March 8, 2017 UPDATE

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will attend the European Council meeting in Brussels, which will focus on plans to re-launch the EU after Brexit/ The Atlantic Resolve and Poseidon 2017 multinational military exercises continue in Romania

Leyla Cheamil, 08.03.2017, 19:55

EUROPEAN COUNCIL – A “multi-speed Europe as a solution to give fresh impetus to the European project after Brexit will be the focus of talks at the European Council meeting due on Thursday and Friday in Brussels, where Romania will be represented by President Klaus Iohannis. The idea, backed by Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, is also strongly supported by France and Germany, which were joined on Monday in Versailles by Italy and Spain. Romania will oppose this plan, as the President pointed out once again on Tuesday in Bucharest. Other countries are also concerned with the prospect of becoming second-level member states. These include the members of the Visegrad Group (Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia), who have already opposed Brussels policy on migration.

PARLIAMENT – The political declaration adopted on Wednesday by the Romanian Parliament, in which judgements by the Romanian President, the Higher Council of Magistracy and representatives of the Public Ministry are deemed as “unconstitutional and unacceptable, can be considered a form of pressure, a communiqué issued by the Presidential Administration shows. According to the same source, this declaration comes as a disquieting signal as to Parliaments vision of the way in which it relates to the other state authorities and institutions, as well as to civil society. On Wednesday, Parliament adopted a declaration aimed to strengthen the role played by this institution and which also denounces interference by the Higher Council of Magistracy and of the force institutions with the governmental and legislative activity. The draft was initiated by the Senate Speaker, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, after the Constitutional Court rejected in February the notifications made by the Higher Council of Magistracy and President Klaus Iohannis, on the controversial emergency decree no.13, through which the Government tried to amend the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. The MPs in the opposition did not agree with the initiative, which they deemed inappropriate.

MILITARY DRILLS – The Atlantic Resolve and Poseidon 2017 multinational military exercises continued on Wednesday at the “Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase in south-eastern Romania and in the Black Sea. For the first time, 8 American helicopters are taking part in the drills. They were deployed from several European countries, as part of the US commitment to strengthen the eastern flank of NATO. This is the first such unit deployed to Eastern Europe, as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, which brings together over 2,200 troops, 86 helicopters and over 700 pieces of military equipment sent from several American ports to Germany, Latvia and Romania. Also on Wednesday, a hydrographical survey vessel, Căpitan comandor Alexandru Cătuneanu conducted research training at sea.

UNIFIED PAY LAW – Representatives of the Romanian teaching staff and auxiliary educational personnel are invited at the Labour Ministry on Thursday for talks on the unified pay law. The line minister, Lia Olguta Vasilescu, has said the law will be adopted by July 1, the pay rises will be made gradually until 2021 and the first raises will take effect as of January 1, 2018. The minister made the clarifications after the talks she held on Tuesday with trade unions in the healthcare system. Trade unionists in healthcare have said the unified pay law is a good one and the raises to be applied next year for the largest part of the medical personnel will stand at 60%, in some cases.

SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS – The former prime minister of Romania, MP Victor Ponta, on Wednesday made public his decision to tender his undated resignation from the Social Democratic Party, and leaving it to the party president Liviu Dragnea to make a decision in this respect. Ponta added that he and Dragnea can no longer work together. In response, Dragnea has said he does not want the former Prime Minister to leave the party, adding that he will never sign his resignation. The declarations come after many speculations in the media regarding the cold relations between the two leading Social Democrats. In 2015, Ponta became the first PM in office to be subject to criminal investigations for corruption offences, and in the same year he stepped down as head of the party and of the government, amid massive street protests. Dragnea took over the presidency of the Social Democratic Party. In 2016, Dragnea himself received a suspended 2-year prison sentence, for attempted election fraud, and is currently on trial in a separate corruption case.

TRAVEL SHOW – 40 tour-operators from Romania are taking part until Sunday in the Berlin Travel Trade Show, the largest such fair in the world. According to a news release issued by the Romanian Tourism Ministry, destinations from around the country will be presented. Romanias stand will also host egg painting demonstrations, and folk costume design and traditional jewellery workshops. During a Romanian-themed evening, traditional Romanian music, dance and cuisine will be introduced to visitors. The Tourism Minister, Mircea-Titus Dobre, is taking part today, on the first day of the trade show, in the Silk Road Ministers Meeting, an event organised by the World Tourism Organisation. Tomorrow, the Romanian official will have meetings with his counterparts from Poland, Serbia, and Ukraine, and then he will give an address at the Danube Salon, a conference devoted to joint projects by Danube riparian countries in the field of tourism. Romania has been taking part in this trade show since 1970.

INTL WOMENS DAY – The International Womens Day was celebrated on March 8, in many countries. In Romania, where according to the latest data made public by the National Statistics Institute more than 10 million women live, women were celebrated in a series of debates, exhibitions, concerts, book launches and other events. The European Parliament hosted a meeting of the Committee on Womens Rights and Gender Equality, with the theme Womens Economic Empowerment: Lets Act Together! the International Womens Day was first marked in the early 20th Century, after an organisation sponsored a meeting on womens rights in New York.(Translated by AM Popescu and D. Vijeu)