November 15, 2016 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 15.11.2016, 12:30
CCR On December 14th the Constitutional Court in Romania is to analyse a notification from president Klaus Iohannis on the law under which over 100 non-fiscal taxes & duties, including the radio-TV fee, are being slashed. The president challenged the law at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday because the move has a serious budget impact, it didn’t follow the natural stages of public debates, didn’t get government approval and had no funding sources specified. The Social Democrats, initiators of the law, say the president’s move is politically motivated. The National Liberal Party has agreed with the elimination of these taxes but supports the idea of keeping the Environment Fee and the Radio-TV fee.
TOUR The US president in office, Barack Obama, on Tuesday said in Athens that a strong Europe was good for the world and for the United States. During the meeting with his Greek counterpart, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, Obama underlined the importance of the relation between the USA and Greece inside NATO and voiced gratitude for the way in which Athens had managed the refugee crisis. This is president Obama’s last tour abroad before the end of his term in office, which will also take him to Germany and Peru, where he will be attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Washington, the US president will be trying to assure the European allies on the future of the transatlantic relation, amid concerns about the intentions of his successor, Donald Trump.
FRAUD Prosecutors with the Romanian Department of Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism with support from their German colleagues have dismantled an organized group specialized in cyber crimes and money laundering. Members of the aforementioned group pretended to be selling goods on specialized sites abroad cheating over 1,000 people from Romania, the Czech Republic, Italy and France. The swindlers have created 4.5 million euros in prejudices.
COSR Former fencer Mihai Covaliu, 39, on Tuesday got elected chairman of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee (COSR). Also running for this position was multiple Olympic, world and European champion Gabriela Szabo. The new COSR chair, former world and Olympic champion is presently coaching Romania’s saber team also being president of the Romanian Fencing Federation. We recall that the Romanian women’s epee team won the single gold medal for Romania at the Rio Olympics. In 2013 Gabriela Szabo became ambassador of the Romanian tourism and a year later became the Minister of the Youth and Sports in Romania. Among her accomplishments there is an ordinance on granting Romanian citizenship to athletes with remarkable performances.
