November 15, 2017 UPDATE

UPDATE: The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Romania

Newsroom, 15.11.2017, 20:00

UPDATE: The US
Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, is currently in Romania. He made a stopover
in Bucharest, upon returning from a trip to Asia, the AGERPRES news agency
reports.

The US Embassy in Bucharest has confirmed the presence of the US
high ranking official in Romania, underlining however that Rex Tillerson does
not have an official agenda in Romania.

According
to diplomatic sources, the US Secretary of State was welcomed
at the airport by the Romanian foreign
minister, Teodor Meleșcanu.

The
American official will spend the night in Bucharest, after having flown back from Myanmar,
where he met with Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi and with the commander of the army, general
Min Aung Hlaing, against the backdrop of the humanitarian crisis facing the Rohingya minority.

CVM – The European Commission on Wednesday released its latest report on Romania’s progress as regards its reforms of the judiciary and the fight against corruption, two aspects monitored under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, set up in 2007, the year of Romania’s EU accession. According to this report, Romania has reported some progress in such fields as investigating conflicts of interest in the field of public procurement, although reform momentum in the course of 2017 was lost overall, slowing down the fulfilment of the remaining recommendations the Commission set out for Romania to address the unresolved identified shortcomings. Thus Romania runs the risk of re-opening issues which the January 2017 report had considered as fulfilled. Challenges to and questioning judicial independence have also been a persistent source of concern, the report also reads. I count on the Romanian Government to pursue the necessary reforms, and to avoid backtracking, so that we can work together towards the goal of ending the CVM under this Commission’s mandate, European Vice-President Frans Timmermans said. President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday said the report represents a serious warning for the current ruling coalition to consider, adding that Romania’s sustained efforts to strengthen reforms in the field of the judiciary and combat corruption might be endangered by the actions of a group of politicians who refuse to accept that their duty is to serve citizens, not personal or partisan interests. In turn, Romania’s Justice Minister Tudorel Toader believes the report highlights significant progress, and that the country can fulfil its objective to have the CVM lifted over the coming year. The Commission’s next report will be at the end of 2018.

COMMEMORATION – The city of Brasov in central Romania on Wednesday marked 30 years since the workers’ anti-communist uprising. On November 15, 1987, the employees of a factory protested against the leadership, chanting slogans against dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The state police repressed the uprising violently. Hundreds were arrested over the coming days, many of whom never returned to the city. The Prosecutor’s Office with the High Court of Cassation and Justice announced the start of a new investigation into the violence that stifled the workers’ anti-communist uprising. Classified as part of the communist-era crimes ongoing investigation, the prosecutors’ efforts will focus on crimes against humanity, perpetrated by those who systematically repressed the groups of protesters.

BUDGET ADJUSTMENT – The Romanian Government on Wednesday made a second budget adjustment this year, observing the budget deficit target of 2.9% of the GDP. According to the Finance Ministry, the adjustment will be positive and based on an economic growth that exceeded the original forecast. Additional funds will be made available to cover salaries in the primary education sector and for the child protection system. The Labour Ministry will also get additional funds for payments to disabled people and for covering child-rearing benefits. The Interior Ministry will get funds to pay the law-enforcement pensions, while the Health Ministry will be able to pay the salaries of resident medical officers. The Ministries for the Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship, of Finances, Culture, the Environment, for Regional Development and European Funds, respectively, will see their budgets slashed. In another development, Prime Minister Mihai Tudose attended a meeting with the leaders of one of the biggest trade confederations in Romania, CNSLR Frăţia, which has warned it would stage an all-out strike if net salaries will go down as a result of the newly adopted Fiscal Code. Prime Minister Tudose has repeatedly said the transfer of social security contributions from employers to employees, stipulated in the Government’s emergency decree, will not lead to income cuts.

THE VATICAN – Romania’s Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu on Tuesday had talks with Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States with the Holy See’s Secretariat of State. In 2017 Romania and the Vatican mark 90 years since the two states signed the Concordat and 80 years since the set-up of the PIO Romeno College. The two officials looked at the best ways to diversify bilateral relations and boost top-level dialogue. The two officials also discussed the forthcoming visit of Pope Francis to Romania. Teodor Melescanu expressed Romania’s deep gratitude towards the Catholic Church for hosting several communities of Orthodox or Catholic Romanians in Western Europe, as well as for the Holy See’s special support for opening a Lecturers’ Office for Romanian Literature, Culture and Civilization with the Pontifical Oriental Institute. We recall that Pope John Paul II paid a historic visit to Romania in 1999, the first a Pontiff ever made to a country with an Orthodox majority population.

FOOTBALL – Romanian’s national football team on Tuesday lost nil-3 the home friendly match against the Netherlands. In last week’s friendly match, Romania won 2-nil against Turkey. We recall that Cosmin Contra is Romania’s new coach, taking over from German Cristoph Daum, who was sacked in September. With Daum at its helm Romania failed to qualify to the 2018 World Cup, to be hosted by Russia. Also on Tuesday, Romania’s under-21 team drew nil-all against Wales away from home, in a matching counting towards the 2019 Under-21 European Championship preliminaries. With three wins and three draws, Romania ranks first in the group, which also includes Bosnia Herzegovina, Switzerland, Wales, Portugal and Lichtenstein.