Early this
\nyear, the Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos will pay formal visits to Germany, France
\nand the Netherlands, the country that took over the rotating presidency of the
\nEU on January 1st. The Romanian PM has stated that he has agreed with the Dutch
\nPM Mark Rutte to hold talks on the Dutch presidency’s calendar and agenda, as
\nRomania would like to play a pro-active role within the EU in the coming
\nperiod. The first visit will take place on January 7th, in Berlin, where Ciolos
\nwill meet with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.<\/p>\n
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On January 20th,
\nRomania’s Constitutional Court will analyze the law on the local officials’
\nspecial pensions, contested by the Ciolos Government, according to which the
\nlaw would instate a special regime of privileges. The Government’s objections
\nare also related to the fact that the new rights would be granted
\nretroactively, and also that there is no funding secured for the newly
\nestablished indemnities. According to the Executive, there would be at least
\n16,300 beneficiaries, and the budget deficit would grow by some 91 million
\nEuros. Under the new law, endorsed by Parliament, mayors, deputy mayors,
\npresidents and vice-presidents of local councils would get additional pensions
\nof up to 1,500 Euros, depending on their time in office.<\/p>\n
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The Prime Minister Designate
\nof the Republic of Moldova, Ion Sturza, will on Monday call for Parliament’s
\nvote of confidence during a special meeting. On Saturday he presented his
\ncabinet’s membership and governing program. The cabinet is made up of members
\nof the Liberal Democratic Party and the Dignity and Truth Party, but also
\nmembers with no political affiliation. The independent Victor Chirila would be
\nthe First Deputy Prime Minister,
\nMinister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, and the Liberal
\nDemocrat Viorel Cibotaru was proposed for Defense Minister, an office he has
\nheld before. The proposal for the Justice Ministry is the representative of the
\nDignity and Truth Party, Stanislav Pavlovschi. Most parliamentary parties have
\nannounced however that they will not support Sturza and the Socialists have
\nstated they will not participate in Monday’s meeting.<\/p>\n
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The European
\nCommissioner for Digital Economy and Society, the German Gunther Oettinger, has
\nstated for the Sunday issue of the ‘Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung’, that a
\nunique procedure might be enforced against Warsaw, for violation of the EU’s fundamental values. The Polish
\nParliament has endorsed a law which places the public media under the control of the
\nConservative Party, which is currently ruling the country. According to the
\npublication, the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker wants to resort
\nto a procedure adopted in 2014, targeting the countries where there the rule of
\nlaw is under threat, and put the matter on the agenda of the Commission’s
\nmeting on January 13th.<\/p>\n
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Germany has
\ncalled for tighter international cooperation, as security will remain a serious
\nissue in 2016 as well. The call was made following information that Islamic
\nState militants had planned an attack in Munich on New Year’s Eve. The German Interior
\nMinister, Thomas de Maiziere, has stated that, in the future, Germany will have
\nto cooperate closer with the foreign intelligence services.<\/p>\n
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The international community is worried
\nabout the execution in Saudi Arabia of 47 people charged with terrorism,
\nincluding a Shiite clergy man, as that might have serious consequences. The US
\nDepartment of State has made an appeal to cooperation among the leaders in the
\nregion and has stated that such executions might raise tension between sects.
\nThe EU is worried too, as states such as Iran have threaten with retaliations.
\nNimr Bakr al – Nimr, a high-ranking clergy man, was a virulent critic of the
\nSunni dynasty that rules Saudi Arabia. In 2011, during the Arab Spring, he led
\nthe protest movement in the east of the kingdom, where most of the Shiite
\npopulation reside. Nimr Bakr al-Nimbr was sentenced to death in October 2014
\nfor terrorism and plotting against the sovereign. <\/p>\n
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Foreign employers
\nhave over 2 thousand jobs in the EU for Romanian citizens. The jobs are
\nprovided through the EURES Romania network. The most wanted are unskilled
\nagricultural workers, for which farms in Spain, Portugal and Denmark have
\nhundreds of jobs available. Moreover a
\nCzech company wants to employ 50 freight drivers and hospitals in Great Britain
\nand Germany are interested in hiring several dozens infirmary personnel and medical
\nnurses.<\/p>\n
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A code yellow
\nalert for blizzard is in place in ten counties in southern and south-western
\nRomania. The weather is extremely cold all over the country, with lows exceeding
\nthe values normal for this time of the
\nyear. The wind is blowing hard in the southern part, so the real feel is
\nthat temperatures are much lower. A wave of warmer air is expected to enter the
\ncountry on Tuesday, so temperatures will get to the normal values. The highs
\ntoday range between minus 11 and minus 1 degree Celsius, with a minus 10 degree
\nreading in Bucharest at noon.<\/p>\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":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-100750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n