February 13, 2017
Romanian President plans referendum, US troops deploy to Romania
Bogdan Matei, 13.02.2017, 14:21
REFERENDUM — The Parliament in Bucharest is scheduled today to meet for deciding whether or not to endorse President Klaus Iohannis initiative to run a referendum on the fight against corruption. Expert committees have already met with approval this initiative, which the head of state proposed after the government attempted to operate changes in the criminal code. On January 24, the President initiated the procedure for referendum, and Parliament had 20 days to endorse it, without the decision being binding.
JUDICIARY — Romanian interim Justice Minister Ana Birchall has her first meeting today with representatives of the Higher Defense Council, the Anti-Corruption Directorate and the department fighting organized crime, seeking solutions in the fight against corruption. The position of justice minister was vacated last week by Florin Iordache, in the aftermath of widespread public outrage at proposed changes to the criminal code. In spite of the fact that the executive order operating the changes has been withdrawn, protests continued on Sunday in Bucharest for the 13th day, as well as in other cities. Stay tuned for more after the news.
NATO — 500 US troops are deploying to the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase in south eastern Romania. They are arriving from Poland, and bring the necessary equipment for running military exercises with the Romanian military. They are part of the 3rd Armored Brigade, headquartered in Fort Carson, Colorado. This move is meant to strengthen NATOs eastern flank, and is part of Atlantic Resolve, a series of multinational military exercises.
RADIO – Today is World Radio Day, celebrating the most accessible means of information, education and entertainment. This celebration was introduced by UNESCO in 2011 upon Spains proposal in order to draw attention to this medium. This year, the central event in celebration of this day takes place in Shanghai, China. In Romania, the first radio broadcast went on the air on 1 November, 1928.
TENNIS — Romanian tennis star Simona Halep this week held on to her position as fourth in the world. According to the WTA, Romania has three other players in the top 100 standings, Irina Begu, 28th seeded, Monica Niculescu, 39th seeded, and Sorana Carstea, 62nd seeded. Late last week, Romanias Fed Cup team, which did not include Simona Halep, sidelined by an injury, was defeated by Belgium in Bucharest 3-1. The Fed Cup is the womens version of the Davis Cup.
FUNDS– Romania has lost a total of 3.2 billion Euro in European funds for 2007-2013, according to official data published by Bucharest. The highest amounts were lost through the Transportation Sector Operational Program, 973 million Euro, followed by the environmental program, with 946 million lost, and the human resources program, over 850 million. The authorities have increased the rate of absorption of European funds for the 2007-2013 period, bringing the total to 18.8 billion Euro.
