A roundup of the week's main stories
The NATO Summit in London
NATO ended its anniversary summit marking 70 years of existence with a message of unity, solidarity and cohesion despite divergences reported in some Member States. In its final declaration, NATO reaffirmed its defensive nature and its deterrence efforts, pointing out it will remain a nuclear alliance for as long as such weapons still exist. NATO underlined it will continue to strengthen its deterrence capabilities and will continue to defend using an adequate mix of nuclear, conventional and anti-ballistic systems that will be continuously adapted to changing realities. Attending the Summit in London, President Klaus Iohannis said the summit was a success both to the Alliance and for Romania, arguing NATO is the strongest alliance of all times, having endured for 70 years with strong future prospects as well.
"We've all agreed NATO needs a reflection process that should identify a good strategy for the future of NATO. We need to identify who our enemies are, where threats are coming from, how NATO should relate to the new world powers, China for instance. We need to decide whether we need to change our approach to Russia. Such questions were discussed and will undoubtedly lead to the elaboration of an improved strategy".
The president said participants also tackled issues pertaining to the Black Sea region, as well as intervention plans for the eastern flank. President Iohannis announced cosmic space will be part of NATO's concerns for allied security.
President Klaus Iohannis meets with EU Ambassadors in Bucharest
President Klaus Iohannis on Thursday met with ambassadors of EU Member States in Bucharest. Talks focused on the agenda of the European Council meeting of December 12-13, hot topics on the international agenda as well as interior policy, the presidency reports. The President said he wants to contribute to identifying solutions that should deal with the great challenges facing the EU, such as combating climate change, migration, multilateralism or citizen security. Klaus Iohannis also pointed out he wants solid and effective European institutions, capable of generating results to the benefit of all EU citizens. The President said the new European Commission will have to carefully deal with the expectations of EU citizens by coming up with an action plan that should implement the common priorities laid out in the 2019-2024 Strategic Agenda of the EU, and that should ensure balance, unity and equity between Member States. As regards the upcoming EU budget, Klaus Iohannis said the priority is to reach an agreement so that the budget should be balanced, respond to the new priorities of the EU as well as to the need to properly fund traditional policies, such as cohesion and the Common Agricultural Policy.
The compensatory appeal law has been repealed
The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest on Wednesday voted to repeal the compensatory appeal law. Originally designed by Justice Minister Raluca Pruna, the law was passed in 2017 by the Social-Democratic ruling power. It was meant to do away with the harsh sanctions Romania was handed down by the European Court of Human Rights for its improper detention facilities. According to the National Penitentiary Administration, some 23 thousand felons were released from prison under the new law, of which 19,000 on probation. 2,300 reoffended and were sent back to prison, some of them having committed criminal offences shortly after their release, others because they were being investigated in other criminal cases at the time of their release. Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu recently said the faulty elaboration of the law has endangered citizens' safety, adding that the Ministry he runs will be drafting a temporary norm that will apply starting next year in all penitentiaries, whose precarious situation has generated complaints at the European Court of Human Rights. Authorities mainly want to improve the quality of detention facilities.
The Romanian Foreign Minister attends the OSCE meeting in Bratislava
Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu attended the 26th meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), on which occasion he reaffirmed Romania's key interests referring to security and cooperation. On the sidelines of the event Bogdan Aurescu met with the Moldovan Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Aureliu Ciocoi. Minister Aurescu pointed out Romania's financial assistance would not continue in its agreed form and will be adapted depending on the concrete actions of the new Government, based on the bilateral Strategic Partnership for the European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, as well as on the democratic development and the country's efforts towards European accession. Romania's support will continue to seek the interests of Moldovan citizens and will focus on continuing the implementation of bilateral strategic interconnection projects.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
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