March 30, 2023 UPDATE

INTERVIEW 'Moscow does not give up the idea of taking over power in the Republic of Moldova and resorts to various actions in an attempt to instate a Russia-friendly government in Chisinau', the country's president Maia Sandu said in an interview to the Voice of Bessarabia. According to her, it is only the heroism of the Ukrainian army, which is keeping the frontline far from the Moldavian-Ukrainian border, but the country is facing the elements of a hybrid war. Sandu has given assurances that the people serving Russia's interests are going to be identified but in order to achieve that, the country needs to strengthen the capabilities of its Intelligence and Security Service SIS.  

SUPPORT In Bucharest on Thursday Spain reiterated its full support for Romania's accession to Europe's border-free area Schengen, through the voice of its Interior Minister, Fernando Grande Marlaska Gomez. "Romania has worked extraordinarily hard to achieve this goal and for a long period of time", the Spanish official has pointed out. Minister Gomez held talks with his Romanian counterpart, Lucian Bode, with bilateral cooperation against human and drug trafficking high on the agenda. According to Bode, Romania is fully ready to join the Schengen zone, and the decision last year was totally unfair. We recall that the only country, which opposed Romania's entry into Schengen was Austria, on migration-related grounds.

BILL The leaders of the ruling National Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party in Romania,  Nicolae Ciucă and Marcel Ciolacu, have announced that they decided to support the proposal made by the Ministry of Justice regarding the establishment of a threshold of 9,000 lei (about 1,800 euros) up to which abuse of office is decriminalized. The announcements of the two come after the Senate approved a draft law that provides for a value threshold for abuse and neglect in the service in the amount of 250,000 lei. The change caused criticism and a street protest in Bucharest. The opposition Save Romania Union has warned that the value threshold of 50,000 euros for damage to the public budget to be considered a criminal offense was also provided for by the well-known Ordinance 13 of 2017, which the government at the time abandoned after massive street protests.

OECD The Secretary of State for Romania's Accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Luca Niculescu, was appointed to the Steering Committee of the new OECD Regional Center in Istanbul. He welcomed the initiative to establish the Center, aimed at encouraging inter-regional cooperation, providing a platform for dialogue on public policies and supporting the states in the region to face the main economic and social challenges. According to a release by the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, Luca Niculescu expressed, at the same time, the availability of the Romanian authorities to contribute with sectoral expertise to the activity of the OECD Regional Center in Istanbul, recalling that Romania provides financial support for the main regional programs of the organization.

 (bill)