August 23, 2018 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

România Internațional, 23.08.2018, 19:01

COMMEMORATION – On Thursday, Romania celebrated the day
commemorating the victims of fascism and communism. On the occasion, President
Klaus Iohannis said that people should never forget these victims, and that the
present generation has to actively fight for democracy and the rule of law. The
president recalled that recently there have not been any regimes more
bloody than fascist and communist dictatorships, which had a major impact on
the development of states in Central and Eastern Europe, destroying the lives
of millions of people. Forgetting these victims, the president said, would be
an affront to history and humanity. The day of August 23rd is also the day when
the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact was signed.

MIGRATION – The annual net migration of EU
citizens to Great Britain dropped in March this year to the lowest level since
2012, with Romanians and Bulgarians accounting for half of the total number,
according to data made public on Thursday by the British Office for National
Statistics. The figures show that, for the first time in the past 10 years, the
number of EU citizens leaving Great Britain is higher than that of people going
to that country. In all, net migration has reached 271,000 people, by 28,000
more than in the previous year, due to a record migration of citizens from
outside the EU. The number of EU citizens migrating to Great Britain has
dropped significantly after the British voted for the country’s separation from
the EU, in June 2016. Employers’ associations are worried that companies will
find it difficult to hire the personnel they need.

BUCHAREST – The Romanian Prime Minister
Viorica Dancila has accused what she termed as an assault against state
institutions and an attempt to divide the country and has called on the Cabinet
members to avoid the spiral of conflict. This is the first reaction of the head
of the Executive since the violent events of August 10, during the
anti-Government protest of the Diaspora. Hundreds of people, mostly
participants in the protest, but also gendarmes, needed medical care. Hundreds
of complaints have been filed at the Prosecutor’s Office in relation to the way
in which security forces reacted during the meeting. The right-wing opposition
has called for the resignation of the Interior Minister Carmen Dan, who, they
say, is politically responsible for the disproportionate reaction of the
gendarmes. In turn, the Social Democratic Party has stated that the whole thing
was an attempt to topple the country’s legitimate government by force.

AMCHAM – The American Chamber of Commerce in
Romania, AmCham, has called on Romanian decision-makers and holders of public
offices to show responsibility both in action and in statement and to stop
discriminating against certain categories of Romanians depending on their
employers. On behalf of the business community it represents, approximately 430
American, Romanian and international companies, AmCham states in a communiqué that
for 25 years it has mediated the dialogue between Romanian authorities and
companies that have helped develop the Romanian economy by means of investments
worth more than 22 billion dollars and have created some 250,000 jobs. The
private sector put Romania on the global map of investments and it’s the most important
contributor to the state budget, the communiqué also reads. We recall that the
president of the ruling Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, has stated on a
TV station that there are multinationals that finance protests in Romania and
some companies have interests that run counter to the interest of the Romanian
state.

ARMY PROGRAM -
On Thursday, the Romanian Government approved a new army equipping program,
titled ‘Mobile anti-ship missile system’. According to the Executive, the
supply contract, which will be multi-annual and will cover the 2018-2022
period, is worth 137 million Euros. The documents approved by the Romanian
Government on Thursday include a simple ordinance promoted by the Ministry of
Regional Development and Public Administration, under which local public
authorities are helped to finalize projects that benefit from European funding.
It’s a support mechanism that allows local administration to access loans from
revenues from privatizations, registered with the Treasury, up to a maximum of
170 million Euros. Also, the Government approved an ordinance that completes
several provisions in the field of education.

DIPLOMACY – The
Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu received on Thursday the Ambassador
of the United Kingdom Andrew Noble. According to a communiqué issued by the
Foreign Ministry, the two officials discussed the excellent relations between
Romania and the United Kingdom and cooperation prospects. Also, they agreed
that the strategic partnership between the two countries should be strengthened,
by adapting it better to the current European and bilateral realities, including
Romania’s taking over the presidency of the Council of the EU on January 1st,
2019.

WEST NILE VIRUS – The number of people infected by the West Nile virus, which is
transmitted by mosquitoes, has doubled in the past two weeks, according to the
National Centre of Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control. The cases
reported include 56 cases of meningitis or meningoencephalitis and also 6
deaths caused by the virus. Most cases were reported in the counties of Dolj,
Iasi and in Bucharest. Doctors warn that the infection is not transmitted from
humans to humans, only through the bites of infected mosquitoes. The Health
Ministry has announced that, in order to eliminate the risk of transmission
through transfusion, safety measures have been put in place in all transfusion
centers in the country. Also, local
authorities have been urged to take carry out disinfection in order to prevent
the spread of the virus.

ATTACK
– The Islamic State terrorist organization has claimed the attack on Thursday
in Trappes, in the western suburbs of Paris. A man stabbed to death his mother
and sister and seriously injured another person, before being apprehended by
security forces. According to the police, some 50 people from the area have
been recruited to fight in Iraq and Syria. The town, which has 30,000
inhabitants, is one on the list of 30 areas that need additional police forces
and logistics.