17 October, 2019

Prime minister designate Ludovic Orban holds talks with parliamentary parties to form a new government./ European Council summit gets under way./ Romanias Laura Codruţa Kövesi is confirmed as European chief prosecutor.

Newsroom, 17.10.2019, 14:00

Government. The prime minister
designate Ludovic Orban continues talks with the parliamentary parties that backed
the no-confidence vote against the Social Democrat government in order to
secure enough votes for a new cabinet, namely 233 out of a total of 465.
Consultations are held today with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the
Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and Pro Romania and tomorrow
with the Save Romania Union. The MPs representing the group of ethnic
minorities have already said they will support a possible Orban cabinet. Talks
were held yesterday with the People’s Movement party, which Orban described as
encouraging, saying the possibility was also discussed for this party to be in
the government. Ludovic Orban must present the structure of his cabinet and the
proposals for ministers by next week. The Social Democrats have said they will not
be in Parliament to ensure quorum when the voting on the new government takes
place.

European Council. The president of
the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker has said today that a new
deal on the UK’s exit from the European Union was reached after intense talks. The
announcement was made a few hours before the start of the European Council
summit in Brussels. Describing the deal as fair and balanced, Jean-Claude
Junker has recommended the leaders of the 27 EU member states to approve the
deal. Apart from Brexit, the summit also looks at the relationship with Turkey following the latest
developments in Syria and the European Union’s multiannual budget. EU leaders
will also discuss ways to combat climate change, which is a priority for the
next European Commission, and the expansion of the European Union. Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis is also attending the summit in Brussels.

European prosecutor. The former chief of the National Anti-corruption Directorate in Romania Laura Codruţa Kövesi has been
confirmed as European chief prosecutor by the Conference of Presidents in the
European Parliament formed by the leaders of the different parliamentary groups
and the speaker of the European Parliament. This was the last official step in
the appointment procedure, with the European Parliament saying in a statement that
Kövesi can now start her 7-year mandate as head of the European Public
Prosecutor’s Office. This is an independent body responsible for investigating
and indicting crimes against the European Union’s financial interests. Laura
Codruţa Kövesi is the first person to occupy this position, which she has
secured despite the opposition of Romania’s acting Social Democrat government.

Navy. A three-day exercise carried out in the Serpents Island area and
the Black Sea international waters is coming to an end today. Romania has taken
part with the navy corvette Counter admiral Horia Macellariu, alongside
Ukraine’s missile boat Pryluky and the US destroyer USS Porter. According to
the General Staff of the Romanian Navy, the exercise helps consolidate the
partnership between Ukraine and the NATO member states in the area of naval
forces. Its aims is to achieve the interoperability of the different crews at
tactical level at NATO standards with respect to the fight against security
threats.

Tennis. The Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea, currently ranked 76th
in the world, on Thursday faces Germany’s Julia Goerges, the second seed, in
the 8th finals of the WTA tournament in Luxembourg worth 250,000
dollars in prize money.