November 25, 2019 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 25.11.2019, 19:56
Congratulations — President Klaus Iohannis received messages of congratulation from the European leaders for obtaining a new term in office. The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said he was happy that Romania would continue to benefit from Klaus Iohannis’ responsible and trustworthy leadership while the president of the EC Jean-Claude Juncker expressed conviction that he could count on Romania’s active role in carrying on with the European project, adding that the Romanians’ powerful support for his unequivocal pro-European views came at an important time for Europe. Chisinau counts on a close cooperation with Bucharest after the reelection of Klaus Iohannis, said the president of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon. The Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelenski congratulated Klaus Iohannis underlining that the trust of an overwhelming majority of voters was very important for a new mandate. The Serbian president said Serbia was a sincere friend and a trustworthy partner of Romania, expressing persuasion that the good political relations will be accompanied by a better economic cooperation.
Colectiv — The prosecutors of the National Anti-corruption Directorate on Monday called on the Bucharest tribunal to sentence the former mayor of Bucharest’s sector 4 Cristian Popescu to 15 years in prison for such crimes as abuse of office in relation to the issuance of operation authorization for the Colectiv nightclub. The Bucharest tribunal started hearing the closing arguments in the Colectiv trial. On trial among others are the mayor of the Bucharest sector in which the club was located, Cristian Popescu, the clubs owners and the pyrotechnic workers. The trial into the tragedy at Colectiv nightclub began in April 2016. After two years of delays based on procedural issues, the magistrate in charge of the case retired. The new judge sped up the hearings, setting weekly hearing dates. 64 people were killed in the fire, one committed suicide because of the trauma, and almost 200 suffered injuries.
CSAT — The Supreme Council of National Defense of Romania convenes on Wednesday in Bucharest under the chairmanship of president Klaus Iohannis. High on the agenda of the meeting are issues related to proposals for the budget adjustment for institutions with responsibilities in national security in 2019, to the approval of the new chief of the defense staff as well as to Romania’s objectives at the NATO summit to take place in December in London. The meeting will also tackle the plan for use of the Romanian Defense forces which will be sent to missions and operations outside Romania’s borders in 2020. This is the first meeting of the country’s Supreme Defense Council which will be attended by members of the government led by the Liberal leader Ludovic Orban. The previous meeting of the Supreme Defense Council was held on July 30.
Strasbourg — The Council of the EU adopted the list of persons who will occupy the position of European Commissioner in the future European Commission. Monday’s decision is the last stage ahead of Wednesday’s vote in the EP on the program and membership of the EC headed by Ursula von der Leyen. Adina Valean with the European People’s Party Group is the Romanian Commissioner who will manage the Committee on Transport. Member states decided that the new EC would start its activity on December 1 with 27 commissioners, without Great Britain, which refused to make a proposal for commissioner in the context of Brexit. (translation by L. Simion)
