GRAFT The scourge of corruption is
\nundermining democracy and the rule of law. At the same time corruption endorses
\norganized crime rings and will eventually lower the citizens’ standard of
\nliving, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis says in his address on the
\nInternational Anti-corruption Day. 30 years on from the demise of the communist
\nregime, Romania made ‘immense headway’ in fighting corruption at high level and
\nin society, the head of state went on to say adding that this process is
\n‘ongoing’, and involves the effort of changing outlooks, involves consistency,
\nas well as a set of firm principles. In turn Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said
\nthe fight against this phenomenon is a desideratum of all the Romanians
\nirrespective of their age and reiterated ‘the Romanian government’s determination
\nand commitment to relentlessly supporting this process. Established by the
\nUnited Nations Organisation in 2003, the International Anti-corruption Day is being
\ncelebrated every year on December 9th. <\/p>\n
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MEETING Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is attending the
\nproceedings of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. This is the first
\nmeeting of the EU Foreign Ministers under the chairmanship of Josep Borrell,
\nthe EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and
\nVice-President of the European Commission. High on the agenda are relations
\nbetween EU and Africa and human rights observance around the world. On the
\nsidelines of this formal meeting, Minister Aurescu will be participating in a
\nworking breakfast hosted by the Greek Foreign Minister, which has as special
\ninvitees foreign ministers from North Macedonia and Albania. <\/p>\n
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MOTION Romania’s
\nSenate is today debating and voting on the first simple motion against a member
\nof the cabinet led by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban. The document has been tabled
\nby the Social-Democratic opposition against Finance Minister Florin C\u00ee\u0163u who
\nhas been accused of improper statements regarding the state of the public
\nfinances, which led to the depreciation of the national currency. The Liberals
\nsay however, the motion will be another good opportunity to provide details in
\nParliament about the disastrous situation the state budget is currently in, due
\nto the latest PSD ruling. The PSD’s move puts to the test the fragile majority
\nof the Liberal cabinet and speaks about the support the Social Democrats currently
\nrely on. <\/p>\n
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HANDBALL The Romanian
\nwomen’s handball side plays Sweden on Tuesday in group ll of the World Handball
\nChampionships underway in Japan. On Saturday Romania lost to Russia and thus blew
\ntheir chances to qualify for the competition’s semifinals. The Romanians are
\ncurrently fighting for the fourth position, which will allow them to play in pre-Olympic
\ntournaments. Romania will be playing the host country in their last game of
\nthis championship. Our side is currently ranking last in their group which is
\nled by Russia and Spain. <\/p>\n
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TALKS French capital Paris is today hosting a
\nfirst round of face-to-face talks between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky
\nand his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin under French-German mediation. The
\nlatest round of talks of the so-called Normandy Four Summit was held in 2016 in
\nBerlin. The talks’ main objective is to kick-start peace negotiations between
\nthe authorities in Kiev and pro-Russia separatists, engaged in a conflict,
\nwhich started five years ago and killed over 13 thousand people. The West and
\nUkraine are accusing Moscow of supplying funds and weapons to the rebels, a
\nfact denied by Russia. Russian president Vladimir Putin is also to have talks
\nin Paris with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and with German chancellor
\nAngela Merkel. <\/p>\n
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(translated by bill)<\/p>\n
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