December 24, 2017 UPDATE

PM Tudose agrees to meet representatives of 43 NGOs active in the ongoing street protests

Newsroom, 24.12.2017, 19:15

TALKS — The Prime Minister of Romania, Mihai Tudose, accepted to meet the representatives of 43 NGOs active in the street protests initiated against the planned changes in the justice laws and the criminal codes. In a Facebook post, Tudose voiced his openness to dialogue and suggested that the meeting took place on December 27. The 43 organisations sent an open letter to the Prime Minister, expressing their willingness to contribute to dialogue, consultation and solutions, in full compliance with the rule of law, fundamental human rights and the democratic principles. New street protests were held on Saturday night in Bucharest and other Romanian cities, against the bills designed to amend the justice laws. On Friday, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland sent a letter to the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, urging him to request an opinion from the Venice Commission on the legislative reform already endorsed by Parliament.

CHRISTMAS — Orthodox believers celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25th, one of the greatest feast days of the Christian world. “The celebration of Nativity is a call for compassion and solidarity with those who need our support. I wish you a happy Christmas, wherever you are,” reads a message from the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis.

ROYAL HOUSE — This is the first Christmas without King Michael, but the Royal House is celebrating the Nativity and pays tribute to the life and achievements of the 4th monarch of the Romanian state, the Custodian of the Crown, H.M. Margareta wrote in a message to the nation, as Romania’s former sovereign used to send every Christmas Eve. She noted the solidarity of the Romanian people during the King’s funeral 2 weeks ago, and recalled the care and attention with which every year King Michael would write his Christmas address, which during the exile years was his only form of communication with the Romanians. Michael I died on December 5, in Switzerland, aged 96, and was buried on December 16, in Curtea de Arges, southern Romania.

HOLIDAYS — Thousands of Romanians will be spending their holidays in mountain resorts. At the top of the travel destinations these days are the resorts in the Prahova Valley region in the south of Romania, such as Predeal, Sinaia and Buşteni, where occupancy rates are around 80%. In Bâlea Lac, in Făgăraş Mountains, the new Ice Hotel, the only one of its kind in Romania, has opened today. Most of the tourists having booked a room here come from abroad. Music is the chosen theme of this 13th ice hotel built at over 2,000 metres in Făgăraş Mountains. Each of the 15 rooms has been decorated with snow and ice sculptures representing Romanian and international music stars.

POLICE — In Romania, nearly 23,000 police, gendarmes and fire fighters are working every day throughout the Christmas holiday. Special attention will be paid to preventing public order incidents, fighting anti-social conduct, streamlining road traffic and check point transit, as well as to the management of emergency situations. Police workers and gendarmes will be present especially in crowded places like fairs, train stations, tourist resorts, as well as over 16,400 churches, where special religious services will be held. Bulgarian-speaking Romanian policemen will also be part of joint patrols with their counterparts from the neighbouring Bulgaria, in the mountain resort of Bansko, until next March, providing support and assistance to the Bulgarian police. This is the 8th winter season when such joint missions are organised in Bulgaria.

TENNIS — The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number 1 in the world, plays today against the Czech Karolina Pliskova, no 4 WTA, in the Intercontinental World Tennis Championship finals in Thailand. On Saturday in the quarter-final, Halep defeated Britain’s Johanna Konta, 2-0, while Pliskova outplayed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, no 7 WTA. Ostapenko and Konta are playing on Sunday for the 3rd place in the competition.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)