View of the Palace of Justice in Bucharest, Photo: Mihai Barbu
Romania’s government coalition is in major crisis after the dismissal of the country’s justice minister, Stelian Ion, by prime minister Florin Citu. After suffering two minister losses recently without prior notice, junior coalition party USR PLUS are calling on the senior coalition party, the National Liberal Party (PNL), to name a new head of government. USR PLUS party representatives have threatened to leave the government coalition or may support a no confidence vote against the government.
The crisis around the justice minister is related to the approval of a national development program worth EUR 10 billion that prime minister Citu has insisted upon. USR PLUS argues that its approval would mean the successor program would maintain a system launched in the past that allowed pro-government mayors to access funds without any controls over EU funded projects.
Minister Ion has refused to approve the related normative act which could lead to Citu deciding to dismiss the justice minister, arguing that he “opposed the modernization of Romania.”
Source: Balkan Insight, Euractiv
Moldova and North Macedonia have been approved to join the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA),…
Romanian authorities are investigating far-right, pro-Russian politician Calin Georgescu over allegations of working against the…
Austria’s centre-right People’s Party (OVP), centre-left Social Democrats (SPO) and centrist, liberal NEOs have now…
Republika Srpska (RS) president Milorad Dodik is once again at the centre of political turmoil…
Except for wartorn Ukraine, Slovakia has the most red tape in Central and Eastern Europe…
The dramatic breakdown of relations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump and…