April 22, 2016 UPDATE
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România Internațional, 22.04.2016, 12:15
RULING — Social-Democrat Liviu Dragnea on Friday was sentenced to two years in prison by the High Court of Cassation and Justice in the “Referendum” case. The ruling is final. Last year the first court of law handed Dragnea a one-year suspended prison sentence for election fraud. Prosecutors say that in 2012, as acting Secretary General of the Social-Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea coordinated a complex network aimed at swinging the vote of the referendum held on the suspension of the then right-wing president Traian Basescu. The referendum did not pass due to lack of quorum, and Traian Basescu remained in power until the end of his mandate in 2014. Prosecutors also claim Dragnea used all the means at his disposal to persuade local Social-Democratic officials to illegally take people to voting polls so that the referendum might pass. Liviu Dragnea claimed he was innocent and that the sentence he was given was harsh. Dragnea added he would not step down from the helm of the Social-Democratic Party, as his political opponents have insisted, in order to maintain stability within the party ahead of the local elections scheduled for June 5.
SALARY LAW-Romanian Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos, announced on Friday that the Government was planning to reset its operating ways and to restart the drafting of an emergency ordinance, whose aim would not necessarily be to change the current salary law, but to correct it, with focus on the salary grid, but only within the right budgetary constraints. Ciolos has held talks with the new labour minister, Dragos Paslaru, with trade union and employers’ association representatives about the salary law in the public sector. According to Paslaru, the Government has prepared a new version of the ordinance on unitary salary pay system, which might be adopted on June 1st and enforced in autumn. Low salaries will go up first, says the minister, followed by measures aimed at doing away with the inequities in the system. Trade union leaders have stated they do not support this initiative.
EUROVISION — Representatives of the Finance Ministry and the public television station met in Bucharest on Friday for talks after the public television station’s membership to the European Broadcasters’ Union was withdrawn. With that Romania also loses its right to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest, scheduled to take place in Stockholm this year. The decision is a response to the large accruing debt of the public television station to EBU in the last 8 years. The situation is unprecedented in the history of EBU, as the Romanian Television Station is the first to be excluded from this organisation. Recently, the public television’s board announced that the upcoming European Football Championship in France, as well as the Rio Olympics might not be broadcast due to the severe financial situation of the station.
WORLD DRUG PROBLEM — The UN General Assembly convened in New York, in its 30th special session, on the world drug problem. Romania’s Permanent Representative to the UN, ambassador Ion Jinga, said the National Anti-Drug Strategy is in full compliance with the international legislative framework and ensures enough action-flexibility at national, regional and international level. In a special session, Romania organised, jointly with the UN Office for Drugs and Crimes, an event on the drug issue and HIV.
VISIT— US President, Barack Obama, is currently on an official visit to London, in an attempt to convince British voters, ahead of the June 23rd referendum, not to relinquish EU membership. Obama will urge Britons to vote for the UK’s remaining in the EU, to maintain the country’s welfare, its “special relation” with the US and the West’s cohesion. Earlier, the White House leader had paid a visit to Saudi Arabia, where he participated in a Gulf cooperation meeting, held in Riyadh.
TENNIS — The pair made up of Romanians Horia Tecau and Florin Mergea has qualified directly into the semi-finals of the BRD Nastase-Tiriac Trophy tournament held in Bucharest and totalling 460,000 euros in prize money. The Romanians didn’t play in the quarterfinals because the pair made up of Federico Delbonis of Argentina and Paolo Lorenzi of Italy withdrew from the competition. Teaming up for the fourth time in Bucharest, this is the farthest Tecau and Mergea have gone in this competition. Their previous best was in 2007, when the two reached the quarterfinals. Tecau and Mergea will also represent Romania at the Rio Olympics this year.
(Translated by V. Palcu & D. Vijeu)
