March 30, 2023
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 30.03.2023, 13:56
Bill. The leaders of the ruling National Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party in Romania, Nicolae Ciucă and Marcel Ciolacu, have announced that they decided to support the proposal made by the Ministry of Justice regarding the establishment of a threshold of 9,000 lei (about 1,800 euros) up to which abuse of office is decriminalized. The announcements of the two come after the Senate approved a draft law that provides for a value threshold for abuse and neglect in the service in the amount of 250,000 lei. The change caused criticism and a street protest in Bucharest. The opposition Save Romania Union has warned that the value threshold of 50,000 euros for damage to the public budget to be considered a criminal offense was also provided for by the well-known Ordinance 13 of 2017, which the government at the time abandoned after massive street protests.
OECD. The Secretary of State for Romanias Accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Luca Niculescu, was appointed to the Steering Committee of the new OECD Regional Center in Istanbul. He welcomed the initiative to establish the Center, aimed at encouraging inter-regional cooperation, providing a platform for dialogue on public policies and supporting the states in the region to face the main economic and social challenges. According to a release by the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, Luca Niculescu expressed, at the same time, the availability of the Romanian authorities to contribute with sectoral expertise to the activity of the OECD Regional Center in Istanbul, recalling that Romania provides financial support for the main regional programs of the organization.
Visit. The Romanian Minister of National Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, starts a visit to the USA, today, together with the Chief of Staff, General Daniel Petrescu, and other officials. According to the Romanian Embassy in the USA, the delegation will have meetings in Washington with the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, with General Mark Milley, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, as well as at the White House – the National Security Council. Also, meetings are scheduled with the presidents of the Committees on Armed Services of the US Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as with representatives of the American defense industry and of the strategic reflection and expertise environment. On the occasion of the visit, the Romanian delegation will mark 30 years of partnership between the Romanian Armed Forces and the Alabama National Guard. The Romanian officials will travel to the state of Alabama, where, between April 2 and 4, they will have meetings with the governor of the state, the leadership of the Alabama National Guard, as well as with representatives of the local authorities.
Pensions. The special pension reform project was endorsed by the Bucharest Senate on Wednesday and is now going to the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this matter. In the Senate, the document was adopted in the form approved by the specialized commissions, including the amendments initiated by the representatives of the governing coalition. There are changes aimed at the overtaxation of very large special pensions, which the beneficiaries cannot accumulate. The opposition says, however, that it is not enough, that the system of special pensions should be eliminated entirely, and the principle of contribution applied to all pensions. Reforming the law on special pensions is a milestone in the National Recovery and Resilience plan, on which the disbursement of European money depends. Almost 200,000 Romanians currently benefit from special pensions, the majority – over 170,000 – from the defense and public order system. But the highest special pensions benefit former magistrates – judges and prosecutors, who can end up receiving a pension even 10 times higher than the average one granted by the State.
Education. In Romania, the new education laws have been approved by the Government and will be submitted to Parliament for debate and adoption. The bill has maintained the provision according to which, in addition to the National Assessment, high schools will be able to organize their own admission competition, with specialized tests, for 60% of the places. Also, the Baccalaureate will include an additional test, from the opposite profile to the one studied by the students. The new education laws are based on the “Educated Romania” project, initiated by President Klaus Iohannis, and for the implementation of the reforms stipulated in these laws, more than 3 billion euros will be allocated from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Tennis. Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea (74 WTA) has qualified for the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami Florida, with some 8.8 million dollars in prize money. She defeated the worlds number two, the Belarusian Arina Sabalenka, 6-4, 6-4. This is the second semifinal for the Romanian player, since 10 years ago, in Toronto. At the Miami Open, Cirstea has lost no match, defeating Fernanda Contreras Gomez of Mexico, number four Caroline Garcia of France, the Check Karolina Muchova and Marketa Vondrousova and now Arina Sabalenka. (MI)
