After 10 years from the adherence to the EU, Romania's country project follows the consultations on Brexit held at the Presidential Palace. According to President Klaus Iohannis, all the parties present at the consultations agreed on participating at the elaboration of the country project, in a work group near the Presidency: “We need a new country project, a project for Romania, a project for Romania's future in the European Union”, he says, adding that “this group could function in optimal conditions even in electoral year”....more »

According to prime-minister Ciolos, the government will contest again at the Constitutional Court the special pensions of the elected locals, this time on other grounds. “The problem of these special pensions is that they do not respect the principle of contribution. Special pension means giving more that the the respective category contributed to the pension budget, so someone has to take on this surplus (…)They risk to affect the idea of pensions and public system itself”, says Ciolos....more »

Former Ambasador of Russia in Chisinau, Valerii Kuzmin, was appointed as ambassador in Bucharest, replacing Oleg Malghinov, according to TASS agency. Kuzmin was born on 24 June 1953 in Moscow; He graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in 1975, the Higher Diplomatic Courses of the Diplomatic Academy in 1998, Candidate of Historical Sciences; He worked in various positions in the central officec of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and the Russian Federation and in embassies in Moldavia, Libya, Tunisia East, North Africa, and Republic of Sudan....more »

Before Prime Minister Ciolos visits Canada in mid-June, Canada has sent a technical mission to Bucharest that is going to arrive this week in order to evaluate the situation of the frontiers, the passport service and other technicalities concerning the circulation of the citizens. This situation follows the negotiation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement – CETA between the EU and Canada that eliminate customs taxes between the two, and will allow direct participation of the companies to public biddings, as well as liberalizing the services market....more »

The Romanian political landscape is dominated by the socialists from PSD after centralizing 99% of the sections in the local elections that took place on June 5, 2016. The overall voting presence was 50.73%. The Social Democratic Party obtained the most mandates for the City Halls with 1.669 mayors, meaning 52.38% of the total, the liberals PNL 1.079 mayors (33.86%), whereas the Hungarian party UDMR 195 mandates (6.12%), and ALDE 64 seats, that is 2% of the total....more »

Catalin Predoiu, the only president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Bucharest since the end of 2015, resigned from this position on June 6 after his party had a percentage of 11 in the local elections in the capital, occupying the third place after PSD and USB.  He first talked about a resignation after the results in the exit polls, stating that the confirmation of such results would make him step back. ...more »

Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) reacted at Vladimir Putin’s declaration in Greece on the 27th of May, when, during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, he stated that Romania and Poland could be in the radius of action for Russian rockets since they host the American anti-rocket system, that is considered to be a threat to Moscow.  MAE declared themselves surprised by the declaration since Romania and its allies explained several times that the system is not directed against Russia, it is purely defensive, and this could be “a threat to regional security”....more »

Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and members of his cabinet visited the United States between the 22 and 25th of May, where he had several meetings with the representatives of the US administration involved in supporting and developing the economic collaboration, including U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden. During the discussions, the Romanian Prime Minister and the U.S. Vice President have approached some of the main aspects on the bilateral agenda, focusing on the common interest to consolidate the Strategic Partnership, which is at the basis of the cooperation between the two countries. The two senior officials have expressed their satisfaction for the excellent level of the security and defence dimension, outlining that there are favorable premises for its consolidation....more »

Vlad Voiculescu, head of office for the Minister of Public Finance Anca Dragu, is the new Minister of Health. On the 20th of May, Klaus Iohannis appointed him to take over the ministry, after PM Dacian Ciolos' nomination.  With a background of over 10 years in financial consultancy in Vienna, where he administrated international financing projects of health infrastructure, but also energy and transportation, he returned to Romania at the beginning of 2016. ...more »

The Ministry of Environment recommended the Government to support an initiative to forbid cyanide based mining for gold and silver and declared that the Government will finalize its official position on the matter, currently in progress, but it will play a consultative role for the members of the Parliament. The legislative proposal for modifying the Law of mining 85/2003 by forbidding cyanide based mining for gold and silver has been sitting in the Parliament for some years now. The Senate rejected the initiative in 2013, when the economic and also finance committees of deputies forwarded a negative notice....more »