Thursday, April 4th

President Klaus Iohannis has announced the themes for the popular vote due on May the 26th

The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has announced on Thursday the themes that he will submit to a referendum on May the 26th. There will be two subjects that the people will be asked to respond to: 1. The prohibition of amnesty and pardon for corruption crimes; and 2. The Government will be banned from issuing emergency decrees in areas such as crimes, punishments and judicial organization, correlated to the right of other constitutional authorities to apprise the Constitutional Court directly, regarding the decrees. The opposition National Liberal Party has said that it will support the president in order to ensure the success of the referendum. On the other side, the Social-Democrats have said that they will not oppose to this public consultation, but have warned that they will not accept foreign attacks on Romania, based on false issues in the judiciary.

The European Competition Commissioner is on a visit to Romania

The European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is visiting Romania and is due to hold a speech at the conference „The European Day of Consumer and Competition”, which will take place at the Parliament Palace. Margrethe Vestager will also meet representatives of the Coalition for Romania’s Development and will have a dialog with the citizens at Cervantes Institute. The Conference is organized by the Competition Council and the National Authority for Consumer’s Protection, as Romania hold the rotating presidency of the European Union Council. The event will also be attended by the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Vera Jourová.

Warning from 12 foreign embassies in Bucharest regarding the rule of law in Romania

Twelve embassies representing several states in Bucharest, including France, United States, Germany and Canada, have expressed concern regarding the rule of law in Romania. In a common statement posted on Facebook, the 12 countries ask the parties involved in drafting the laws in the field of judiciary to refrain from changes that might weaken the fight against crime and corruption. The embassies also say that there was never a dialog on this subject with decision makers in Romania, although several requests were issued in this regard.

Mădălina Brotăcel, RADOR