August 17, 2013
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Roxana Vasile, 17.08.2013, 13:00
A new transport minister will be appointed next week. According to prime minister Victor Ponta, who made this announcement, the first task for the new minister is to finalise the privatisation of the Freight Division of the Romanian Railway Corporation, a commitment included by Romania in an agreement signed in 2011 with the IMF and the EU. Prime minister Ponta has been the interim transport minister since last month, when Relu Fenechiu had to step down, after being sentenced to 5 years in prison as an accomplice to aggravated misuse of authority.
Romania has the largest number of home owners in Europe, with 97% of the citizens having an apartment or house, according to the latest data made public by the European statistics bureau, the Eurostat. Next come Lithuania and Croatia, both with over 92%. Germany and Switzerland are on the last positions. In average in the EU over 70 out of 100 people own a home.
The Romanian foreign ministry has called on the authorities in Cairo to immediately put an end to the violence in Egypt. In an interview to our radio station, the Romanian foreign minister Titus Corlatean said the EU should play an important role in finding a political solution based on dialogue, transition and free elections in Egypt, the outcome of which should be respected by all parties. Meanwhile, the Romanian foreign ministry warned that the crisis may spread throughout Egypt, urged the Romanian tourists to postpone their holidays at the Red Sea, and called on tour operators not to jeopardise people’s lives. On August 14th the authorities in Egypt declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in Cairo and elsewhere in the country.
The minister for social affairs of the Netherlands, Lodewijk Asscher, requested a modification in the European legislation, to counter what he called the excessive freedom of movement that East-European immigrants take advantage of, EFE news agency reports. According to the Dutch official, East-European migration into countries like the Netherlands or Great Britain has negative effects on these countries’ poorer and less educated citizens, who see their jobs threatened by the East Europeans who accept much lower salaries. Lodewijk Asscher believes the EU has failed to combat these negative effects of the freedom of movement in the Community, and the issue should become one of the priorities on the EU agenda. The Netherlands has constantly opposed Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen border-free area, claiming insufficient reform of the judiciary was the main reason.
