Leaders of the 28 EU member
\nstates gather in Brussels today for a
\nfresh summit on migration. The Commission is preparing long-term
\nmeasures to keep the inflow of immigrants under control, such as the reform of
\nthe European asylum-granting system and a permanent refugee – relocation
\nscheme. The talks will focus on the aid granted to the countries surrounding
\nSyria, with a view to stopping the wave of migrants, and cooperation with
\nTurkey, a country that seems reluctant to contribute, according to France Presse, but which is already host to over 2 million Syrian refugees. At
\nthe summit, Romania is represented by president Klaus Iohannis. Before the summit, the Romanian head of
\nstate will have a meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Martin
\nSchulz. Last night he held talks with Romanians working with the European
\ninstitutions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The US presence in Europe is
\nproof of that country’s strong commitment to world security, and its presence
\nin Romania is to Bucharest ‘a reassurance factor’, the Romanian Foreign
\nMinister Bogdan Aurescu has stated at a forum organized by the Aspen Romania
\nInstitute today. Aurescu made a review of the situation in the southern and
\neastern neighborhoods and the Middle East, saying that only a united
\nEuro-Atlantic community can deal with the current threats and can project
\nstability. Against this background, when the Euro-Atlantic community is at a
\ncrossroads, Romania can act as a strong ally on NATO’s and the EU’s eastern
\nborder and can use this position to create stability and prosperity in the
\nregion, minister Aurescu also said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The General Prosecutor of the
\nRepublic of Moldova has today called for the lifting of the parliamentary
\nimmunity of the former Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader Vlad Filat,
\naccording to the media in Chisinau. He is accused of direct involvement in the frauds
\ncommitted at the Savings Bank, standing at hundreds of millions of Euros. The
\nrequest was made against the background of growing tension within the Moldovan
\nsociety, generated in particular by the scandal triggered by one billion
\ndollars missing from three banks, including from the Savings Bank. The leader
\nof the Liberal Democratic Party has stated that the action was carefully staged
\nin advance. The party is a member of the ruling coalition in the Republic of
\nMoldova, alongside the Democratic Party and the Liberal Party, but there have
\nalways been tensions between the three.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The European Commission
\nVice-President in charge of Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, is coming to
\nBucharest today, as part of a large-scale European tour. He will hold talks
\nwith members of the Romanian Parliament and Government and also with
\nrepresentatives of civil society and the industrial sector, whom he will
\nintroduce to the advantages of the Energy Union. The EC Vice-President will
\nalso attend a forum on energy strategy and security. Currently, the EU is the
\nlargest world importer of energy, namely 53% of the total energy it consumes.
\nThe energy union package is aimed at ensuring safe, sustainable energy, at
\naffordable prices.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Romanian
\nGovernment has approved a bill under which the legal framework is established
\nfor increasing the amount spent on an asylum-seeker. According to the new
\nregulations, the amounts paid by the state for food have increased three times,
\nand those for other expenses ten times. For the warm season, the total monthly
\nexpenses have been estimated at 250 Euro, and for the cold one, at 270 Euro,
\nreads a communique issued by the Romanian Government. The law also establishes
\nthe conditions in which those who request international protection can benefit
\nfrom the national health-care programs, can have access to the labor market and
\nget unemployment benefits, as provided by law for the Romanian citizens. The
\nbill will help consolidate the asylum-seekers rights, will increase the level
\nof integration of these people into Romanian society and will also help prevent
\nnegative situations associated with illegal migration.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A Romanian Parliamentary
\ndelegation headed by the Chair of the Senate’s Foreign Policy Committee, Petru
\nFilip, is in Ramallah, the West Bank, for talks with members of the Palestinian
\nLegislative Council. Yesterday in Israel, the Romanian senators had meetings
\nwith representatives of the Israeli Parliament and Government. On the occasion,
\nthey reiterated Romania’s intention to support the prospects of the peace
\nprocess, alongside its international partners. The head of the Romanian
\ndelegation talked about Romania’s decade-long role as a mediator in the Middle
\nEast area. The formal visit of the Romanian parliamentary delegation to Israel
\nand the Palestinian territories ends on October 17th.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Romania’s foreign
\ndebt has this year dropped by 5 billion Euros, the National Bank has announced.
\nMore than half of this decrease is owed to the drop in the public debt by 3
\nbillion Euros. The data made public by Romania’s Central Bank reflects the
\nsituation as it was early last month, when the public debt went below 30
\nbillion Euros. In late August, the Romanian state had no debt to the
\nInternational Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Romanian
\nConstitution guarantees the freedom of expression of religious beliefs and
\nstipulates that all religious denominations are independent from the state and
\nhave the freedom to organize themselves in keeping with their own rules and
\nregulations, reads the 2014 State Department’s Report on Religious Freedom. However,
\nthe document draws attention to the fact that, although the Romanian Government
\nkeeps implementing the recommendations made by the International Commission for
\nthe Study of the Holocaust in Romania, the pace of return of church properties
\nseized by the previous regime, in particular those owned by the Greek-Catholic
\nchurch, is very slow. The report mentions a number of incidents of an
\nanti-Semite nature, such as statements, behaviors and even ceremonies
\ncommemorating Iron Guard politicians, stressing the fact that the Romanian
\nauthorities have started investigations into these matters. The ‘Wiesel’
\nInstitute continues to educate the public about the Holocaust and many Romanian
\npoliticians have publicly condemned anti-Semite and negationist attitudes,
\nvoiced in TV shows and in the online media, the State Department report also
\nreads. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":100004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[28963,29378,29375,29380,29377,29207,29379,29376],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-100525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-bogdan-aurescu","tag-energy-union","tag-eu-summit","tag-foreign-debt","tag-maros-sercovic","tag-migration","tag-petru-filip","tag-vlad-filat"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n