September 27, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 27.09.2022, 20:20

LAW — The Romanian Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday green lighted the law under which salaries are increased for certain categories of public servants. The law had previously sparked heated debates in the labor committee. Unlike the version passed earlier by the Senate, the article providing for salary increases for all categories of dignitaries, among whom the head of state, the government members and the heads of some public institutions was removed. Mayors, deputy mayors and county council presidents and vice presidents will receive more money.

SPACE MISSION – Romania is taking part in the European Space Agency’s HERA programme that will send a spacecraft to perform a close-up survey of the asteroid hit by NASA. HERA will gather key information such as the size of the crater, the mass of the asteroid and its make-up and internal structure. Romania’s contribution consists in providing the necessary technique so that HERA reaches the asteroid, observe and assess the effects of the impact, the Romanian Space Agency reported. After 10 months flying in space, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) — the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration — successfully impacted its asteroid target on Monday, in the agency’s first attempt to move an asteroid in space, NASA reported. The mission’s one-way trip confirmed NASA can successfully navigate a spacecraft to intentionally collide with an asteroid to deflect it, a technique known as kinetic impact.

JUSTICE – Debates continued on Tuesday in Romania’s Parliament on the articles of the law on the status of judges and prosecutors. The special parliamentary committee had already been discussing for several days the last bill from the package of new justice laws drafted by the Government. On Monday senators and deputies from the special parliamentary committee continued the article-by-article debate of the draft law on the status of judges and prosecutors and managed to adopt approximately 180 articles out of the total 294. Most of the articles passed in the form submitted by the executive. Also on Monday, the report on the draft law on judicial organization was adopted by the parliamentary committee, a document that Tuesday entered the plenary debate of the Chamber of Deputies, as the first body notified.

FUNERAL – The Romanian Prime Minister, Nicolae Ciucă, and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, participated on Tuesday in Japan in the state funeral of the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had a decisive contribution to the launch of the actions meant to take the relations between the two countries at the level of a strategic partnership. PM Ciuca said in a Facebook post that Shinzo Abe will continue to be a symbol of those who defend democracy. Attending the ceremony were around 50 international leaders among whom the US Vice President, Kamala Harris and the EU Council President, Charles Michel. Shinzo Abe was killed, on July 8, by a former officer during a campaign speech. On Monday, Nicolae Ciuca met with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, with whom he discussed the security and defense component, one of the four cooperation pillars of the future Strategic Partnership, and also economic cooperation, given that Japan is the largest Asian investor in Romania.

CORRUPTION – The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, said on Tuesday, upon the anniversary of 20 years of existence of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, that the work of anti-corruption prosecutors must be doubled by a clear, coherent legislation that guarantees the independence of the judiciary and creates the necessary mechanisms for the good functioning of the prosecutors’ offices. The president also said that the reform of the justice laws must be completed in accordance with the recommendations of the European bodies. Klaus Iohannis emphasized that, with each step taken in the fight against corruption at all levels, Romania is closer to concluding the MCV, joining the Schengen area and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. “A society in which corruption is sanctioned gives citizens confidence in the state and tells investors and external partners that there is predictability and stability” President Iohannis said.

FOOTBALL – Romanias national football saquad defeated, on Monday evening, in Bucharest, Bosnias national team, score 4-1, in Group 3 of League B of the Nations League, but was relegated to the third echelon. With only two victories and a draw in six games, the Romanians are on last position in the group, being outrun by Bosnia, Montenegro and Finland. Selector Edward Iordănescu announced that he was going to discuss with the management of the specialized federation if he should give up or not his position as coach of the national squad. For Romania, which also missed qualification to this years World Cup in Qatar, the next competition will be the Euro 2024 preliminaries, hosted by Germany. (EE)