November 23, 2015 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 23.11.2015, 12:15

On Monday, Romania’s President Klaus
Iohannis and Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos had their first working meeting after
the swearing-in of the new government. According to the Presidential
Administration, the two agreed that next year’s state budget should be based on
a long-term vision for Romania’s development. The 2016 budget was also the
topic on the Romanian Government’s agenda on Monday. Prime Minister Ciolos has
stated that he wishes the budget to pass in Parliament in the first half of
December. Till then, the new ministers will have to analyze the projects left
pending by the former cabinet and to decide which to integrate into the new
bill.

Romania will help
find a rule of law response to terrorism, alongside the other EU member
countries, said on Monday the Romanian Justice Minister, Raluca Pruna. She also
said that the EU states should cooperate better and prevent radicalization,
especially in the penitentiary system. The statement was made against the
background of her participation last week, alongside the Interior Minister
Petre Toba, in the extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels,
held after the attacks in Paris. The main topics on the summit’s agenda were
the Passenger Name Record, the rules and regulations regarding arms and
ammunition, tightening control on the EU’s external borders, the issue of
terrorism funding and rule of law responses to terrorism and violent extremism.

Belgian authorities are still on high alert for fear of potential
terrorist attacks. On Monday, the third day of level 4 terror alert, the metro
and most public transportation were not operational, while railway stations and
airports were guarded by heavily armed police and army units. The streets were
patrolled by military and police vehicles, and cinema halls, museums, shops,
restaurants and cafes remained closed. The Belgian authorities have announced they’ve arrested 21 people in Brussels and Liege, in a wide ranging anti-terror
operation. Salah Abdeslam, however, a key suspect in the November 13th
attacks in Paris, is not among them.

The French
President Francois Hollande and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron,
promised on Monday, after a meeting in Paris, to intensify their countries’
fight against the so-called Islamic State, ten days after the terror attacks
that left 130 dead in Paris. Hollande said that the military goal in Syria and
Iraq was to cause the highest amount of damage possible to the terror group,
confirming that France would step up its air raids against extremists. In turn,
PM Cameron voiced his firm support for France’s action and said that the
British air force had to also launch strikes against Islamic State in Syria. In another move, also on Monday,
the fighters on the French Charles de
Gaulle aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean started operations against areas
controlled by Islamic State groups in
Iraq and Syria.

The former mayor of
Bucharest, Sorin Oprescu, went on trial on Monday for bribe taking, money laundering and abuse of office. According
to the Anti-Corruption Directorate, between 2013 and 2015 Oprescu joined a
local administration ring that rigged public acquisition procedures in favor of
companies providing bribes and kickbacks. The former official was detained in
early September and has been under house arrest since release. Over the last
few months, several officials from Bucharest City Hall have been jailed for
corruption. Sorin Oprescu, a former member of the Social Democratic Party, became mayor in 2008, and was re-elected
as an independent in 2012.

The great tenor
Jose Carreras is expected to arrive in Bucharest on Tuesday, two days before
the concert he will give in Romania’s capital, accompanied by the
‘George Enescu’ Philharmonic of Bucharest. The concert in Bucharest is part of
Jose Carreras’ goodbye tour.

The Romanian – Dutch tennis
pair made up of Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer emerged as winner of the ATP World Tour doubles finals. On Sunday, the two defeated in two sets the Romanian-Indian pair Florin
Mergea and Rohan Bopanna. It was for the first time that Romania had two players in the competition,
with seven million dollars in prize money, which featured the top eight players
of 2015, as well as the eight best male double teams.