16 April, 2015
News and current affairs from Romania
Roxana Vasile, 16.04.2015, 11:59
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis called to consultation the political parties and groups with parliamentary representation, to discuss election issues, including the regulations necessary to ensure Romanians abroad can fully exercise their right to vote. On the agenda is also the parliamentary procedure for approving criminal investigations of standing members, along with possible ensuing detention, arrest and searches. Iohannis has repeatedly criticized the attitude of MPs when they recently rejected several requests for such investigations filed by anti-corruption prosecutors. This is the third round of consultation between the presidency and Parliament since Iohannis took over the executive in December. In the first round, Iohannis obtained a consensus for earmarking 2% of the GDP for defense starting in 2017, among other legislative priorities.
The Judicial Committee of the European Parliament debates today the request filed by the Romanian authorities to lift immunity for Romanian EuroMP Dan Nica, allowing him to be investigated for standing charges of abuse of office, bribe taking, influence peddling and money laundering, violations dating back to when he was minister of communications. The committee will submit a draft report to Parliament, which will vote in plenary session on the matter of immunity. Dan Nica, from the Social Democratic Party, is being investigated as part of a much larger case of preferential granting of IT licenses, alongside eight more ministers from all sides of the political spectrum.
Around 2,200 troops with full battle gear and equipment from Romania, the UK, the Republic of Moldova and the United States take part in south east Romania in the Wind Spring 2015 multinational military exercise. They are practicing operational planning and live fire and are tasked with solving complex tactical situation. The exercise is meant to bolster interoperability between NATO member countries at Alliance standards and to test operational capability for EU and NATO soldiers.
Romanian gymnasts Diana Bulimar and Laura Jurca on Wednesday qualified for the all-round event finals of the European Artistic Gymnastics Championship in Montpellier, France. Andreea Munteanu has got through to the competition’s beam and floor finals. The all-round event will be held on Friday, while the individual event finals are scheduled on Saturday and Wednesday. At the end of the Montpellier competition, the European Gymnastics Union president Georges Guelzec will hand over the Union’s flag to the next host city of the European Championships 2017, the Romanian capital city Bucharest.
Almost 2,000 delegates from across the world, government officials and experts, including Romania, take part today in The Hague in the Global Conference for Cybersecurity. They are discussing safe and free circulation of information on the Internet. Industry representatives from major companies, such as Google and Microsoft, along with legal experts across the world are debating international law applicable to the virtual environment in the face of challenges such as cybercrime. Cybersafety will also be on the agenda of the Dutch presidency of the European Union, in effect the first half of next year. This year, Holland celebrated 25 years of connection to the Internet, the second country in the world after the US to do so. In Romania, the first Internet connections were implemented in schools 22 years ago.
Israel commemorates Yad Vashem, Holocaust day, paying tribute to the 6 million Jewish victims of the Nazi regime and the courage of gentiles who protected Jews at the risk of their won lives. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said that the State of Israel is not compensation for the Holocaust, but a right. Premier Netanyahu waned that Iran, in its attempt to dominate the region, wants to wipe Israel off the map, and once again attacked in strong terms the recent nuclear accord between Iran and several major powers, pointing out that this means the lessons of the Holocaust have not been learned. The EU has issued on this occasion a strongly worded message against anti-Semitism, intolerance, prejudice and racial discrimination.
