Croatia have won their respective groups and thus went straight into the quarterfinals.
(Translated by Elena Enache)
