UPDATE President Iohannis calls on defence council to convene on September 4

President Klaus Iohannis has decided to call on the Supreme Council for National Defence (CSAT) to convene in session on September 4 to look into proposals to revise the 2018 budgets of the national security organisations.

"The Secretariat of the Supreme Council for National Defence has started the procedures for the issuance of a council decision on the revision of the allocations from the national budget to the national security organisations in 2018, with the individual agreement of the members of the council, and notified the Ministry of Public Finance on August 21 to that end. Pursuant to Article 6 (3) in Law 415/2002 on the statutes of the Supreme Council for National Defence, for the issuance of a council decision the consensus of the members of the council is required. As not all the council members agreed to endorse the revision proposals, the President of Romania, Mr Klaus Iohannis, has decided to call on the Supreme Council for National Defence to convene in session on Tuesday, September 4, at 13:00hrs, to look into proposals to revise the 2018 budgets of the national security organisations," the Presidential Administration said on Friday in a press statement.

The government announced on Wednesday having sent to President Iohannis on Tuesday a request for an urgent convention of CSAT in order to analyse and approve the proposals for the revision of the 2018 budgets of the national security organisations.

Previously, the Presidential Administration said that CSAT was taking the necessary steps to obtain the individual agreement of the CSAT members with a view to issuing a decision on the proposals for the revision of rectification of the public budgets of the national security organisations.

"Following the letter from the minister of public finance sent to the Secretariat of the Supreme Council for National Defence on August 14, regarding the proposals for the revision of the 2018 public budgets of the national security organistions, the CSAT Secretariat forwarded the document to the institutions directly affected by the budgetary revision, namely: the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Protection and Guard Service and the Special Telecommunications Service for analysis and issuing an opinion by August 17. Currently, the CSAT Secretariat is taking the necessary steps to obtain the individual agreement of the members of the council for the Supreme Council for National Defence to be able to issue a decision on the proposals for the revision of the 2018 public budgets of national security organisations," the Presidential Administration said. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Peia, editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)