December 19, 2019 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 19.12.2019, 19:58
Activity report – Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis said Thursday evening upon the presentation of the activity report of his first mandate as head of state, that there were 5 years of major challenges of which the most serious was Romania’s risking to swerve off its western path. He went on to say that the biggest achievement of his mandate was to keep Romania on the democratic and pro-European path. In relation to foreign policy, Klaus Iohannis said his actions focused on 3 coordinates: boosting Romania’s role within the EU and NATO, expanding and strengthening the strategic partnership with the US. At domestic level he focused on the good functioning of public authorities. He reiterated that in the past 3 years some groups tried to get their hands on Romania and weaken it by attacking the justice system and he, as president of the country, used all constitutional instruments to counteract these undemocratic forces that tried to stop the anti-corruption fight. On Saturday President Klaus Iohannis will be sworn in for his second mandate before the two chambers of Romania’s Parliament.
EP – President Klaus Iohannis hails the passing by the EP, on Thursday, of a Resolution on the commemoration of 30 years since the December 1989 anti-communist revolution, which pays homage to the heroes that died for freedom and democracy. Through this resolution the EP admits that the sacrifice of the then peaceful protesters opened the path for Romania’s transition to democracy. The document mentions that, in the Romanian Revolution, 1,142 people lost their lives, over 3,000 were seriously wounded and several hundreds were illegally arrested and tortured. The EP called on the Romanian state to intensify efforts to find the truth about the 1989 revolution and on the EU institutions and members, Romania included, to do their best to make sure that the crimes made by the Communist regimes will not be forgotten, and to thus guarantee that such crimes will never be committed again. In Romania, commemorations continued on Thursday to honor the heroes of the revolution. 30 years ago in Timisoara, in the west, the workers in the city’s factories went on strike and the first organization of revolutionaries the Romanian Democratic Forum was created before the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. December 19 is also the day when the regime tried to hide the traces of the protesters’ bloody repression. In Sibiu, central Romania, military and religious ceremonies were held to commemorate the revolution’s martyrs.
London — Queen Elisabeth II of Great Britain on Thursday presented in Parliament the legislative priorities of the government headed by Boris Johnson. Some of the measures announced are: the finalization of Brexit on January 31, 2020, bigger investments in healthcare, and the implementation of a new immigration system. The bill on Great Britain’s exit from the EU will be debated on Friday in the House of Commons. Another priority is the passing of an immigration system similar to the Australian one which is to be applied as soon as the post-Brexit transition period comes to an end and when the UK will no longer have to abide by the EU regulations, namely as of January 1, 2021. Through this system, Boris Johnson’s government wants to allow entry of foreign workers from the all over the world, not only from Europe, depending on the labor force needs of the British economy. (news update by L. Simion)
