2018-2019 ACADEMIC YEAR – Nearly half a million students in Romania
\ntoday are starting a new academic year. President Klaus Iohannis attended the
\nopening ceremony in Iasi, recalling that the city hosted the first modern
\nuniversity in Romania in 1860. The President added that the recent decades,
\nmarked by economic and technological advancement, have turned the great
\nuniversity centers in pillars of economic growth. In turn, Prime Minister
\nViorica Dancila attended the opening ceremony at the Faculty of Medicine and
\nPharmacy in Craiova, saying that the Romanian medical school is an elite
\nschool, and that healthcare and education should underlie the development of
\nsociety. The new academic year starts with the Education Minister position left
\nvacant, after Valentin Popa resigned last week. Rovana Plumb, Minister of
\nEuropean Funds, has been nominated as interim Education Minister.<\/p>\n
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REMARKS – The recent changes to the justice legislation in Romania
\nrisk throwing the country back in the early 2000s, a period marked by deep
\ncorruption, US Ambassador to Bucharest Hans Klemm said today at the opening
\nceremony of a new academic year at the Law School in Bucharest, also attended
\nby the French Ambassador to Bucharest, Michele Ramis. Hans Klemm referred to
\nthe amendments brought to the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, the
\nmodifications brought to the Judicial Inspection Corps, and the magistrates’ protests
\nagainst the changes, which were unimaginable in the past, Klemm argued. In
\ntheir current version, these amendments will hinder or make it utterly
\nimpossible the investigation and prosecution of such crimes as murder and
\norganized crime, the US official went on to say. According to Ambassador Klemm,
\ninternational cooperation in the justice field will be reduced significantly
\nover worries linked to sharing information with Romania.<\/p>\n
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DEBATE – The latest developments in Romania related
\nto the independence of the justice system are today under debate in the
\nCommittee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs at the European
\nParliament, in a meeting chaired by European Commission first vice-president
\nFrans Timmermans. According to the European Parliament, the preliminary opinion
\nissued by the Venice Commission regarding the three draft laws revising the
\nstatus of judges and prosecutors, judicial organization and the functioning of
\nthe Superior Council of Magistracy will be also tackled. The meeting precedes
\nWednesday’s scheduled debate in the European Parliament, devoted to the rule of
\nlaw in Romania, to be attended by Romania’s Prime Minister Viorica Dancila. The
\nRomanian official discussed the topic earlier this week with the main political
\nparties in the European Parliament. <\/p>\n
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PARLIAMENT – Romanian Senators and Deputies will resume session on
\nTuesday after today they are attending ceremonies marking the start of a new
\nacademic year across the country. The Chamber of Deputies’ agenda includes the
\nlaw regulating the exploitation of natural gas in the Black Sea. The debate and
\nthe vote on this matter was delayed by a week. The bill got Senate’s approval
\nand has been tabled to the Chamber of Deputies. Members of the Alliance of
\nLiberals and Democrats in Romania have announced they would introduce several
\namendments, while Social-Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea wants to delay the vote,
\nto give MPs enough time to analyze and discuss the offshore bill. Also this
\nweek the ruling coalition faces two simple motions. The Liberal Party in
\nopposition has filed a simple motion against Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici
\nin the Chamber of Deputies, while the Save Romania Union and Liberal party have
\nfiled a motion against Transport Minister Lucian Sova in the Senate. Both documents
\nwill be debated and voted on Wednesday. Parliament’s committee investigating
\nthe involvement of the Personal Security Service (SPP) in the activity of
\ncertain political parties and some of their leaders is also scheduled to start
\nits activity this week. Deputy Prime Minister Paul Stanescu and the former
\ndirector of the Service, Dumitru Iliescu, will be the first to be deposed.<\/p>\n
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VISIT – European Union Chief Negotiator for Brexit Michel Barnier
\non Tuesday is paying an official visit to Bucharest. According to a press
\nrelease made public by the European Commission’s Representation in Romania,
\nMichel Barnier will meet with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, Senate Speaker
\nCalin Popescu-Tariceanu, Chamber of Deputies Speaker Liviu Dragnea, Prime
\nMinister Viorica Dancila and Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Victor
\nNegrescu. Additionally, the EU official will hold talks with representatives of
\nParliament’s joint committees for European affairs and foreign policy and with
\nmembers of Parliament’s special committee for the coordination of actions
\nconnected to the Romanian Presidency of the European Council in the first half
\nof 2019.<\/p>\n
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NOBEL PRIZE – Scientists James P. Allison of the United States and
\nTasuku Honjo of Japan were today awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2018
\nfor their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune
\nregulation. The Nobel Prize for Literature will be announced next year along
\nwith the recipient selected for 2019, in the wake of wide-ranging sexual
\nassault allegations targeting members of the Swedish academy, made public by
\n#MeToo. The Academy has thus decided to postpone the literature prize for next
\nyear, to allow the institution to reform and replace its outgoing members. Five
\nNobel prizes were instated by Swedish inventors, industrialist and
\nphilanthropist Alfred Nobel, for medicine, chemistry, physics, literature and
\npeace. A sixth Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was founded by Bank of
\nSweden in 1968.<\/p>\n
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TSUNAMI – The Government of Indonesia
\ntoday called for international aid in the wake of Friday’s earthquake and
\nensuing tsunami that hit Sulawesi Island, killing some 830 people. The
\nGovernment said 1,200 inmates escaped from three prisons, speculating the chaos
\nthat followed Friday’s catastrophe. The Romanian Foreign Ministry has conveyed
\ncondolences to the families of the victims and expressed its deepest compassion
\nand solidarity with the Indonesian people and authorities. In another
\ndevelopment, at least two people died and some 120 were wounded after Trami
\ntyphoon swept through southern Japan, disrupting the transport network. <\/p>\n
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REFERENDUM – 90% of Macedonian voters on Sunday favored the name
\nchanging to North Macedonia in a Government-organized referendum.
\nUnfortunately, the referendum was invalidated due to low voter turnout. The
\nname-changing plan is aimed at putting an end to a long-standing spat with
\nGreece, a country which this summer signed an agreement unlocking Macedonia’s
\npath to NATO and the EU. To become a member of the North-Atlantic Treaty
\nOrganization, Macedonia needs to ratify the agreement with Greece by referendum
\nand change its constitutional name. Only then will the Greek Parliament be able
\nto ratify the agreement. The European Union has urged both parties to respect
\nthe results of Sunday’s referendum, with NATO also hailing what it has termed
\na historic decision to put aside all differences with Greece.<\/p>\n
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TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep is ranked first and
\nenjoys a considerable lead in WTA standings. Halep is up 2,400 points over
\nrunner-up Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and 2,700 against Germany’s Angelique
\nKerber. The gap will shrink starting next week, considering Halep withdrew in
\nthe first round in Beijing this year. Last year the Romanian player reached the
\nfinals. This is Simona’s 48th consecutive week at the top of the
\nwomen’s singles rankings. Also the Romanian player is ranked 11th in
\nan all-time ranking. Other Romanians ranked in the WTA Top 100 are Mihaela
\nBuzarnescu (24), Irina Begu (53), Sorana Cirstea (61), Ana Bogdan (80) and
\nMonica Niculescu (82). <\/p>\n
(Translated by V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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