April 18, 2016 UPDATE

Dragoş Pîslaru sworn in as labour minister; Israeli citizens arrested over harassing Romanian prosecutor

Newsroom, 18.04.2016, 12:05

GOVERNMENT – Dragoş Nicolae Pîslaru was sworn in as labour minister in the presence of the Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis. He was proposed by the PM Dacian Ciolos to replace the outgoing minister Ana Costea. A former advisor on economic issues in the PMs cabinet, Pîslaru, 40, is a graduate of the international economy department of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies and holds an MA degree in international relations obtained at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Ana Costea resigned last week following discontent expressed by the trade unions over the draft emergency ordinance on state employees salaries. The PM Cioloş announced the government would continue talks with the social partners about the salaries of state employees with a view to drafting a new law. This is the first resignation of a minister from the technocratic government invested in Romania last November.

JUDICIARY – The Bucharest Court Monday upheld the prosecutors request to extend the temporary arrest warrants issued for two Israeli citizens, employed by a security company from Israel, who are accused of harassing the chief prosecutor of the Romanian Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi. Weiner Ron and Geclowicz David were arrested on April 3 for 30 days following a ruling of the Bucharest Court. The two are also accused, among others, of setting up an organized crime group and of illegally accessing an IT system. According to prosecutors, in March they made several threatening phone calls and conducted phishing attacks with a view to obtaining information from the e-mail accounts of the Romanian chief prosecutors relatives.

DIPLOMACY – Spains Justice Minister, Rafael Catala, will be in Romania on Tuesday and Wednesday, Spains Embassy in Bucharest has announced. During the visit, the Spanish official will have talks with the Romanian Foreign Minister, Lazăr Comănescu, with his counterpart, Raluca Prună, and with the head prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruţa Kovesi. The meetings confirm and reinforce the close bilateral ties and the judicial cooperation between the two states. Around one million Romanians make up the largest foreign community in Spain.

PARLIAMENT – The Parliament of Romania will propose that Romanias sustainable development strategy, dating back to 2008, should be reviewed and turned from a government resolution into a law. The announcement was made by the head of the Foreign Policy Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, László Borbély, who Monday chaired an international roundtable of Central and Eastern European parliaments focusing on sustainable development. The roundtable was organised by the Romanian Chamber of Deputies and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an international body that brings together the parliaments of 162 countries. The Parliament of Romania celebrated on this occasion 125 years since it joined that body.

POLL – Nearly 90% of the Romanians do not agree with immigrants being hosted in their town or village, according to a poll made public in Bucharest. This is a significant higher rate than in September 2015, when 67% of the interviewees gave that answer. More than 80% also disagree to refugees settling in Romania, with only 10% accepting this option. The poll was conducted by INSCOP between March 21 and 28, and commissioned by the daily “Adevărul. The maximum margin of error is 3%.

STATISTICS – The number of employees in Romania last year exceeded 6 million, up over 200,000 as compared to 2014, according to data made public by the National Statistics Institute (INS). Last year the number of people employed in agriculture dropped by over a quarter of a million, according to the same source, while the number of employees in public administration went up by 50,000 and in education by over 40,000. The unemployment rate was 6.8%, INS also said.