Government.<\/strong> The Social
<\/p>\n
GRECO report.<\/strong> Romania has made very limited progress in implementing
<\/p>\n
Flu vaccination.<\/strong> The Romanian
<\/p>\n
Law.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n
Corruption.<\/strong> Ionel Arsene, the
<\/p>\n
Tennis.<\/strong> The Romanian
<\/p>\n
Weather.<\/strong> Power cuts were reported on Thursday
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A roundup of todays news in Romania.<\/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":[29795,28950,29818,33035],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-102503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-australian-open","tag-corruption","tag-greco","tag-viorica-dancila"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nDemocratic Party, the senior partner in the ruling coalition in Romania, will
\nnext week start talks for the formation of the new cabinet. President Klaus
\nIohannis has accepted the proposal of the Social Democratic Party and their
\nruling partners, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for the Social Democrat
\nMEP Viorica Dancila to head the government. The Social Democrat leader Liviu
\nDragnea said Parliament would meet in extraordinary session to swear in the new
\ncabinet on the 29th of January. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nthe GRECO recommendations regarding the prevention and fight against the
\ncorruption of MPs, judges and prosecutors, shows a report made public by GRECO
\n– the Group of States against Corruption, the Council of Europe’s
\nanti-corruption body. According to GRECO, Romania has only fully complied with
\ntwo of the 13 recommendations included in a 2016 evaluation report. 7
\nrecommendations have not been implemented at all and another 4 only partly,
\nGRECO says. The legislative process is still a matter of concern for GRECO,
\ngiven the controversies and persistent accusations related to improper
\nconsultations, the excessive use of the emergency decree procedure and the lack
\nof transparency in the decision-making process. The evaluation report also
\nshows that 2017 was marked by a series of controversial measures, some of which
\nare perceived as attempts to undermine the independence of the judiciary.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nhealthcare minister Florian Bodog has instructed family doctors to continue to
\nmonitor the situation of flu vaccination this month, particularly in the case
\nof people at risk. The president of the Romanian Microbiology Association
\nAlexandru Rafila says the current flu season may extend until spring. According
\nto the healthcare ministry, over 700,000 people have received flu vaccines so
\nfar, with almost 300,000 free doses being still available. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nPresident Klaus Iohannis has referred to the Constitutional Court a law on
\nensuring transparency in the exercise of public office, the business
\nenvironment and the prevention and punishment of corruption. The new version of
\nthe law, which was passed by Parliament in December, eliminates the
\nincompatibility of public office with the profession of trader as a natural
\nperson. The offices included are those of deputy, senator, cabinet member,
\nprefect, sub-prefect, mayor, deputy mayor, and general mayor and deputy mayor
\nof Bucharest, and president and deputy president of a county council. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\npresident of the Neamt County Council, in north-eastern Romania, was detained
\nby anti-corruption prosecutors on Thursday on charges of influence peddling.
\nAccording to the National Anticorruption Directorate, in 2013, when he was an
\nMP and president of the Neamt branch of the Social Democratic Party, Arsene
\nallegedly received 100,000 euros to use his influence with persons in the
\nleadership of the National Integrity Agency. A court will decide on Friday
\nwhether he is to be held in temporary 30-day arrest. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\ntennis player Simona Halep, world’s no. 1 and the first seed at the Australian
\nOpen, on Thursday reached the tournament’s 3rd round, after
\ndefeating the Canadian player Eugenie Bouchard in two sets. Also on Thursday,
\nanother Romanian player, Ana Bogdan, eliminated Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan
\nin the 2nd round. In the 3rd round, Halep and Bogdan,
\nRomania’s only remaining players in the singles competition, will face Lauren
\nDavis and Madison Keys respectively. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian-Dutch
\npair Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Roger defeated the all-Argentinean pair
\nGuillermo Duran and Andres Molteni to reach the second round. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nin Romania because of blizzard in over 13 villages in 13 counties, affecting
\n32,000 users. Schools were closed in several counties because of travel
\ndisruptions. The Black Sea ports of Constanta North and South and Mangalia were
\nclosed and cargo handling operations halted because of powerful winds. The
\nriver port Constanta South Agigea was also closed and navigation on the
\nDanube-Black Sea Canal restricted. <\/p>\n