December 22, 2016 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 22.12.2016, 12:30
FESTIVITIES – Events aimed at commemorating the heroes of the 1989 anti-Communist uprising continued in Bucharest on Thursday. A solemn session was held at the Parliament building while Radio Romania, one of the “hot spots of the revolution, hosted a military and religious ceremony. 27 years ago the uprising started in Timisoara, in the west, and later extended to the whole of Romania culminating on December 22 in Bucharest with the protesters storming the headquarters of the central committee of the Communist party. The dictatorial couple managed to flee, to be later apprehended and killed on Christmas day after a superficial trial. More than 1,000 people died and almost 3,400 were wounded in the fighting that occurred in those days in Romania, which is the only country in the eastern bloc where the change of regime was made by force and the dictators killed.
APPROVAL Romanian senators and deputies on Thursday approved the numeric and nominal components of the permanent commissions. Social Democrats will be holding the chairmanship of most of them both in the Chamber and the Senate. On Wednesday, the co-president of ALDE Calin Popescu Tariceanu and PSD leader Liviu Dragnea were elected chairs of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies respectively.
ANNOUNCEMENT Romanian president Klaus Iohannis is expected to announce the countrys new Prime Minister after Christmas. Iohannis made known this decision at the end of the talks he had on Wednesday and Thursday with representatives of the political parties that made it to Parliament after the legislative election on December 11th. On Thursday, Iohannis received the representatives of the Peoples Movement Party and the group of the national minorities. On Wednesday, the president held talks with representatives of the Social Democrats (PSD), the Alliance of the Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), the National Liberal Party (PNL), the Save Romania Union (USR) and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. PSD and ALDE who signed a governing protocol and together boast 54% of the Parliament seats proposed the former Minister of Development, Social-Democrat Sevil Shhaideh, for the position of Prime Minister. The PMP has proposed Eugen Tomac but PNL and USR said they would not back a government formed around PSD. UDMR signed an agreement of cooperation in Parliament with the PSD-ALDE coalition.
SECURITY Over 22 thousand policemen, firefighters and gendarmes will be deployed daily all over Romania during the winter holidays, the Interior Ministry in Bucharest announced on Thursday. According to the same sources, the border police will be functioning at full capacity to reduce lines at the border. An additional 200 strong gendarme contingent is to be deployed to the mountainous resorts to assist the tourists.
MEDALS – Romanian president Klaus
Iohannis on Thursday signed the decrees under which the German ambassador to
Bucharest, Werner-Hans Lauk and US professor Keith Hitchins have been awarded
decorations. According to the presidential administration, the German ambassador
has received the ‘Star of Romania’ national order in rank of commander for his
contribution to the constant development of the economic, political, social and
cultural relations between the two states. At the same time in token of
appreciation for his contribution to the promotion of the Romanian language and
history as well as for his interest in the Romanian civilization the Romanian
president has awarded the national order ‘Of Merit’ in rank of high officer to
professor Hitchins with the University of Illinois. The medals have been given
upon recommendation from the Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu.
