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BRUSSELS – Romania’s place is
\nclearly in the Schengen area, said in Brussels on Wednesday the European
\nCommission President Jean-Claude Juncker, in a joint press conference with the
\nRomanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila. The EC President also said that the
\nCooperation and Verification Mechanism, by means of which the Commission
\nmonitors the Romanian justice system, must be lifted. Also, Juncker said that,
\nin the first half of 2019, when it will
\nbe holding the presidency of the EU Council, Romania will be faced with a huge
\nresponsibility. In turn, the Romanian Prime Minister said that the CVM should
\nbe lifted, because it’s not normal for Romania to take over the presidency of
\nthe EU Council while still under sanction. Romania will make all possible efforts
\nto ensure a fair and transparent cooperation with the European institutions,
\nthe Prime Minister also said. On Tuesday, Viorica Dancila, on her first formal
\nvisit abroad as Prime Minister of Romania, held talks with the President of the
\nEuropean Parliament Antonio Tajani and the European Council President Donald
\nTusk.<\/p>\n
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MOTION – The simple motion
\nfiled by the opposition National Liberal Party against the Labour Minister Lia
\nOlguta Vasilescu was rejected by the Romanian Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday.
\n157 deputies voted against, 96 for and 16 abstained. The Liberal Party accuses
\nthe ruling coalition of disturbing the fiscal and social systems and of
\ncreating gaps between the private and the public sectors. According to the
\ninitiators of the no-confidence motion, shifting the obligation to pay social
\nsecurity contributions from employers to employees has led to a drop in the
\nsalaries of more than two million people. At the debate held in the Chamber of
\nDeputies, minister Olguta Vasilescu said that salaries cannot drop if employers
\ndo the right thing, as provided by law.
\n<\/p>\n
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CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – Romania’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday
\nrejected as inadmissible the complaints submitted by the Save Romania Union
\nregarding the revision in Parliament of the justice laws. The opposition Save
\nRomania Union had filed several claims of unconstitutionality against the Law
\non the organization and functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy, the Law on the status of judges and
\nprosecutors and the Law regarding judicial organization. According to the Save
\nRomania Union, the three laws, as endorsed by parliament, undermine the
\nindependence of the Romanian magistrates. The political power in Bucharest, however, argues that the revision of
\nthe justice laws was necessary, given that they had not been revised in over ten
\nyears. On the other hand, the political opposition, part of civil society and
\nthe magistrates’ professional organizations are against the changes, saying
\nthey only serve the vested interests of some politicians and business people.<\/p>\n
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MOLDOVA – Romania’s President
\nKlaus Iohannis received on Wednesday in Bucharest the Deputy Prime Minister for
\nEuropean Integration of the Republic of Moldova, Iurie Leanca. On the occasion,
\nthe Romanian president stressed the fact that a European road is the only way
\nfor the future Republic of Moldova. Among other things, the two officials
\ntalked about Moldova’s getting connected to the European energy system, through
\nRomania. On Tuesday, Leanca also held talks with the Romanian Foreign Minister
\nTeodor Melescanu and the Minister Delegate for European Affairs Victor
\nNegrescu.<\/p>\n
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PROTEST – On Wednesday,
\neducation trade unionists took to the streets and picketed the headquarters of
\nthe Labour Ministry in Bucharest, protesting against the recent fiscal and
\nbudgetary measures because of which, they say, thousands of employees on medical leave will lose important
\namounts from their incomes. Also, they called for a renegotiation of the salary
\nlaw, whose provisions have led to situations in which certain public employees
\nare being discriminated against. They also want a revision of the pension law,
\nso that the teaching staff can retire three years before the standard age.
\nSimilar protest actions are scheduled for Thursday.<\/p>\n
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FLU – 45 people have died from flu this winter,
\naccording to a report presented on Wednesday by the National Center of
\nInfectious Disease Surveillance and Control. The number of infected people
\nexceeds 500. Most of them live in the capital and in the counties of Constanta,
\nOlt, Brasov and Iasi. Authorities recommend vaccination, and the Ministry of
\nHealth has announced that there are still some 80,000 shots available. So far,
\n920,000 people have been vaccinated against the flu. According to the Health
\nMinister Sorina Pintea, at the moment we cannot speak of a flu epidemic in
\nRomania. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/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":[33172,33169,33038,33170,33171,30443,33086,29568,29374,32775],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-102598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-education-trade-union-protest","tag-european-commission-president-jean-claude-juncker","tag-flu","tag-labour-minister-lia-olguta-vasilescu","tag-moldovan-deputy-prime-minister-iurie-leanca","tag-national-liberal-party","tag-romanian-pm-viorica-dancila","tag-romanian-president-klaus-iohannis","tag-salary-law","tag-save-romania-union"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n