July 28, 2023 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 28.07.2023, 20:10

WEATHER – Romanian PM Marcel Ciolacu requested all the institutions in charge to centralise data on the damages caused by the extreme weather over the past few days in Romania. Measures will be taken subsequently to address the situation and to avoid similar occurrences in the future, a government spokesperson said. According to the General Inspectorate for Emergencies, over 50 localities in 19 counties and the capital city Bucharest have been affected this week by storms and heavy rainfalls. Several people died, and houses, buildings and vehicles have been damaged.

CANCER – The government endorsed a National Plan on Cancer Prevention and Treatment. The new programme facilitates quick access to prevention measures, diagnosis, treatment and palliative services. The healthcare minister, Alexandru Rafila, said investment would be made in the field of oncology, and all services for patients would be free of charge, including advanced radiation therapy. He added that the government would also develop an innovation fund, mainly benefiting cancer patients. The plan will be implemented in several stages over the next 5 years. However, Representatives of the Federation of Cancer Patients Associations are unhappy with the absence of implementation rules for the plan, without which, they argue, it is impossible to know how long it would take from diagnosis to the start of the actual treatment.

SECURITY- The Romanian Foreign Ministry hails the adoption, on Thursday, by the US Senate, of the law endorsing the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), which included a bill on Black Sea security. With this decision, the US Senate confirms the status of the Black Sea as a region of critical geo-strategic importance and paves the way for enhanced US engagement in the region. The US Senates decision also confirms the countys strong support for a comprehensive US presence in the Black Sea region, jointly with its allies and partners, in strategic areas such as security and defence, economy, energy and democratic resilience, the Romanian Ambassador to Washington Andrei Muraru said. The bill endorsed by the Senate is to be reconciled in September with the version of the NDAA already approved by the House of Representatives. A bill similar to the Black Sea Security Act is also pending in the House, with good chances to be included in the reconciliation procedure and in the final text of the NDAA sent to president Joe Biden.

DISSIDENT – The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest Thursday upheld a ruling clearing two former Communist political police officers, Marin Pîrvulescu and Vasile Hodiş, of the charges related to the torturing of dissident Gheorghe Ursu. They were originally tried for crimes against humanity. The construction engineer, poet and writer Gheorghe Ursu was investigated by the Securitate in the 1980s, after he sent letters to Radio Free Europe and kept a diary of the horrors of the communist regime. He was arrested in September 1985 and died 2 months later, after being beaten while in detention. After Thursdays ruling of the Supreme Court, the justice minister Alina Gorghiu said she would have liked not to see any form of repression and torture validated. The Group for Social Dialogue, a political and social NGO, says the court decision to acquit the torturers of dissident Gheorghe Ursu is the most radical form of rehabilitation of communist totalitarianism. Prosecutors are looking into exceptional methods to challenge the ruling.

FINDINGS – Two new nursing homes where old people were kept in inhumane conditions were discovered on Thursday in Romania, one in Mureş county (center) and an one operating illegally in Voluntari, near Bucharest. In Mures, 7 people were being kept in improper conditions in the basement, in addition to the 23 registered in the asylums official documents. The case is now being investigated by the police. We remind you that, a few weeks ago, police and prosecutors searched three such nursing homes near Bucharest and found that the elderly there, many of them disabled, were beaten, starved, and subjected to forced labour in the three centres. The Minister of Labor and the Minister of Family at that time resigned. On the other hand, the Penitentiary Administration decided to conduct an inspection at the Buziaş Educational Center (west), intended for the resocialization of minors and young people who have committed criminal deeds, after a young man detained there was brutally beaten by supervising policemen. The Minister of Justice filed a criminal complaint in this case and dismissed the centers management. (EE)