December 8, 2018
Yellow Vest protests in Paris, Permanent Mission of Romania to the UN held conference in NY
Newsroom, 08.12.2018, 14:24
MAE – The Romanian Foreign Ministry informed the Romanian citizens who transit, are in Paris or want to travel there that France’s capital will see Saturday new protests by the ‘yellow vests’. Consequently the local authorities decided to close museums and theaters and the Eiffel Tower as a preventive measure. The Foreign Ministry recommended the Romanian citizens to avoid the central areas of Paris and to get informed about the evolution of the protests. Also the Romanian Foreign Ministry informed the Romanian citizens who are in Belgium that Brussels will see a manifestation today that might result in traffic jams and the closure of roads and tunnels.
Paris — Hundreds of protesters were arrested Saturday morning in Paris where the Police and Gendarmerie have taken exceptional security measures. As many as 90 thousand riot police were mobilized all across France so as to prevent potential violence and destructions similar to those that happened last Saturday in Paris. Near Champs Elysee, the riot police fired tear gas against the yellow vests, who came in great numbers to call for Emmanuel Macron’s resignation. Following instigation launched on the social networks that calls people to storm the Elysee Palace, the riot police set up cordons in all sensitive areas in downtown Paris as well as in train stations and on the outskirts. The PM Edouard Philippe thanked all those who made an appeal for calm, for the French citizens to be able to express their requests without mingling with the violent people who want to attack the riot police. Due to the yellow vests’ protests the government cancelled the increase in the fuel tax. Now the yellow vests are protesting for increased salaries and boosting the purchasing power.
New York – The Permanent Mission of Romania to the UN organized on Friday in New York a conference on building resilience to natural disasters. The main guest of the conference was Romanian secretary of state with the Interior Ministry Raed Arafat. In 2017, 335 major natural disasters were reported globally, that killed almost 10 thousand people, affected more than 95 million people and caused damage worth more than 334 billion dollars. In this context, secretary of state Raed Arafat presented the emergency alert system Romania has put into place in order to support the population in case of natural disasters and underlined the importance of public awareness campaigns and of a partnership with the media, to inform the population in due time. The conference in New York is part of the strategy for promoting Romania’s candidacy to a non permanent seat on the UN Security Council between 2020-2021.
Brussels – The European Parliament is to vote, next week, on the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties, which calls for the fast accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent to Brussels the members of the committee claim that postponing the Schengen accession of these two countries has negative effects not only for them but also for the EU, because maintaining or reintroducing border control will undermine the citizens’ trust in the European institutions and will have a negative economic impact. The MEPs also show that expanding the Schengen area should not be affected by EU policies such as those on asylum and migration. (translation by L. Simion)
