5 June, 2019

President Klaus Iohannis holds talks with parliamentary parties on putting into practice results of 26 May referendum on justice./ Pope Francis dedicates general audience today to his recent historic 3-day visit to Romania.

Newsroom, 05.06.2019, 14:00

Referendum.
Talks continue in Bucharest between president Klaus Iohannis and the parliamentary parties to agree on a way to
put into practice the result of the referendum on justice held on the 26th
of May. The president has talks today with the People’s Movement Party, the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, ProRomania, the representatives of ethnic
minorities and the Social Democratic Party. On Tuesday, on the first day of
consultations, he met the leaders of the National Liberal Party, the Save
Romania Union and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.
President Iohannis emphasised that a referendum on the revision of the
Constitution should be held as soon as possible and that it could be held on
the same day as one of the upcoming elections, whether presidential, local or
parliamentary. The Liberals’ leader Ludovic Orban said the Liberals fully back
the president in his move to revise the Constitution. The president of the Save
Romania Union Dan Barna believes the country’s Constitution needs a more
comprehensive reform, while the president of the Democratic Union of Ethnic
Hungarians in Romania Kelemen Hunor has come up with a radical revision,
proposing to restrict entirely the government’s powers to issue emergency
orders unless in exceptional situations such as war and natural disasters.

Pope visit. Pope Francis dedicated his
general audience in St. Peter’s Square today to his recent historic 3-day visit
to Romania. The pontiff spoke at the Vatican about all the different moments of
his trip to Bucharest, Iasi, Sumuleu Ciuc and Blaj, referring to the importance
of the beatification of seven Greek-Catholic bishops and his meeting with
representatives of the Roma community in Blaj.

Economy. The World Bank has revised
its forecast about the growth of the Romanian economy up by 0.1% compared with
its January forecast, according to its Global Economic Prospects report
published on Wednesday. The World Bank also expects a 3.3% and 3.1% growth in
Romania’s GDP in 2020 and 2021, respectively, up 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively,
compared with the previous forecast.

D-Day. 16 countries, including
Britain, the US, France and Germany have signed a joint declaration on the 75th
anniversary of D-Day, when allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy
during WWII. In this declaration, the leaders of these states pledge to work
together to support democracy, tolerance and the rule of law. The festivities
in Portsmouth, in the south of England, are attended by representatives of all
states whose soldiers were involved in operation Overlord, as well as 300 war
veterans. On the 6th of June 1944, 160,000 British, American,
Canadian, French and of other nationalities that made up the allied troops
landed in Nazi-occupied Normandy. Thousands were killed on both sides, but the
landing was a success and marked the beginning of the end for the Nazi German
troops in western Europe.

Weather. A yellow code alert for
unstable weather is in place today in 26 counties until this evening. Showers
and torrential rain are expected, accompanied by lighting, strong wind and
hail. Rivers and the Danube are still at risk of overflowing, leading to
flooding. Orange and red code alerts for flooding have been issued for the next
two weeks for the entire Romanian section of the Danube. According to the
latest toll, 159 towns and villages in 28 counties and the capital Bucharest
have been affected by bad weather, with several hundred houses, outbuildings,
courtyards, cellars and 21 streets being flooded. Travel has been temporarily
disrupted on several national and county roads due to landslides, accumulated
surface water and debris on the road.

Roland Garros. Defending champion
and third seed this year Simona Halep today faces the young American player
Amanda Anisimova, world no. 51, in the
quarterfinals at Roland Garros. This is Anisimova’s first Grand
Slam quarterfinal. The winner will face the winner between the US player and
world no. 14 Madison Keys and the Australian player and world no. 8 Ashleigh
Barty.