22 July, 2015
News and Current Affairs
Ştefan Stoica, 22.07.2015, 11:59
The leadership of the Social Democratic party, the strongest in Parliament and in its ruling coalition, gathers to decide on an interim replacement for its chairmanship, vacated by Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who withdrew due to being under criminal investigation. Candidates are the present interim leader, a cabinet minister, Rovana Plumb, and party political strategist Liviu Dragnea. The latter used to be the party executive president and Minister of Development, positions he left when he got a suspended one year jail sentence for voting fraud in the 2012 referendum to remove then president Traian Basescu. Victor Ponta resigned all his positions in the party after anti-corruption prosecutors started investigating him for forgery, tax evasion and money laundering, allegedly committed in 2007 while working in the private sector as a lawyer.
Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu joins today his counterparts from Poland, Croatia and Hungary on a two-day visit to Montenegro. The four will meet the president of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic, Prime Minister Milo Dukanovic, and other dignitaries. The visit, initiated by Romanian diplomats, comes as NATO is evaluating progress made by Montenegro in preparation for joining the alliance, underlining the constant support that Romania offers Montenegro in its bid, according to the Romanian Foreign Ministry. The main aim of the visit is to send a strong message of support and encouragement in the small country’s attempt to reform.
Deputies from the three pro-European parties in the Republic of Moldova, Liberal, Liberal Democrat and Democrat, sign today the agreement for forming a new governing coalition. They also discuss today the cabinet line-up. The Liberal Democrats will appoint the PM, and the Democrats will designate the speaker of Parliament. The three parties hold 55 of the 101 seats in Parliament, and have agreed in principle on creating a parliamentary majority after the Gaburici government, supported by the minority alliance of the Democrats and Liberal Democrats, resigned on 16th of July. The interim government in Chisinau was led by Natalia Gherman, supported by the pro-Russian communists.
Romanian football champions, Steaua Bucharest, plays today in the second leg of the second preliminary round of the Champions League against Slovak team AS Trencin. In the first leg, the Bucharest team won 2-0. If they qualify, Steaua play in the third preliminary round against Partizan Belgrad of Serbia. Two more teams play in the preliminaries of the Europa League, Astra Giurgiu, which won in the first leg away from home against the Scots from Inverness, while FC Botosani lost in the first leg, also away, against Legia Warsaw of Poland. The third team in the competition, ASA Tg. Mures, has qualified straight to the third round.
The Greek Parliament is scheduled to vote today on a reform package demanded by international lenders, as a result of the 13th of July accord between the government in Athens and Eurozone leaders, which would grant Greece a loan worth 86 billion Euros. The new measures are aimed mainly at the judicial system and the banking sector. Last week, Parliament passed an initial set of measures, reforming the pension system, raising the VAT, and reducing public spending. In exchange, Greece got emergency aid worth 7 billion Euros, allowing it to pay back 6 billion, which put it right above the bankruptcy threshold. When the accord came into effect, Standard&Poors raised Greece’s rating two notches, up to CCC+ for long-term loans. The agency believes that the agreement reduced the risk of Greece leaving the Eurozone, but that the risk is still high, according to AFP.
The IMF has decided to appoint Romanian Delia Velculescu as head of mission to Greece, replacing Rishi Goyal, according to an IMF spokesperson. Economist by training, Velculescu co-authored in 2009 an IMF analysis on the Greek economy, and in 2013 she was IMF representative on the team that negotiated loans with Cyprus. This change in the IMF team in Greece comes after the recent accord between Greece and the Fund which gives the country access once again to loans.
