REFERENDUM – President Klaus Iohannis on Thursday signed the decree
\non the organization of a referendum concurrently with the European Parliament
\nelection on May 26. The two questions will be: Do you agree with forbidding
\namnesty and pardons for corruption-related offences? Do you agree with
\nforbidding the Government to pass emergency decrees in the field of corruption
\ncrimes, correlated with extending the right to challenge emergency decrees at
\nthe Constitutional Court? In a press conference the president urged Romanians
\nto vote in the referendum, saying its result will count. Klaus Iohannis also
\nsaid the referendum is of major importance and could change Romania. The
\nPresident’s undertaking comes amidst numerous legislative changes in the
\njudiciary promoted by the ruling coalition, which have sparked controversy and
\nattracted criticism from Romania’s European partners. <\/p>\n
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CAMPAIGN – The campaign for the European
\nParliament election is to kick off on Saturday and end on May 25. Bucharest
\nwill send to Brussels 33 MEPs, one more than before if Britain is going to
\nleave the bloc. Former prime ministers, a president, several ministers, MEPs
\nand mayors are among the candidates. Romania’s number one ruling party the
\nSocial-Democratic Party is favorite in the election race together with the main
\nopposition party the National Liberal Party. They are followed by the
\nopposition Save Romania-Plus alliance and ProRomania party as well as by the
\nAlliance of Liberals and Democrats, also part of the country’s ruling
\ncoalition. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians and the People’s Movement
\nParty also stand chances to win seats in the European Parliament. <\/p>\n
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JUDICIARY – A delegation of the Venice
\nCommission on Thursday met in Bucharest with representatives of Parliament’s
\nspecial committee on the justice laws to discuss the emergency decrees in the
\nfield. The president of the committee, Social-Democrat Robert Cazanciuc, said
\nat the end of the meeting that he explained to the commission the decrees were
\npassed to solve certain deadlocks. In turn, the Save Romania Union in
\nopposition said Commission representatives warned that passing emergency
\ndecrees could bring new emergencies and the fact that the government is
\ncircumventing Parliament debate is a very serious matter that should not be
\ntolerated. During his meeting with the Venice Commission on Wednesday,
\nPresident Iohannis said the law modifying the criminal codes passed by
\nParliament is a detrimental way of passing legislation that creates instability
\nin the system. The European Commission has announced it would closely analyze
\nthe modifications, insisting Romania must immediately resume its efforts to
\nreform the judiciary. <\/p>\n
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POPE FRANCIS -The Holy See has published a detailed schedule of Pope Francis’
\nvisit to Romania. The Pontiff is due to arrive in Romania on May 31st
\nand to be meeting president Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila,
\nrepresentatives of civil society and the diplomatic corps. The Pope is expected
\nto meet Romanian patriarch Daniel and deliver a speech in front of the
\nPermanent Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Pope Francis and Patriarch
\nDaniel will be praying together in the People’s Salvation Cathedral. The Pope’s
\nfirst day in Romania will end with a mass at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in
\nBucharest. On June 1st the Pope will celebrate a mass at Sumuleu
\nCiuc, central Romania, and will next go to Iasi, in northern Romania for a
\nvisit to the local cathedral and a speech at the Palace of Culture Family and
\nYouth. On June 2nd in Blaj, Pope Francis will deliver a mass and
\nbeatify seven martyr bishops and meet the local Roma community. The Pontiff
\nwill next go to Sibiu in central Romania and board a plane to Rome. Over 110
\nthousand people have enlisted to participate in the mass at Sumuleu Ciuc. The
\nlist includes Roman-Catholic believers from all over the world. <\/p>\n
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EUROBAROMETER – Less than 35% of Europeans
\nwere aware in February that the European Parliament election would be held in
\nMay, the Spring Eurobarometer shows. According to the study, most EU citizens
\nsupport their countries’ EU membership. 68% of respondents said they benefited
\nfrom EU membership overall, tantamount to the highest response rate in 1983.
\n61% of respondents said EU membership is a good thing. The survey reveals
\ncitizens’ uncertainty is on the wane, also due to the amount of challenges the
\nEU has faced in recent years. On the other hand, half of EU citizens believe
\nthings are headed in the wrong direction, either in the EU or in their home
\ncountry. Half of citizens also believe their voice doesn’t matter at EU level,
\nthe study also shows. <\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
(Translated by V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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