May 24, 2017

New cases of corruption in Romania/ Estonian PM visits Bucharest/ Romania on the list of countries with no classical swine fever

Newsroom, 24.05.2017, 13:42

Corruption — The former minister of development, Elena Udrea, the daughter of Romania’s ex-president Traian Băsescu, Ioana, and his former political advisor, journalist Dan Andronic, have been arraigned together with another 3 people by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate’s prosecutors, in a case regarding the funding of the 2009 election campaign. Considered the most influential person in the entourage of the former president and the protagonist of some already famous corruption cases, Elena Udrea has now been accused of abetment in corrupt payment and money laundering, charges also brought against Ioana Băsescu. In turn, Dan Andronic has been accused of false testimony and of being accessory after offence. Recently, the disclosures made in the press regarding the 2009 presidential election led to the setting up of a special parliamentary committee that is investigating the circumstances in which Băsescu then defeated the Social Democrat Mircea Geoană.

Estonian PM in Bucharest — Romania and Estonia have similar outlooks on the future of the EU, said Wednesday the Romanian PM Sorin Grindeanu, fresh from a meeting with his Estonian counterpart, Juri Ratas, who is paying a visit to Bucharest. PM Grindeanu expressed Romania’s support for the ambitious agenda of the Estonian presidency of the EU in the second half of 2017. Another topic on the agenda of talks of the two officials was Brexit, the Romanian PM highlighting that Bucharest had to protect the rights of the Romanian citizens who work or study in Great Britain and to make sure that Romanians are not being discriminated against. The two officials have agreed to consolidate bilateral economic cooperation as well as cooperation in such fields as security, defense, culture, tourism, education and cyber security.

Swine fever — Romania has been included on the official list of countries with no classical swine fever, and Thursday it will receive a certification diploma in the plenum of the World Organization for Animal Health –the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Liviu Dragnea wrote on his Facebook page. He pointed out that, after more than 10 years, the main barrier in the way of pork exports would be removed, and thus Romania has all the chances for a comeback on the international pork markets, after a period of many years when pork imports were higher than exports. States like Japan, the US, Canada and Mexico have already expressed their interest for the start of bilateral negotiations.

Rome — A family of Romanian citizens living on the outskirts of Rome has these days received the surprise visit of Pope Francis, who came to give them his blessing, Romanian media has reported. Their Orthodox faith has not prevented them from welcoming the Pope in their home and pray together with him. Recently, the Roman-Catholic archbishop in Bucharest, Ioan Robu, has said that Pope Francis is ‘almost sure’ to visit Romania next year. He explained that the visit coincides with the beatification of 7 martyr Greek-Catholic bishops who lost their lives during the Communist regime between 1950-1970. In 1999 Pope John Paul II paid a historic visit to Romania, the first by a Pope to a majority Orthodox country.

Protests — Trade unions in the Romanian public administration on Wednesday announced that more than 120,000 employees from city halls and the local revenue services would stop work. They are discontented with the unitary pay bill for public sector employees. Trade unionists say they will organize a rally next week, depending on the form in which the bill will be debated by the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate has already passed the bill in the form proposed by the Labor Ministry.

Trump tour — Pope Francis on Wednesday received at the Vatican the American President Donald Trump, who is on a tour that so far has taken him to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian territories. The closed-door meeting between the Pope and the White House leader has been expected with great interest, given the two officials’ divergent stands on many issues. On Thursday the US President will participate in the NATO summit in Brussels that will also be attended by Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis. From Belgium Donald Trump will return to Italy, to participate in the G7 summit hosted by Taormina, Sicily. (translation by L. Simion)