October 10, 2019

Parliament voted the motion of no confidence against the Social Democratic government, U.N Security Council meets to discuss Turkish offensive in Syria

Newsroom, 10.10.2019, 13:58

Motion — The Romanian Parliament on Thursday voted the motion of no confidence tabled by the Liberal opposition against the minority Social Democratic government headed by Viorica Dancila. 238 senators and deputies voted for the motion and 6 against it. Initiated by the Liberal Party and entitled ‘To build Romania, the Dancila government has to be urgently dismissed!’ the motion had been signed by senators and deputies from the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union, the People’s Movement Party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, Pro Romania and ALDE, 2 MPs of the minorities group, an independent and even 4 PSD MPs. They label the government as the most harmful government of the past 30 years and claim that after ousting it, they will pass a responsible governing program targeting the country’s development and modernization and the prosperity of each and every Romanian citizen. In reply, the prime minister and the other PSD leaders accuse the opposition of not being able to provide alternative solutions.

Statistics — The National Institute of Statistics has revised slightly downwards from 4.6% to 4.5% the estimates regarding the growth of the country’s GDP in the 2nd half of 2019 as compared to the same period of last year. In another development, the World Bank has slightly improved estimates reading Romania’s economic evolution for the coming years but draws attention to the risk of a rise in pay inequities. The WB recommends the government to include on its priorities agenda measures aimed at curbing the high unemployment rate among young people and people with low qualification and at making reforms in the public administration and the state-owned companies.

Holocaust – Romania has made an important step forward by setting up the National Museum of the Jews and the Holocaust, said Thursday the US ambassador to Bucharest Hans Klemm. The museum will be a symbol of Romania’s continuous development as a nation and a democratic society, a symbol which all Romanian citizens can be proud of, the American diplomat added. He deplored, however, the fact that, despite this historic achievement, the anti-Semitic and anti-Roma rhetoric continues to be present in the political discourse and some of Romania’s towns and villages still commemorate anti-Semitic and Fascist historical personalities. Ambassador Hans Klemm reminded that the Jews’ sacred places are being periodically vandalized. In his opinion, anti-Semitism is not specific to Romania alone. On Tuesday President Klaus Iohannis promulgated the law that establishes in Bucharest the National History Museum of the Jews and the Holocaust in Romania.

Football – Romania’s under 21 national team are playing today on home ground in Ploiesti, southern Romania, against the Ukrainian eleven in a Group 8 match of the Euro 2021 preliminaries. On Monday the Romanian team will take on the team of Northern Ireland also on home turf. In their debut match, last month, the Romanians were defeated 1-2 away from home by the Danish team. Group 8 also includes Finland and Malta, and the first two top-ranking teams will qualify to the next stage. In June, Romania’s Under-21 team qualified, for the first time, to the semifinals of the European final tournament from Italy and San Marino, and has thus got the ticket for next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. Romania’s senior football team will play Saturday against the Faeroe Islands away from home while Tuesday they will take on the Norwegian eleven at home in Group F of the 2020 European Championships preliminaries. The drawing of lots for the Euro 2020 will take place in Bucharest on November 30. Romania’s capital will also host 4 matches of the final tournament, three in the group stage and one in the round of 16.

Syria offensive — The U.N. Security Council is meeting today upon the request of Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and Poland, to discuss Turkey’s military offensive in northeastern Syria against the Kurdish forces. On Wednesday, Turkey informed the Security Council that the operation would be ‘proportionate, measured and responsible, and would only target terrorists and their hideouts, shelters, emplacements, weapons, vehicles and equipment.’ The EU, NATO and the UN have reacted to the military offensive Turkey launched shortly after the American troops pulled out from the region. The president of the EC has called for reticence and the cessation of military operations, warning that, if Turkey’s plan was to create a safe area, it would not benefit from any European funding. In turn NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ankara’s military offensive should be ‘proportionate and measured.’ (translation by L. Simion)