The Week in Review, 2-8 September 2018

A selection of the main stories in Romania this week.

România Internațional, 08.09.2018, 12:00

Budget
adjustment without green light from Supreme Defence Council

The Government of Romania, formed by the Social Democratic Party and
the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, on Wednesday passed a state budget
adjustment bill that had not been green lighted by the Supreme Defence Council,
amid disagreements on this topic with President Klaus Iohannis.

On Tuesday, the President suspended a meeting of the Supreme Defence
Council, after its members failed to reach an agreement on the state budget
adjustment bill. Klaus Iohannis asked the Cabinet to come up with a new bill,
eliminating what he saw as unaccountable cuts in the budgets of national
security institutions. The Government has a parallel agenda to the one of
Romania’s citizens and is trying to divert attention from the serious problems
to which it is unable to find solutions, the President argued. He publicly
requested the Ombudsman to notify the Constitutional Court with respect to the
2018 state budget’s compliance with the Constitution. On the other hand, the
President says the PM ignored his invitation to a dialogue regarding the public
budget adjustment, which, in his opinion, is a dangerous precedent in
institutional relations.

Thursday’s planned talks between the President and the Prime
Minister were replaced by a meeting between the Finance Minister Eugen
Teodorovici and the Justice Minister Tudorel Toader, on the one hand, and two
presidential advisers, on the other hand. The Government said the Prime
Minister was unable to answer the President’s invitation because she was on an
official visit to Spain.

PM Viorica Dancila on an official
visit to Spain

During the Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila’s visit to Spain,
the Romanian official and King Felipe VI discussed the privileged relationship
between the two countries and the excellent level of bilateral political and
economic relations. Previously, the head of the Romanian Government and her
Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez signed 2 agreements, in the field of defence
and public administration. The two prime ministers praised the excellent
economic cooperation, which sees a positive trend both in terms of bilateral
trade, amounting to some 4 billion euros, and in terms of Spanish investments
in Romania.

Viorica Dancila thanked the Spanish authorities and society for
their constructive attitude towards the Romanian community in that country,
whose 870,000 members make the second-largest foreign community in Spain. Viorica
Dancila also tackled the issue of dual citizenship for the Romanians residing
in Spain, which, for the time being, is not accepted by Madrid. Dancila’s visit
did not include meetings with representatives of the Romanians living in Spain,
some of whom protested and displayed anti-governmental posters as a response to
the incidents during the protests of August 10, when the gendarmes used
disproportionate force.

New chief of National
Anti-Corruption Directorate proposed

Of the 6 applicants for the position of chief prosecutor of the
National Anti-Corruption Directorate, the Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel
Toader has chosen Adina Florea. She headed the Constanta County Prosecutor’s
Office for several years and was later the deputy chief of the Prosecutor’s
Office attached to the Constanta Court of Appeals. The objectives in Florea’s
management plan include an analysis of the acquittals ordered by courts,
reducing the prosecutors’ backlog of case files, and enhancing the transparency
of the Directorate’s activity. After the Supreme Council of Magistracy issues
an official opinion on the candidate, the nomination will be forwarded to the
President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis. The post has been vacant since President
Iohannis was forced by a Constitutional Court ruling to remove Laura Codrut
Kovesi from office, at the request of Justice Minister Toader.

African swine fever in
Romania

Under the budget adjustment bill passed on Wednesday, the National
Veterinary Authority received an additional 30 million euros for measures to
contain the African swine fever epidemic. The institution announced that the
assessment of over 3,000 households and farms has been completed, and less than
200 compensation applications have been approved. Compensations total more than
10 million euros, which will be financed from the budget of the Veterinary
Authority and from funds earmarked by the European Commission. The Authority
announced that over 830 outbreaks of swine fever are active in 190 villages
from 11 counties in the north-west and south-east of Romania. Over 170,000 pigs
were infected or killed. The African swine fever is a viral disease affecting domestic
and wild pigs alike, which develops rapidly and has mortality rates of up to
100%. The General Prosecutor’s Office has announced that it is investigating
the management of the crisis by the authorities. President Klaus Iohannis also
requested checks into how the authorities implemented swine fever control and
prevention measures.