September 2, 2017 UPDATE

The George Enescu International Festival began in Bucharest on Saturday

Newsroom, 02.09.2017, 19:04

DIPLOMACY – The Ambassador of Romania to the USA, George Maior, says the relations between Bucharest and Washington are currently at the highest level of implementation of the bilateral strategic partnership, in all its aspects, from defence, economy, diplomacy to culture. However, the Romanian Ambassador said Romania seeks strengthened cooperation with the US in terms of defence. In this context, on September 18 the Romanian Defence Minister Adrian Ţuţuianu will have a meeting with his American counterpart, James Mattis. Ambassador Maior also mentioned the visit made by the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis to the US in June, when he had a meeting with the US President Donald Trump.

PARLIAMENT – In Bucharest, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have convened for the second regular parliamentary session of the year. Romanian MPs are scheduled to handle overdue bills from previous sessions, and the new draft legislation tabled by the Government. Debates are to begin next week. Apart from the emergency orders concerning special pension benefits, child allowances and police salaries, Parliament is also to discuss a bill on mandatory vaccination. The most eagerly awaited debates concern the new Pension Bill, which is to reach the Parliament chambers by October 1, and the changes of the laws on the judiciary and the set-up of a Sovereign Investment Fund.

CORRUPTION – The former president of the National Healthcare Insurance Agency, Marian Burcea, has been placed under 30-day arrest in an investigation into illegal refunds for healthcare services. According to the Bucharest Court of Appeals, in the same case the judges have also decided to place other individuals under pre-trial arrest. Anti-corruption prosecutors suspect frauds involving the funds of the Bucharest City Healthcare Insurance Agency, consisting in the refund of fictitious healthcare expenditure. The refunds were allegedly granted based on hundreds of fake medical records and involved agency personnel protected by top officials of the National Healthcare Insurance Agency. Tens of searches conducted at the offices of companies and institutions as well as at the homes of several individuals in Bucharest seem to indicate losses of 3 million euros caused to the public budgets.

ENESCU FESTIVAL – The George Enescu International Festival, one of the most prestigious music events in Europe, opened on Saturday. For 3 weeks, 80 concerts and other events will bring together in Bucharest and 7 other major Romanian cities more than 3,000 of the best international artists. The honorary president this year is the famous conductor Zubin Mehta, and another conductor, Vladimir Jurowski is the artistic director. Radio Romania is the only media institution in the country to broadcast the concerts live, on its channels Radio Romania Music and Radio Romania Culture. The opening show, a performance of George Enescus opera “Oedipus by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with conductor Vladimir Jurowski, included multimedia features. First organised in 1958, 3 years after the famed Romanian composer had died, the George Enescu Festival was discontinued in 1971 by the communist regime, and was resumed in 1989. It has been held every 2 years ever since.

POLICE – Fifty Romanian policemen have carried out operative support missions in France this year, according to the Romanian General Police Inspectorate. They have provided direct assistance to the French authorities in securing the areas with high seasonal tourist inflows and have facilitated data and intelligence exchanges. These activities have been requested by the French partners, as a result of the good cooperation and based on an administrative arrangement between the Romanian and French interior ministers, the Romanian Police Inspectorate also said.

HARVEY – The US President Donald Trump has requested Congress to earmark 7.85 billion US dollars for relief and reconstruction following hurricane Harvey, Reuters reports. Trump is to visit the disaster-hit areas today, for the second time. Harvey, one of the worst hurricanes to have hit the US in terms of the damages it has caused, forced one million Americans out of their homes. Tens of people died. Houston, the largest city in Texas and the fifth-largest in the US, is still paralysed by floods. In Beaumont, over 120,000 people are without drinking water.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)