June 20, 2018

Thousands protested in Cluj against the policies promoted by the ruling coalition in Romania; PM Viorica Dancila submitted to parliament a report on Romania's progress in preparing to take over the presidency of the EU

Bogdan Matei, 20.06.2018, 14:13

BUCHAREST — A few thousand people protested on Tuesday in Cluj, in north-western Romania. They shouted slogans against the ruling coalition, calling for their resignation and for early elections. The protest came as the Chamber of Deputies passed a bill to amend the Penal Procedural Code. Among other things, an acquittal by an initial court trial may be changed only by new evidence being brought in. The statute of limitations would be set at one year. One other change has cooperation with the authorities bring reductions in sentencing only within a year from the deed investigated. The opposition claims that some of the changes made are jeopardizing justice, and announced they would challenge the amendments in Constitutional Court. The parliamentary majority claims in turn that their intent is to set into law Constitutional Court decisions, European directives regarding the presumption of innocence, and observations by professional associations.

BUCHAREST — Romania stands no chance, now or in the future, to have a seat in the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member if it moves its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This statement was made on Tuesday by President Klaus Iohannis after meeting the UN General Assembly president, Miroslav Lajcak. Right now, Romania is negotiating for non-permanent member status for 2020. Lajcak said that he would not comment on the intentions of national governments, but pointed out that a number of resolutions passed by the General Assembly and Security council rule that the status of Jerusalem has to be decided by Israelis and Palestinians. Romanian politicians are divided on the issue.

FOOTBALL – Romania’s football vice-champions FCSB, formely known as Steaua Bucharest, and another football side from south-eastern Romania, Viitorul Constanta, will today learn their opponents in the Europa League’s first two preliminary rounds, after lots have been cast at the UEFA offices in Nyon, Switzerland. CSU Craiova, holder of Romania’s Cup, will be playing directly in the third preliminary round. In the Champions League, Romania’s new champions, CFR Cluj, will be playing the winner of a match pitching Swedish side Malmo FF against the winner of the qualifying round, which involves the participation of football sides from Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino and Gibraltar.

BUCHAREST – PM Viorica Dancila submitted to parliament Romanias progress in preparing to take over the rotating half-year presidency of the EU, which occurs in 2019 in January. She said that this will be an opportunity for Romania to prove its ability to make a significant contribution to the European project with political vision and administrative skill. Deputy Minister for European Affairs Victor Negrescu said on Tuesday in Brussels that Romania was ready to take over the presidency of the EU Council.

CHISINAU — The main court in Chisinau, the capital of the Republic of Moldova, ruled void the results of elections for mayor in the city. The elections had been won by one of the leaders of pro-European opposition, Adrian Nastase. He said that the decision was arbitrary, and said he would appeal the decision in a higher court. If the ruling stands, Chisinau will be led by an interim mayor until the next local elections, scheduled for next year.

BRUSSELS — The European Commission approved the financing of a motorway in central Romania almost 57 km long, as part of the Rhine-Danube Corridor 9 linking Strasbourg with Constanta, the main Romanian city on the Black Sea coast. The European commissioner for European regional policy, Corina Cretu, announced that 248 million Euro are allocated for the project, which is scheduled to be finalized by October 2019.

WORLD CUP – The football match pitching Uruguay against Saudi Arabia is the last in Group A of the World Cup currently underway in Russia. In the same group on Tuesday night, Russia secured a 3-1 win against Egypt. With a total of six points the Russians have already qualified for the competition’s round of 16. Also on Tuesday, in the first games of Group H, Senegal defeated Poland, while Japan secured the same two-one win against Columbia. Portugal is taking on Morocco in Group B while Spain is up against Iran. Iran tops the group after a one-nil win against Morocco, while the match pitching Spain against Portugal ended in a draw, three-all.