August 20, 2015 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of Romanian and international news
Newsroom, 20.08.2015, 12:05
The Speaker of the Romanian Senate, Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, announced that a special Parliament meeting will take place on Monday, to discuss and vote on the request to re-examine the new Fiscal Code bill coming from President Klaus Iohannis. The announcement comes after on Thursday the Romanian parliamentary parties agreed on the key technical elements of the Code. These include a cut in VAT for foodstuffs from 24 to 20% as of January 1, 2016, and further to 19% starting in 2017. The additional excise on fuels remains in place next year as well, and provisions regarding the elimination or keeping of other taxes are to be decided on at a later date. Last month, president Iohannis sent back the Fiscal Code draft, previously endorsed unanimously by Parliament, on grounds that its enforcement was not sustainable. Prime Minister Victor Ponta however says the new Code is sustainable and the impact of the VAT cut on the budget (which will be around 1.58 billion euro) could be offset by an increase in the budget collection level, which is put at 2.2 billion euro.
The formation of a new pro-Western government in Chişinău paves the way for stepping up bilateral projects, the Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Thursday during a meeting in Bucharest with the Defence Minister of the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, Anatolie Şalaru. Aurescu hailed the fact that Salarus first foreign visit in his new capacity was to Bucharest, and emphasised Romanias permanent support for Moldovas European efforts and for the wider efforts to modernise the state, including in the defence sector. According to a news release issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, minister Şalaru presented the priorities of his term in office and the main action lines concerning the reform of the defence sector of Moldova, while also thanking Romania for its consistent and substantial support. He also had a meeting
in Bucharest with his Romanian counterpart, Mircea Duşa, who announced that a NATO liaison office would be
opened this autumn in Chişinău, to support the EU and NATO accession of the
Republic of Moldova and the inter-operability of its army with the Allied
forces. A 1980s anti-Soviet militant, a promoter of the Romanian identity and vice-president of Moldovas Liberal Party, Salaru was offered the defence minister post last month in the Cabinet headed by the Liberal-Democrat Valeriu Strelet.
In Romania, the autumn session of the Baccalaureate continued on Thursday with the assessment of students digital skills. The written tests begin on Monday with the Romanian language and literature exam. Nearly 55,000 high school graduates are sitting in the second session of this years Baccalaureate exams. Over 66% of the graduates passed the Baccalaureate in the July session. The pass rate has increased this year by 7% compared to 2014.
Romanias national team won a gold medal, two silver and a bronze one and came out first in the general standings at the International Geography Olympiad held in Russia. The gold winner was Costin George Dobrin, from Constanta, in the south-east. Elena Aura Amironesei, from Iasi (north-east), who also won the silver in last years competition, and Sonia Adelina Şortan, from Deva, central Romania, won the two silver medals, while the bronze was taken home by Lorena Davidel from Falticeni, in the north-east. According to a news release issued by the Education Ministry in Bucharest, the competition brought together over 150 students from 40 countries.
The Romanian woman arrested in Italy over ties with the Islamic State group, had been monitored by the Romanian Intelligence Service ever since 2014, Sorin Sava, a spokesperson for the Service, announced. He added that the woman reached Romania, and the authorities will take the required measures. The Romanian has been extradited to Romania, after the Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano had said she was a supporter of the terrorist group, was helping with the posting of Islamist propaganda material online and was planning to join the Jihadist fighters. The woman converted to Islam and became an IS supporter after having married a Tunisian citizen. She was arrested upon her return from a trip to Tunisia. The Italian authorities strengthened their efforts to identify the supporters of radical Islam and have extradited 47 suspects over the past year alone.
