3 June, 2015
News and Current Affairs
Ştefan Stoica, 03.06.2015, 11:59
Romanian members of the lower chamber of Parliament vote today on the simple motion introduced by the Liberal Party, in the opposition, who believe that the National Company for the Transportation of Electrical Energy is under the undue influence of the governing Social Democratic Party. The Liberals call on the Minister of the Economy, Mihai Tudose, to take radical measures for redressing this situation. In the language of the simple motion, they wish to put under scrutiny irregularities at the company, indicating lack of transparency and discretionary personnel policies. In return, the Minister of the Economy said that the motion lacked substance and used false figures. He specified that Romania’s foreign partners believe Transelectrica is a company with good performance.
Romania and Holland share ideals and values within NATO and the EU, according to Romanian Defense Minister Mircea Dusa, speaking after a discussion with his Dutch counterpart, Antoinette Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the Romanian Defense Ministry informs. The major topics of the discussions were military cooperation and the implementation of the action plan for increasing NATO operational capability. Regarding international efforts for assisting Ukraine, Minister Dusa specified that Romania is the fourth state to contribute to the OSCE monitoring mission in Ukraine, supporting also the EU civilian mission in the region. The two agreed that the preparations for the European Defense Council were a good opportunity to issue a new European security strategy. Holland is set to take over the presidency of the EU Council in 2016.
The retired head of FIFA, Sepp Blatter of Switzerland, is under investigation by American authorities as part of a wider investigation into corruption in the international soccer federation. Last week, US prosecutors opened an investigation, under which seven out of fourteen FIFA officials being investigated were detained by Swiss authorities. Two days after the arrests, Sepp Blatter was reelected FIFA president, in spite of protests from the US federation and some European federations. On Tuesday, the 79 year-old Sepp Blatter, FIFA president since 1998, announced his resignation. He said he would call an extraordinary congress to designate a successor.
Romanian tennis player Horia Tecau, alongside Slovenian Katarina Srebotnk, will today be taking on the all-American pair made up of Mike Bryan and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The match counts towards the mixed doubles semi-finals in Roland Garros, which is the year’s second Grand Slam tournament. In the men’s doubles on Thursday, Horia Tecau and Dutch player Jean-Julien Rojer, also in the semi-finals, will be facing the number three favorite pair to winning the tournament, made up of Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and Marcele Melo of Brazil. In Roland Garros, Tecau has reached his career best, after the quarterfinals he played in 2011 alongside Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt.
The number of tourists hosted by the hospitality industry in Romania in the first quarter of 2015 went up to 2.247 million, 13% higher than the same period last year, according to national statistics. 77% of the tourists were Romanian, a percentage close to that of January- April 2014. 76% of foreign tourists were European, 83% of them from EU countries. The average stay over this period was two days.
US President Barack Obama endorsed a law restricting surveillance by the NSA, according to AFP. This law provides better protection for privacy and civil liberty, while guaranteeing national security, said the president. According to the new law, storage of data will be the charge of telecommunications companies, and provides that the authorities will only have access to the data by court warrant. The extent of NSA surveillance was revealed to the public by whistleblower Edward Snowden in June 2013.
British support for staying within the EU went up by 9% as compared to two years ago, to reach 55%, according to a Pew Research study, quoted on Wednesday by Reuters. The study reveals that only 36% of Brits want to leave the Union. The poll indicates that the British public is more suspicious of the EU than the Polish, the Italians, the Spanish, the Germans and the French. We recall that David Cameron, reelected on May 7th, wants a reform of relations between his country and the EU before holding a referendum on the issue before the end of 2017.
