April 5, 2019 UPDATE

PRESIDENCY - President Klaus Iohannis has condemned the latest anti-Semitic gestures and actions and called on the relevant authorities to take firm action to sanction them. In a press release the presidency recalls Romania stands out as a regional successful model in terms of preserving the memory of the Holocaust, owning to the past, combating anti-Semitism, negationism, xenophobia, hatred, racism, populism and discouraging hate speech. Prior to this statement, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin condemned the vandalization of some 70 tombs in the Jewish Cemetery in Husi, northeastern Romania, one of the most serious such anti-Semitic offences this year. The Israeli official recalled that Bucharest auhtorities are taking measures to coutneract anti-Semitism and xenophobia. Meanwhile, the Israeli media has quoted the president of the Federation of Jewish communities in Romania, Aurel Vainer, who said such anti-Semitic events are unacceptable and are affecting democracy in Romania. The US Embassy in Bucharest has in turn unequivocally condemned the act of violence in Husi, claiming this is not just an attack on the Jewish community, but on the diversity of the entire Romanian society.

REFERENDUM - Also on Friday President Iohannis has called a round of consultations with political parties on April 11 and 12 over the referendum on the judiciary. On Thrsday, the President announced that the themes which he would submit to the vote at the May 26 referendum, held simultaneously with the European Parliament elections, are related to forbidding amnesty and pardon of corruption crimes and forbidding the government to pass emergency decrees related to criminal offences and punishments, correlated with the right of other authorities to notify the Constitutional Court over such decrees.

VISIT - Two-way trade between Romania and Slovakia has for the first time exceeded 3 billion euros at the end of 2018, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said Friday after meeting with Slovakian Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini. Talks focused on developing bilateral cooperation in various fields such as education, energy, culture, home affairs, public administration, tourism, environment, healthcare and agriculture. In turn, Prime Minister Pellegrini expressed hope that bilateral economic and political relations would intensify. The two officials met in Banska Bystrica, where the Romanian official paid a floral tribute in the National Insurrection Square. Viorica Dancila then travelled to the city of Zvolen for a visit to the local military cemetery where the remains of 10 thousand Romanian soldiers, who fought for the liberation of Czechoslovakia in WWll, are buried.

B9 INITIATIVE - Romania's Defense Minister Gabriel Les was in Warsaw to attend a meeting of Defense Ministers from countries, which are members of the Bucharest 9 Initiative. The meeting, staged jointly by linr ministries from Poland and Romania, was attended by Defense Ministers from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary as well as by NATO officials and representatives of the US Department of Defense. According to the Romanian Defense Ministry, the meeting in Warsaw tackled the contribution of B9 states to strengthening NATO deterrence and defense, with a focus on the coherent implementation and full operationalization of the Advanced Allied Presence on the Eastern Flank. On the sidelines of the meeting, Les met with his Polish counterpart, Mariusz Błaszczak, stressing the major role of the two countries as promoters of the B9 Initiative, in establishing a unified position of NATO's Eastern Allies that should be promoted on NATO's common agenda. In another development, Minister Les met with Romanian military from the "Blue Scorpions" Anti-Air Defense Unit deployed in Poland as part of NATO's Combat Group.

DRILL - Over April 5-13 the Romanian navy is staging the biggest international drill in Romania's territorial waters and in the international waters of the Black Sea. 14 Romanian warships and six from Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, the Netherlands and Turkey are taking part in the drill during which over 2000 servicemen will be training to respond to attacks coming from under the sea, air or surface. The drill's scenario implies a coordinated crisis response carried out under a UN Security Council resolution. The aforementioned drill also involves the participation of the NATO Permanent Black Sea Force.

DISTINCTION- The Royal House of Britain on Friday decorated Romanian Florin Morariu for the courage he displayed during the terrorist attack of June 2017, which killed 8 people and wounded 48. Morariu is the first Romanian to receive the Queen's Commendation for Bravery. At the time of the attack Florin Morariu worked in a bakery close to the bridge in London and helped a few people to take shelter and stood up to the attackers.

(Translated by V. Palcu)