January 31, 2016 UPDATE
President Klaus Iohannis will hold talks with EBRD chief Suma Chakrabarti on Monday in Bucharest
Newsroom, 30.01.2016, 12:19
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will hold talks on Monday in Bucharest with the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Suma Chakrabarti. The foreign official’s agenda also includes meetings with PM Dacian Ciolos, Central Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu and Finance Minister Anca Paliu Dragu. According to Suma Chakrabarti, Romania has great potential and the EBRD is ready to expand its activity in the country, following the demand for financing. The EBRD is one of the biggest institutional investors in Romania.
The Senate and Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest are resuming activity as of Monday, when the spring session of Parliament starts. Political parties have already set their priorities in terms of laws that they want to see passed. Analysts say the upcoming period will be defined by preparations for the local elections in June. The locals are the weak point of the current election law, which stipulates that mayors will be elected in just one round of voting. The Social Democartic Party and the National Union for the Progress of Romania are supporting the election of mayors in just one round of voting, while the National Liberal Party, the People’s Party as well as President Klaus Iohannis and the civil society favor two rounds of voting and have called on the Government to pass an emergency ordinace in this respect. On Monday, PM Dacian Ciolos will hold talks with parliamentary parties on this issue.
As many as 28 parliament members from 14 states have called on the Council of Europe to urgently examine the functioning manner of the Norwegian child protection services. Initiated by Romania’s representatives in the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, the measure stipulates that separating a child from his or her family should be considered only after some intermediary measures have been taken, such as social investigation, psychological counselling and mediation. The move comes after all five children of a Romanian-Norwegian family, settled in Norway, were taken by the local social services over minor physical punishments from their parents. The case continues to generate emotional responses, with thousands of people having participated in street protests in several Romanian cities on Saturday, in solidarity with the Romanian families in Norway that have been separated from their children by authorities in this country.
The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has today proclaimed the canonization of John Jacob of Neamt, a monk of Romanian origin. Born in 1913 in northeastern Romania, he became a monk at the Neamt Monastery in the country and soon after he moved to the Holy Land where he lived near Jordan River and, towards the end of his life, in the wilderness of Hozeva. All his life he took care of the ill and the wounded. He later withdrew to a cave, where he died at the age of 47. The Romanian Orthodox Church declared him Saint in 1992.
The Authority for Emergency Situations in the county of Suceava, northeastern Romania, has approved a series of measures against swine flu that killed over 120 people in the neighbouring Ukraine. Five people have died in the Cernauti region alone, at the border with Romania. The Romanian Foreign Ministry recommends Romanian citizens to avoid travelling to Ukraine in the upcoming period.
Romania is attending for the 8th consecutive year the famous Venice Carnival that officially opened today. Tourists and locals will have the chance to see a special ethnographic exhibition, a selection of the most beautiful and representative heritage objects from the collection of the Village Museum in Bucharest. The exhibition is aimed at promoting Romanian culture.
(Translated by Elena Enache)
