13 January 2017

The deputy director of the Romanian Intelligence Service Florian Coldea gets suspended from office.

Newsroom, 13.01.2017, 12:00

Energy exports. The government in Bucharest has approved a
decision providing, among others, for the possibility of banning exports of
electricity in the event of a crisis between the 16th of January and
the 15th of February. The decision was taken after energy minister
Toma Petcu presented an analysis of the functioning of the National Energy
System after six days of harsh weather, with record high consumptions of
natural gas and electricity. The energy ministry in Bucharest said it also took
into account the weather forecasts and the situation of fuel reserves.

Suspension. The director of the Romanian
Intelligence Service Eduard Hellvig has ordered the creation of a special
committee after information appeared in the public realm about his first
deputy, general Florian Coldea. Until the information is verified, Coldea is in
effect suspended from office, while his responsibilities are taken over by
Hellvig himself. The decision comes after the former MP Sebastian Ghita, who is
investigated in several corruption cases and who has vanished without a trace,
accused Coldea of illegalities. According to the spokeswoman for president
Klaus Iohannis, the latter had a discussion with Coldea before Hellvig’s
decision.

Romania-NATO. General Michael Flynn, who has been
nominated by US president elect Donald Trump for the job of national security
adviser, has hailed Romania’s commitment to and role within NATO. In a
telephone conversation with Romania’s ambassador to Washington George Maior, Flynn
said NATO remains a fundamental alliance for the US in which all members must
contribute to the common good. Ambassador Maior gave assurances that Romania
would allocate 2% of its GDP to defence and consolidate the necessary
capabilities.

Turkey. The Turkish Parliament on Thursday
night approved a number of essential articles of a package of laws on
constitutional reform seen as one step closer to the presidential regime
desired by president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, international press agencies have noted.
The new provisions allow the president to be a member of a political party and
issue decrees. The whole package will be put to a referendum expected this
spring. The prospect of Erdogan’s enhanced prerogatives has caused concern
among his opponents, who accuse him of authoritarian tendencies, in particular
after the failed coup last summer and the cleansing campaign that followed,
international press agencies also write.

Tennis. The Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu,
no. 40 in the WTA ranking, has reached the final of the Hobart tournament in
Australia, worth 225,000 dollars in prize money. Niculescu qualified following
the withdrawal of Ukraine’s Lesia Turenko and will face the Belgian player
Elise Mertens in the final. In the doubles, the Romanian-Ukrainian pair Raluca
Olaru and Olga Savchuk have qualified for the final after defeating the
Luxembourg-Latvian pair Mandy Minella and Anastasija Sevastova in
straight sets. Olaru and Savchuk will
next face the Canadian-Chinese pair Gabriela Dabrowski and Zhaoxuan
Yang. Last week, they also played the final in Shenzhen, China, but lost.

Weather. A yellow code alert for snow, mixed
precipitation, blizzard and frost is in place across Romania from Friday
morning until Saturday at noon, but it may be extended. Temperatures, which
have been rising, range from minus 5 to plus 8 degrees Celsius. Because of the
extreme weather conditions in recent days, the transport system has been
seriously disrupted. Schools and nursery schools were closed this week in a number
of areas, including the capital Bucharest.