March 29, 2019

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Newsroom, 29.03.2019, 14:01

BREXIT – The British Parliament is today debating and voting on the Withdrawal Agreement, covering the terms of the split from the EU, including the Irish backstop. The Agreement has already been rejected twice, which forced the British Government to ask for the delay of Brexit. If government wins the vote, it is believed it will have satisfied the conditions set by the EU in order to delay Britain’s exit from the bloc until May 22. These conditions were set out at a European Council summit on March 21. European leaders have warned Britain that unless it adopts the accord by the end of this week, Brexit will take place on April 12 and not on May 22.

GOVERNMENT – The Bucharest Government has convened this morning to approve the modifications made to a number of emergency decrees, including decree 114, that stipulates fiscal measures introduced at the end of last year that have been criticized by most business circles. The new provisions have taken into account the opinions of business experts with whom representatives of the governing coalition have met lately, but also the reality of the market. Among the new provisions are some that allow for the continuation of the car scrapping programs, that will help around 35 thousand Romanians replaced their old cars with new, less-polluting ones.

KOVESI – Former Chief of the Anti Corruption Directorate (DNA), Laura Codruta Kovesi, one of the top contenders for the post of European Chief Prosecutor, has been placed under “judicial control” by the Section for the investigation of magistrates, in a case in which she is accused of abuse of office, bribe taking and false testimony. After a six-hour hearing, Kovesi said that the case prosecutor had forbidden her to talk to the press about what had happened at the hearing and about the case for which she had been summoned. “I am not allowed to say anything, it is a way of shutting me up,” Kovesi said. Kovesi also said that was an attempt to silence her, given that she might become European chief prosecutor. She is the preferred candidate of the European Parliament while the French candidate Jean-François Bohnert has the European Council’s support. Negotiations have been taking place to select one of the two for the top prosecutor job.

MISSILES – The US Department of Defence has approved the selling to Romania of HIMARS M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. In order to be delivered to other countries, a special approval by the US Government was needed. Except for Romania, Poland and Bahrain will also purchase such systems. The HIMARS system can launch six guided rockets with a range of 70 km (37 miles), or a single missile with up to 300 km range. According to the Romanian Defence Ministry, this acquisition is for Romania an additional guarantee for the national and regional security.

REFERENDUM – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Thursday announced he would call a referendum on May 26, coinciding with the European Parliament election. The topic will be observing the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, which the President believes has been under constant attacks from the Social-Democratic Party in power. During this week the President talked to representatives of associations of judges and magistrates as well as civil society. Some of them have criticized the organization of a referendum on the same day as the European Parliament ballot, saying the referendum might influence the result of the election. Others have voiced the unequivocal support for the Presidents decision.

MEETING — A new meeting that brings together Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia is held this afternoon at Snagov Palace near Bucharest. Prime ministers Viorica Dăncilă, Boiko Borisov, Alexis Tsipras and the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will discuss about the progress made as regards joint projects in the region in the fields of transport, infrastructure and energy. Before the meeting in Snagov, the 5th meeting of the Romania-Bulgaria High Level Cooperation Council takes place, focusing on security and economic development.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Somona Halep, no. 3 in the world, was defeated in the semifinals of Miami tennis tournament by the Czech Karolina Pliskova, 7-5, 6-1. The Romanian thus missed the chance to become world no. 1 again, a position she held until January this year, when it was occupied by the Japanese Naomi Osaka. (Translated by E. Enache)