June 24, 2017 UPDATE

Consultations of parliamentary parties in Romania/ President Klaus Iohannis attended Brussels summit/ Health Ministry purchases vaccines for Immunization Program

Newsroom, 24.06.2017, 18:46

Political consultations — In Romania, parliamentary parties are finalizing their strategy ahead of the consultations they will have Monday with President Klaus Iohannis on the formation of a new government. The leftist government led by Sorin Grindeanu was removed following a no confidence motion filed by the very coalition that supported it after the December 2016 elections. The coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats claims they still hold the parliamentary majority and that Monday they will come up with a new proposal for prime minister. The center- right opposition made up of the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the People’s Movement Party rule out any collaboration with the Social Democrats while the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania have not made a decision yet.

Iohannis in Brussels — The future Romanian government will have to obtain an agreement for the relocation of the European Medicines Agency from Great Britain to Romania after Brexit. Romania is running in this relocation competition alongside Sweden, France, Denmark, Hungary and Bulgaria, states that have already submitted offers, said President Klaus Iohannis at the end of the European Council summit in Brussels. The Romanian president also said the that future executive will have to boost the defense industry because it will be able to access resources made available through the European Defence Fund. President Iohannis asked the participants in the European Council meeting that the new internal security instruments should be unitarily applied at EU level, without differences between the Schengen states and countries like Romania, that are not members but apply the Schengen regulations to a large extent. The Schengen issue was also approached during the talks Klaus Iohannis held with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron who has shown openness as regards Romania’s prospects of joining the Schengen space. According to Klaus Iohannis Romania is not likely to report significant progress in this regard before the elections in Germany and the appointment of a new government in the Netherlands. As regards the situation of Romanians in the UK after Brexit, Klaus Iohannis said the statements of the British PM, Theresa May, regarding the European residents’ staying in the UK, were promising, but that he expected that concrete documents should be passed in this regard.

Immunization — Vaccine stocks included in the National Immunization Program are available all over Romania, the Health Ministry officials announced on Saturday in Bucharest. The ministry announced they resorted to an emergency procedure of purchasing the entire amount of vaccines necessary for the National Immunization Program, paying special attention to the anti-measles vaccines. Romania continues to face a measles epidemic which so far has killed 30 children, according to the National Center for Control and Monitoring of Transmittable Diseases. The total number of confirmed cases reached almost 7,300.

The Romanian Blouse — Each year on June 24 the world marks the Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse, an iconic piece of the Romanian national traditional costume and an international symbol of Romanian culture. On January 21, 2013 the online community entitled “La Blouse Roumaine” proposed that June 24 should become the Romanian Blouse Day. On the same year, on June 24, which in the Christian calendar marks Sanziene (Midsummer) or St John’s day, the on-line community “La Blouse Roumaine” organized the first Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse, which has become a global event marked in more than 50 countries. Traditional exhibitions and fairs focusing on the Romanian Blouse were held Saturday in Romania as well as in Berlin, Budapest, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome and Washington.

Islamic State in Iraq — The UN estimates that almost 150 thousand civilians could still be trapped in the last enclave of the Islamic State terrorist group in the Iraqi city of Mosul. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande, said these civilians are running extreme risks and underscored that it is likely that tens of thousands of civilians are used as human shields in the conflict. The UN representative has added that hundreds of civilians have so far been killed by the Islamic State fighters. (translation by Lacramioara Simion)