\n
<\/p>\n
ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTEST<\/strong> Protests continued in Bucharest on
<\/p>\n
2017 DRAFT BUDGET<\/strong> The joint budget-finances committees of the
<\/p>\n
COMMEMORATION <\/strong> Commemorative events were held on Saturday at the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance in Sighet,
<\/p>\n
AWARD <\/strong> Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis has been
<\/p>\n
TENNIS<\/strong> Romanian tennis players Horia Tecau and
Protests continued in Bucharest on Saturday, for the fifth day in a row, against the decree issued by the Romanian Government to amend the criminal codes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":75903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[31477,31545,30018,29080,31502,31547,29346],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-101664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-2017-draft-budget","tag-anti-government-protest","tag-davis-cup","tag-liviu-dragnea","tag-romanias-president-klaus-iohannis","tag-sighet","tag-social-democratic-party"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nSaturday, for the fifth day in a row,
\nagainst the decree issued by the Romanian Government to amend the
\ncriminal codes. The night before, hundreds
\nof thousands of people took to the streets, in Bucharest as well as in
\nmany other towns and cities across the country and abroad, to demonstrate
\nagainst the provisions of the emergency ordinance which, they say, helps
\nhigh-ranking politicians and local and central government figures to no longer be
\nheld accountable for corruption. The
\nleader of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea has spoken about the possibility
\nof abrogating the controversial decree, as a means to ease the tension in
\nRomania, also given that supporters of the party have announced their intention
\nto take to the streets themselves, unhappy with the fact that the Executive is
\nnot allowed to implement its governing program. In turn, the co-president of
\nthe Alliance of Liberals and Democrats Calin Popescu Tariceanu has stated that abrogating
\nthe decree would allow the start of serious talks with large segments of
\nsociety. He has proposed to all stakeholders, parties, civil society and the
\nbusiness environment, to sit at the negotiation table. The Romanian Foreign
\nMinister Teodor Melescanu has announced he will travel to Brussels early next
\nweek to talk with EC representatives about the situation in Romania. In
\nBucharest, President Klaus Iohannis has notified the Constitutional Court,
\nsignaling the conflict between the Government on the one hand, and the
\nJudiciary and Parliament on the other. The Supreme Council of Magistracy, the
\nOmbudsman and the General Prosecutor are also against the provisions of the
\nordinance. The embassies in Romania of the US, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the
\nNetherlands, Great Britain and Sweden have voiced their concern over the
\nsituation in Romania. They have warned that Government’s actions might affect
\nthese countries’ partnerships with Romania, which are based on common values,
\nshared by the EU and NATO. In a statement on Radio Romania, the spokesman for
\nthe US Department of State Mark Toner has said that the US calls on the
\nRomanian Government to give up the recent measures that undermine the rule of
\nlaw.<\/p>\n
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\nRomanian Parliament are discussing the 2017 draft state budget. A report must
\nbe concluded by Sunday evening, for the document to be debated in plenary
\nparliament session on Monday. Speaking on behalf of the Government made up of
\nrepresentatives of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and
\nDemocrats in Romania, the Finance Minister Viorel Stefan gave assurances that
\nthe draft observes the main directions established under the governing program,
\namong which slashing the VAT from 20 to 19% and eliminating the income tax on
\npensions of up to 2000 lei, the equivalent of some 400 Euros. The budget was
\nbuilt taking into account a growth rate of 5.2% and a deficit of maximum 3%.
\nAlso, Romania will stay committed to allocating 2% of the GDP to defense. The
\nright wing opposition, however, believes that the revenues on the basis of
\nwhich the budget was built are overestimated.<\/p>\n
\n
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\nnorth-western Romania, to mark 64 years since the death of the great politician
\nIuliu Maniu. The political personality of the leader of the National Peasant
\nParty, who was a Prime Minister between the wars and a member of the Romanian Academy,
\nwas evoked through various presentations and speeches. A militant for national
\nunion, a promoter of the democratic values, an opponent of Nazism and
\nCommunism, Maniu was arrested in 1947 by the dummy Government imposed by the
\nSoviets and died in 1953 at the age of 80 in the Sighet prison, where most of
\nthe former Democratic dignitaries had been imprisoned. <\/p>\n
\n
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\nawarded the Saint George Medal at an event organized by the Semper Opera House
\nin Dresden, eastern Germany, for his political commitment to promoting the
\nEuropean project and its values. According to a communiqu\u00e9 issued on Saturday
\nby the Presidential Administration in Bucharest, the president has stated he
\nreceived the medal in the name of all Romanian and devoted it to the Romanian -
\nGerman friendship. Other personalities who have received the medal are the former
\nGerman President Christian Wulff, the former European Commissioner Gunther
\nOettinger, the former president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso
\nand the current European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
\nMarius Copil were defeated in Minsk on
\nSaturday by the pair Max Mirnyi – Yaraslav Shyla of Belarus, in the doubles of the first round of Davis Cup’s
\nEurope\/Africa Zone Group I. Leading the competition is now Belarus 2-1. On
\nFriday, the Romanian Adrian Ungur defeated Ilya Ivashka, and Marius Copil lost
\nto Egor Gherasimov. The last two singles are scheduled for Sunday: Marius Copil -
\nIlya Ivashka and then Adrian Ungur – Egor
\nGherasimov. <\/p>\n
\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"