June 13, 2016 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 13.06.2016, 12:30
INQUIRY Romanias Higher Cassation and Justice Court on Monday confirmed the General Prosecutors ruling to commence penal prosecution in the Romanian Revolution File, which investigates the events that led to the collapse of the communist regime in December 1989. In April, Bogdan Licu, then interim prosecutor general, announced the reopening of an investigation into the case because the 2015 ruling by the military prosecutors to close the case was ungrounded and illegal, being based on incomplete investigation with essential documents ignored. We recall that the European Court of Human Rights has ruled against Romania, which has been ordered to pay compensations to the relatives of those who were shot dead during the anti-communist uprising of 1989. According to the court, the importance of this case for the Romanian society should have motivated the authorities to solve the case urgently. According to official statistics, 1,100 people were killed and about 3,000 wounded in the anti-communist uprising of 1989.
VISIT As of Monday Italian president Sergio Mattarella is paying a two-day formal visit to Bucharest at the invitation of his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis. High on the talks agenda are ways of developing bilateral relations in the political, economic and cultural fields and also other issues, such as migration and control at the EUs exterior borders. On Tuesday in Bucharest Mattarella is expected to attend an economic forum entitled “Italian Investment in Romania – a European Route into the Global Economy. We recall that Italy is Romanias second biggest economic partner with trade exchanges of 13 billion euros. In another development president Iohannis on Monday received in Bucharest the president of Parliament in the Republic of Moldova (an ex-soviet Romanian-speaking country) Adrian Candu. On this occasion president Iohannis reiterated Bucharests staunch support for the Republic of Moldovas European progress.
SUPPORT The North Atlantic Alliance is together with Romania and appreciates the fact that the country is hosting the anti-missile shield in Deveselu, Douglas Lute, the US Permanent Representative to NATO said on Monday. Lute added that if any other country threatened the base in Deveselu or the sovereignty of Romania, NATO would certainly resort to defence measures. The US official went on to say that there are no explicit threats at Romanias security at present. Lutes statement came after Russian leader Vladimir Putin said late last month that Romania could find itself in the range of the Russian missiles, as the country hosts elements of the US anti-missile shield. The facilities in Deveselu, southern Romania, which include a state-of-the-art radar, ballistic interceptors and high-tech communication equipment were inaugurated on May 12th.
TALKS Romanias Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu said in Vienna on Monday that Bucharest could contribute to a strengthened Schengen zone. During the discussions he had with his Austrian counterpart, Sebastian Kurz, other issues were tackled, such as bilateral relations, the situation of the Romanian community in Austria as well as topical issues on the European agenda, like the latest developments in the EUs eastern vicinity and the refugee crisis. The meeting between the two officials was occasioned by the ministerial summit marking 20 years since the Treaty on the Comprehensive Banning of Nuclear Tests. Under the treaty signatories are banned from conducting any nuclear tests and shall take all the measures needed to prevent and ban such activities on their territories. Romania signed the treaty in 1996 and ratified it in 1999.
