Former chief prosecutor of the National
\nAnti-Corruption Directorate face to face with prosecutors.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The former chief
\nprosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi,
\nwas informed on Thursday, after many hours of hearings at the special section
\nfor the investigation of magistrates that she was charged in a second file, in
\nrelation to the coordination of a crime group made up of prosecutors from the
\nsame Directorate. Mrs. Kovesi rejected the accusations as mere confabulation
\nand claimed she is innocent. She says that she has been publicly harassed for
\ntwo years, and the Judicial Inspection representatives have verified her on 50 occasions
\nalready. She claims that her summoning to the Prosecutor’s Office on the very
\nday when discussions for the election of the chief prosecutor of the future
\nEuropean Public Prosecutor’s Office were being held in the European Parliament,
\nwas not a coincidence. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Laura Codruta
\nKovesi: I don’t think it’s a
\ncoincidence, I think I was summoned on purpose for this particular day, I think
\nit was on purpose that I was hindered today to give statements and clear things
\nand I also think it was on purpose that I was summoned in relation to one case only
\nto find out that I was being heard in a different case, without being summoned
\nfor it in a procedural and correct manner.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In a first file
\nopened by the special section for the investigation of magistrates Mrs. Kovesi
\nhas been accused of abuse of office, false testimony and bribe-taking. We
\nrecall that Mrs. Kovesi was dismissed last summer from the position of chief
\nprosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and the justice minister
\nTudorel Toader criticized her for having defied Parliament and for having
\ncontested the decisions of the Constitutional Court.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Minister Tudorel Toader is being contested<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This week the
\njustice minister Tudorel Toader has been faced with a simple motion but he has
\nbeen rescued by the lack of quorum, as the vote on the simple motion filed by
\nthe National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Party was rescheduled. On
\nWednesday the plenum of Parliament did not have the required quorum as the
\nSocial Democratic MPs decided not to participate in the vote, because they claim
\nthe motion includes many fabrications. Meanwhile, the Social Democratic leader
\nLiviu Dragnea explained that the situation of Tudorel Toader will be discussed
\nin the coalition, underlining the state of discontentment with this minister
\nwhich needs to be clarified with their junior partners in the coalition, the
\nAlliance of Liberals and Democrats – ALDE. An independent supported by ALDE,
\nTudorel Toader has been criticized both by the Social Democrats and the
\nDemocratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, which is backing the
\ngovernment in Parliament. According to the Liberal Party representatives, by not
\nensuring the quorum at the vote on the simple motion on justice, the ruling
\ncoalition is putting pressure on minister Toader to promote the legislative
\nchanges they badly require. Minister Toader is also being contested by part of
\nthe civil society. Teachers and students on Thursday protested to show
\nsolidarity with the magistrates’ protest, and condemned what they consider the
\npolitical subordination of the judiciary. Previously, actors from several
\ntheaters in Bucharest and from across Romania had protested against the
\nsubordination of justice. They are all discontented with the recent government
\ndecree no. 7 which changes the justice laws.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The 2019 state budget bill returns to
\nParliament<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The 2019 state
\nbudget bill is constitutional, the Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday,
\nfollowing the notification made by President Klaus Iohannis. Refusing to
\ncomment on the Constitutional Court’s decision, Klaus Iohannis announced he
\nwould return the bill back to Parliament, claiming this is a budget of national
\nshame.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Klaus Iohannis:
\nThe 2019 budget is based on a fantasy and there are no guarantees as to its
\nimplementation, as also pointed out by the European institutions and other
\ninternational institutions. This budget bill places in doubt the compliance
\nwith the international treaties Romania is part of, and, unfortunately, also
\nthe legislation in the field. This year’s budget is designed to serve, first and
\nforemost, the political interests of a small group.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nparliamentary opposition, represented mainly by the National Liberal Party and
\nthe Save Romania Union, shares the president’s views. In exchange, the
\ngoverning coalition labeled the return of the budget bill to Parliament as
\ndeceptive, political and irresponsible. It is obvious that president Iohannis
\nis only interested in winning another term and does things that endanger
\nRomania’s image and macroeconomic indicators. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
To say that the
\ncountry is facing an economic disaster while official figures say the opposite,
\nshows lack of responsibility and respect for truth. Blocking the government has
\nbecome his main concern, prime minister Viorica Dancila has said. The deputy speaker
\nof the Chamber of Deputies Florin Iordache, speaking on behalf of the Social
\nDemocrats, says they will send the bill to the president to sign as it was
\ninitially passed by Parliament, without making any further changes. According
\nto the Social Democratic Party, the 2019 budget bill ensures the necessary
\nresources for all important economic sectors. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Romania at the helm of the Council of the
\nEU for 2 months<\/p>\n
\n
\nRomania’s
\nPrime Minister on Friday presented the balance of Romania’s first two months at
\nthe helm of the Presidency of the Council of the EU. During the first two
\nmonths of its term in office, Romanian Presidency completed 67 files, half of
\nwhich have been already approved by ambassadors of EU member states. The
\nRomanian Presidency and the European Parliament also reached a preliminary
\nagreement on a set of temporary and limited measures to ensure basic road
\nfreight and road passenger connectivity in order to mitigate the most severe
\ndisruption in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a negotiated
\nagreement. During talks held in Brussels with EU chief negotiator for Brexit,
\nMichel Barnier, Prime Minister Dancila said this week that the Romanian
\nauthorities have prepared for any scenario, including a no<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of the week’s main stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":124454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40944],"tags":[29547,33066,29125,34591,29268,34587],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-124640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-week-in-review","tag-budget","tag-dancila","tag-iohannis","tag-klaus","tag-parliament","tag-viorica"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n