October 3, 2019 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 03.10.2019, 19:51

MOTION – A motion
of no-confidence initiated by the opposition against the Social Democrat
minority government was read in Parliament on Thursday. Titled To rebuild
Romania, the Dancila government must be urgently dismissed!, the motion
will be debated and put to a vote next Thursday, October 10. The government is
described as one of missed chances, because, although the country’s economy is
going through a favorable period, with significant growth rates, no major
infrastructure project was started, the motion reads. Trust in the Romanian
economy is diminishing, mainly because the legislation governing the economic
sector changes almost every week, the document also says. The leader of the
Social Democratic Party and Prime Minister of Romania Viorica Dancila says the
opposition does not have the necessary number of votes to bring down the
government. The motion was signed by 237 MPs from across the political
spectrum. 233 votes are needed for the government to fall. We recall that at
the end of August, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats walked out of the
governing coalition with the Social Democratic Party.

Media2020 – The
audience of public broadcasters needs independent, unbiased and trustworthy
news created by professionals, the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Secretary
General Dr. Javad Mottaghi said on Thursday in Bucharest on the sidelines of
the 5th edition of the Media2020 Conference organized by Radio
Romania. This year’s theme is Crossing Borders in the Digital World. The
event brought together 40 representatives of some of the most important media
outlets in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Debates focused, among other
things, on the future of public radio in the digital era, ways to protect copyright,
how to combat fake news and the promotion of cultural diversity through the use
of new digital technologies. Radio Romania and BBC Radio signed a bilateral
agreement to develop a creative cooperation partnership. Radio Romania has
signed similar agreements with Radio France and RAI as part of its strategy of
collaboration with the most prestigious media institutions in Europe.

EIB – The
European Investment Bank will triple its support for Romanian enterprises, from
500 million to 1.38 billion euros, EIB vice-president Andrew McDowell said
Thursday in Bucharest, where he attended the signing of new contracts modifying
existing agreements with Romanian financial intermediaries aimed at increasing
the amount of financing. According to the EIB official, the initiative for SMEs
combines structural funds with other EU and EIB resources in order to provide
loans to 5,000 Romanian SMEs in favorable terms, thus contributing to creating
new jobs in the private sector. This has
worked well in the last year, which is why we are increasing the amount of
funds to almost double the amount previously allocated, Andrew McDowell went on
to say. Attending the event, Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici said over 2,000
Romanian SMEs have benefitted from this initiative, and 500 million euros have
already been allocated.

NAVY – Romanian
border police officers, the crew of a surveillance coast guard ship, on
Thursday returned home after a three-month mission in the Aegean Sea under the
aegis of FRONTEX. As part of the Poseidon 2019 mission, the Romanian officers
carried out over 930 hours of patrolling on the EU’s external maritime borders,
saving 484 people. The two crews, operating on a rotation basis onboard the
Romanian Border Police officers, carried out patrol, surveillance, search and
rescue operations in the Aegean Sea, alongside other EU member states.

MOLDOVA – The EU
will withhold its financial support for the Republic of Moldova unless this
country continues its reforms and fulfills its commitments, the EU High Representative
for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini said in Chisinau on
Thursday. The EU official stated her visit marks a strong signal of support for
Moldova and its line of reforms. Federica Mogherini held talks with Prime
Minister Maia Sandu regarding the reform of the judiciary and ensuring the
independence of state institutions. This is the first visit paid by Federica
Mogherini to Chisinau in the last five years.

BREXIT – EU leaders
have reacted with caution to the UK’s new Brexit proposals. The president of
the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said the proposed deal contains
both positive advances and problematic aspects. The EU chief Brexit negotiator
Michel Barnier said a lot of work still needs to be done to reach a deal on the
backstop mechanism proposed by the European Union to avoid a hard border with
Ireland. On Wednesday, the British government made public its proposals on the
Irish border, but the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said they are not enough
to maintain an open border.

EUROPALIA – The
EUROPALIA International Arts Festival has got under way in Brussels, with
Romania as the guest of honour this year. The official opening was held on
Tuesday, and it was attended, among others, by King Philippe of Belgium, Queen
Mathilde and Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis. They visited the exhibition
devoted to the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi entitled Brancusi. Transcendence
of Form and hosted by the Bozar center and organized by the Romanian Cultural
Institute. This is the most important exhibition devoted to the Romanian artist
in recent decades and the highlight of the festival. Over the next four months,
Europalia events will be held in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg
and Great Britain, featuring some 250 different visual arts, music, theatre,
cinema, literature and performing arts projects.

(Translated by V. Palcu)