The Week in Review 20 – 26.10.2019

the week in review 20 – 26.10.2019 A roundup of the week's main stories

Romania's Prime Minister designate, Liberal Ludovic Orban on Thursday submitted to Parliament proposals for the country's new Executive and the governing programme


Romania's Prime Minister designate, Liberal Ludovic Orban on Thursday submitted to Parliament proposals for the country's new Executive and the governing programme. The future cabinet will have 16 ministries and a Deputy Prime Minister. Ensuring the proper conditions for the good functioning of the presidential election in November, nominating a European commissioner candidate and the draft budget for the next year are among the urgent measures stipulated in the governing programme. The investiture vote will be taking place after the first round of talks with the Pro Romania party, led by Romania's former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, ended in a deadlock. The cabinet may not rely on support from the People's Movement Party either, as the PMP do not agree with the Prime Minister's decision to forge a single-color cabinet. On the other hand the USR and ALDE have announced they have reached a political agreement with the Liberals. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) says that the cabinet stands good chances to get the investiture vote while the representatives of the national minorities have announced their support for a PNL government. We recall that the National Liberal Party rallied support from the other political parties in opposition to bring down the PSD government led by Viorica Dancila on October 10th.


Where do the Romanians abroad cast their ballot in the upcoming presidential election?


Romania's Foreign Affairs Ministry has published a list and an interactive map of the 835 polling stations where the Romanians living abroad can cast their ballot in the presidential election of November 10th and 24th. The number is almost three times higher compared to the previous presidential election of 2014. Most polls will be opened in Spain, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, France, the United States, the Republic of Moldova, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Denmark, Austria, Greece, Portugal and Switzerland. Overall, 639 polls will be opened in EU Member States. Additionally, apart from polls created in theatres of operation in Afghanistan, a poling station will be opened this year in Mali, created especially for the Romanian military taking part in the UN peacekeeping missions in this country. The voting process will be held over the course of three days abroad, namely over November 8-10 for the first round and November 22-24 for the runoff, between 12 - 9 PM local time on Friday, and between 7 AM and 9 PM local time on Saturday and Sunday. All voters who are still in line either inside or outside polling stations at 9 PM will be able to cast their votes by midnight.


The European Commission maintains the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Romania


The latest developments in the reform of the judiciary and the process of fighting corruption in the first months of 2019 were reasons for serious concern for the European Commission, says the latest assessment report with the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism released on Tuesday. According to the document, since the previous report in November 2018, the Commission has continued to announce the authorities in Bucharest about its concerns over the rule of law. The key institutions of Romania would need to collectively demonstrate a strong commitment to judicial independence and the fight against corruption as indispensable cornerstones, and to ensure the capacity of national safeguards and checks and balances, a press release from the Commission reads. In Bucharest Romania's Justice Minister Ana Birchall says that Romania is ready to assume an active role in consolidating the European construction in which justice plays a major role. The minister decided to immediately summon the specialized national committee for a joint action plan.



The Romanian president and his wife attended the enthronement ceremony of Japan's emperor Naruhito


Romania's president Klaus Iohannis and his wife Carmen on Tuesday attended emperor Naruhito's enthronement ceremony in Tokyo. Naruhito proclaimed his ascension to the throne in the presence of 180 foreign dignitaries, including Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, King Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia. In Tokyo, the Romanian president had talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Finnish president Sauli Niinisto, and with his Latvian counterpart Egils Levits. Emperor Naruhito, who is the 126th monarch of his dynasty, took over imperial duties in May this year after the abdication of his father Akihito, now known as emperor emeritus.             


Is the Schengen zone expanding?


The future Schengen accession of Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania would make the European Union better equipped for protecting this border-free area, Dimitris Avramopulos, the EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship said in Strasbourg on Tuesday. The European Commission decided in Strasbourg on Tuesday that Croatia meets the technical conditions for Schengen accession. Avramopulos recalled that at present 400 million EU citizens can travel without restrictions in 22 EU countries and in four associated non-EU countries. The EU official has underlined that the Schengen zone is the largest border-free area in the world. Initially scheduled for March 2011, Romania and Bulgaria's accession to this zone has been repeatedly postponed due to opposition from some member states which invoked the lack of reforms in the country's justice system.



A decision to appoint Laura Codruta Kovesi, Romania's former anti-corruption chief prosecutor as head of the future European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) was signed at the European Parliament


A decision to appoint Laura Codruta Kovesi, Romania's former anti-corruption chief prosecutor as head of the future European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) was signed by European Parliament President David Sassoli and by the Finnish Minister for European Affairs Tytti Tuppurainen on Wednesday. The idea for setting up the aforementioned institution has been launched and promoted by another Romanian, former minister and MEP, Monica Macovei. The EPPO is expected to become operational at the end 2020 as an independent institution in charge of investigating and prosecuting crimes against the EU budget, such as fraud, corruption or cross-border fraud with over 10 million Euros in VAT.



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Publicat: 2019-10-26 14:00:00
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