November 7, 2018
The European Parliament urges Romania to apply European recommendations on the judiciary; Major parties take part in the European Popular Party Congress in Helsinki
România Internațional, 07.11.2018, 13:38
DOHA — Romanian PM Viorica Dancila continues today her visit to Qatar. Yesterday, in meetings with Emir Tamim Bin Hamad al Thani and Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani, Dancila said that the Romanian side is interested in expanding cooperation in key areas such as infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, and tourism. The two prime ministers attended the signing of bilateral cooperation documents in diplomacy, agriculture, and tourism. The Romanian head of government said that Romania will emphasize, as part of its agenda during its rotating presidency of the EU, enhancing efforts to promote peace and security, as well as enhancing dialog between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
BRUSSELS — Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici attended in Brussels the conference of the European Union Council for Economic and Financial Affairs. During the meetings, he held talks regarding Romanias priorities during its semester presidency of the EU in 2019, as well as the future EU Multiannual Financial Framework. Teodorovici said that some of his countrys priorities will be the InvestEU program and the program for structural reform assistance. The minister reiterated Romanias support for the Convergence Facility, an instrument that would help non-Euro states join the Eurozone, on condition it does not create additional barriers.
HELSINKI — Three Romanian parties in the European popular family, the National Liberal Party, the Peoples Movement Party, and the Union of Hungarians in Romania, take part in the European Popular Party Congress in Helsinki. The major item on the agenda is electing the European Popular Party candidate for the presidency of the future European Commission, set to form after the European Parliament elections in spring next year. Liberal chairman Ludovic Orban said that his party will support German candidate Manfred Weber, the leader of the Popular Party group in the European Parliament, running against Alexander Stubb, former Finnish PM.
JUDICIARY — The European Parliament is ready to issue its draft resolution of the state of the rule of law in Romania. It is set to be discussed by political groups and submitted in plenary session next week. The resolution is said to express the concerns of the European Parliament regarding reforms in judicial and penal legislation in Romania, especially with regard to fighting corruption. The EU legislative body urges the Romanian Parliament and government to apply in full all the EC recommendations, as well as those of the Venice Commission with regard to the rule of law. The draft resolution also mentions the debates around the role of the Romanian Intelligence Service, and its alleged meddling in judicial activity. The document condemns the forceful intervention of security forces during anti-government protests in Bucharest in early August. The draft resolution comes after the October 3 European Parliament plenary debates on the rule of law in Romania.
WASHINGTON — The US House of Representatives is now effectively under Democratic control, while Republicans hold on to their Senate majority, after the mid-term elections. Two years after the surprise presidential victory by outsider Donald Trump, Americans went to the polls in record numbers. The elections resulted in a divided Congress, ushering in what are expected to be two years of contentious politics in Washington. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in the US capital, American society is deeply divided around President Trump, and the Democrats now dominating the House are expected to hinder his agenda and speed up investigations into his administration.
TENNIS — Romanian tennis star Simona Halep, who will be holding on to her top WTA title for a second time in a row, is now remarkably the 6th in the all time rankings in terms of victories in womens tennis, with a total of 28 million dollars in prize money. American player Serena Williams tops the chart with 88 million dollars, followed by her sister Venus, with almost 41 million, while Russian Maria Sharapova is third, with 38 million. Halep earned the top dollar in the WTA circuit in 2018, 7.4 million dollars. This same year she won her first Grand Slam, as well as the top titles in Roland Garros, as well as in the tournaments in Shenzhen and Montreal, and played in the finals in the Australian Open, Rome, and Cincinnati.
