February 29, 2016
An update on domestic and international news
Newsroom, 29.02.2016, 12:00
The Romanian authorities are carrying on with the measures meant to reform the judiciary and have set as their main priority to observe the recommendations made in the European Commission latest report included in the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification, said Monday, in Bucharest the Romania justice minister, Raluca Prună, after meeting with the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Věra Jourová. The Romanian official added that Romania was ready to assume its own assessment within internal mechanisms, which mainly consist in the strategy for the development of the legal system as well as in the new National Anti-Corruption Strategy. Previously the European Commissioner had met with the Romanian PM Dacian Cioloş. The two officials talked about cooperation with the European Commission in the field of justice, about the anti-corruption fight, the lifting of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification as well as about the consumer protection policy, gender equality, the social inclusion of the Roma population and the proposal of setting up at EU level the position of European Prosecutor General.
An IMF mission is expected in Bucharest between March 2nd and 15th, for the annual assessment of the Romanian economy. The mission, led by the new head of the IMF mission for Romania, Reza Baqir, will meet with Romanian high officials, with representatives of the political parties, of trade unions, business associations, of the academic environment and the banking system. The assessment of the economy is, according to Article IV of the IMF Statute, a compulsory monitoring exercise for all member states. After the examination of the national situation, general recommendations are made related to monetary, financial and economic policies to be acted upon so as to ensure stability and a positive development of the economy. At present, Romania has no running agreement with the IMF.
The former deputy governor of the National Bank of Romania, Cristian Popa, has been appointed Vice-President and member of the Management Committee of the European Investment Bank. He will take office on March 1. The EIB is the financial institution of the EU and the Bank’s Board of Governors consists of 28 European Union Finance Ministers. The bank grants loans mainly to the EU states at very advantageous interest rates for investments in such domains as transport, communications, industry, agriculture, energy, education, healthcare and SMEs. The Romanian Vice-President coordinates the funding activities in Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Macedonia and the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
The Hungarian film “Son of Saul” featuring the Romanian actor Levente Molnár has won the Oscar Award for best foreign language film at the 88th Academy Awards Gala hosted by Los Angeles. The debut feature film by young Hungarian director László Nemes presents two days in the life of a Jewish Hungarian prisoner forced by the Nazis to work in the gas chambers at Auschwitz. The big winner was the film “The Revenant” that got three awards: for “best cinematography” (Emmanuel Lubezki), “best director” (Alejandro Iñárritu) and “best actor in a leading role” (Leonardo DiCaprio). “Spotlight” by Tom McCarthy received the Oscar for “best picture” and “best writing (original screenplay)”. Brie Larson won the Oscar for best actress in a leading role, for her part in the film “Room” by Lenny Abrahamson. The Mexican Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu who got the Oscar for best director for his film “The Revenant” also won an Oscar Award in 2015 for his film “Birdman”.
One of the children hospitalized at the “Marie Curie” hospital in Bucharest with the hemolytic uremic syndrome is still in intensive care, but his condition is stable, sources with the healthcare ministry report. The cause of infection is the E.coli bacteria which has generated an epidemic in Arges county, in the south, since the beginning of February. In Arges county more than 50 children are still in hospital with serious digestive infections. The authorities have not yet identified the source of infection. (translation by Lacramioara Simion)
