June 14, 2019 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 14.06.2019, 20:46

ECOFIN – During its presidency
of the Council of the EU, Romania has completed 11 out of the 13 files on the capital
markets union, said on Friday the Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici.
He chaired in Luxembourg the last meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs
Council held during the Romanian presidency. During Romania’s term, six ECOFIN
meetings were held, as well as 66 trialogue meetings with the European
Parliament, during which 15 legislative files were closed, and also 174 working
group meetings. The Romanian Presidency has been a test for the public administration,
which has proven it can face any challenge, at the highest level, said Eugen
Teodorovici at the end of the meeting in Luxembourg.

URBAN
DEVELOPMENT – The European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, has
stated that some 111 billion Euros have been earmarked for urban areas in the
EU countries within the 2014-2020 framework. There is no one-size-fits-all
recipe, and national and local authorities can decide where and how to invest
in the future’ said the European Commissioner in Bucharest on Friday, at the
end of an informal meeting of the ministers responsible for urban development, against
the background of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Corina
Cretu also said that all the measures leading to urban development were adopted
and supported. We have placed in the center of our attention the EU citizens, regions
and cities, and investments in cohesion policies have provided them with the
support they need in order to face challenges Corina Cretu also said. The focal
point of the meeting was the signing of the Bucharest Declaration, whose main
goal is to open the way to the creating of a joint action framework in the
field of urban development in the EU.

FORUM – At the
Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum 2019 on Friday, the Romanian Defense
Minister Gabriel Les stated that security developments in the Black Sea area
were a reason for concern, especially with regard to Russia. According to the
Romanian minister, Russia has strategic interests in this area, trying to
impose its military dominance and to limit NATO’s regional posture. Talking about
the Western Balkans, the minister said that a new crisis in the region would
have serious repercussions on European security and stability. The Western
Balkans’ stability commitment and their integration into the Euro-Atlantic
community remains a focal point in our regional strategy, and security and
stability in the area are of utmost strategic importance to Romania, Les also
said.

MOLDOVA – The Democratic
Party in the Republic of Moldova announced on Friday that Prime Minister Pavel
was resigning. Filip has stated that the Democratic Party will keep on working
for the Republic of Moldova, but from a different position. It’s a victory,
but it’s not a final victory, and we should not relax Igor Dodon, the
President of Moldova, said after the announcement. He has called on the
Constitutional Court in Chisinau to revise its latest rulings. A power duality was set up in Moldova last week.
Last Saturday, the pro-Russia Socialist Party forged an alliance with the ACUM
block and set up a new government, headed by Maia Sandu. The second day, at the
request of the Democratic Party, which until then had been negotiating with the
Socialists the formation of a majority alliance, the Constitutional Court decided
to temporarily suspend Igor Dodon from the office of president, and the acting
PM Pavel Filip was appointed interim president.

BUCHAREST – The EC is worried about Romania’s economic evolution, with
situations when Bucharest authorities have broken legislation in their own
country, according to Isabel Grilo from the Directorate General for Economic
and Financial Affairs of the European Commission. She took part in Bucharest in
the conference presenting publicly the recommendations for Romania as part of
the 2019 European Semester. The official said that, following several years of
moderate growth, Romania had a significant level of growth last year, but
pointed out that the growth was not sustainable, as it was based on consumption.
The European Commission has issued a warning to Romania and Hungary about a significant
deviation from the budgetary objective in 2018.

THEATER – The 26th Sibiu International Theater Festival
started on Friday and it will be unfolding until June 23rd. This
year’s theme is ‘The Art of Giving’. The
festival includes 540 events in 75 locations, with 3,300 artists and guests
from 73 countries invited. According to the organizers, the festival is a
celebration of beauty, with events in theater, dance, music, film, book
launches, circus, and art exhibitions. The Sibiu International Theater Festival
is the most complex event of its kind in Romania and even Europe, and Radio
Romania is one of the co-producers.