Romanian president nominates new prime minister
Romania’s president has nominated former EU commissioner Dacian Cioloş as new prime minister after Victor Ponta resigned amid protests following a nightclub fire that killed at least 48 people. In a statement on Tuesday, President Klaus Iohannis said that Romania needed „a clean person, a person not involved in scandals, a person of integrity”. Mr Cioloş was the EU’s agriculture commissioner from 2010 to 2014. The 46-year-old is a member of the European People’s Party and served as Romania’s agriculture minister from 2007 to 2008.
The government is currently headed by acting Prime Minister Sorin Câmpeanu, a former education minister.
Dacian Cioloş was born in July 27, 1969 in the north-western Romanian village of Inceşti and after graduating from the agro-industrial high school in Șimleu Silvaniei in 1987, he attended the Horticulture Faculty of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca from 1989 to 1994, graduating as a horticultural engineer. He also holds degrees in the economy of agricultural development from the École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Rennes and from the University of Montpellier 1, where he earned a master’s in 1997 and a doctorate in 2006. He has belonged to the agricultural think tank Groupe de Bruges since 2000. His wife Valérie is French. Although in Romania Cioloș is politically independent, he is affiliated with the European People’s Party (EPP) at the European level. In July 2015, Barroso’s successor as European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, named Cioloş as his special adviser on international food security.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis left for Malta
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis left for Malta where EU leaders are expected to offer countries in Africa billions of euros in exchange for help with the migrant crisis at a two-day summit opening on Wednesday. The European Commission says it will give €1.8bn and it expects EU countries to pledge more. The meeting was planned after a sinking off Libya in April when about 800 died. Romania is expressing its solidarity with other EU states as we are all trying to find best solutions to the growing refugee crisis, President Iohannis said in a statement on Wednesday shortly before departure.
Romania’s public servants and medical staff get a pay rise
Romania’s public servants are expected to get a 10 percent pay rise next month while wages of the country’s medical staff will rise by 25 percent. A draft law on the issue was passed in the Romanian Parliament’s lower house on Wednesday. The law was approved with 311 votes in favour, one vote against and seven abstentions. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is expected to sign the draft into law.
Romania nightclub fire toll hits 50
Four more people have died of injuries sustained in a devastating nightclub blaze in Romania, bringing the death toll to 50, hospital sources said Wednesday. Two of the four latest victims of the October 30 fire at a Bucharest club had been undergoing treatment in Britain, where they were transferred at the weekend. The other two were in hospital in Romania. Some 20 people were still listed in critical condition in Romanian hospitals Tuesday. More than 30 others have been flown abroad for treatment in such countries as Norway, the Netherlands, Israel and Turkey.
Alexandru Danga
