December 10, 2013 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 10.12.2013, 19:58
Romanias alternatives to the additional 7 Eurocent excise duty on diesel fuel should have the same budgetary impact as the duty would, said on Tuesday the spokesperson for the European Economic PoliciesCommissioner Olli Rehn. The statement was made against the background of the visit the Romanian Minister Delegate for Budget Liviu Voinea made to Brussels, to discuss with EC and IMF officials the Romanian Government’s decision to apply the 7 Eurocent duty on gas only and to postpone by three months the application of the measure to Diesel fuel. On Monday Romanian transporters went on strike in protest against the government’s decision to increase the excise on fuels. In another move, President Traian Basescu has stated that the state budget should not provide for an increase in excise duties on fuels. More on this after the news.
Thousands of South-Africans and an unprecedented number of personalities from across the world — heads of state and government, kings and queens, spiritual leaders and artists — attended on Wednesday the ceremonies held to honor the former president of South-Africa, anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela. Romania was represented by former President Emil Constantinescu and the current Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who, on the sidelines of the event, had a meeting with the US President Brack Obama. Nelson Mandela, who in 1993 won the Nobel Peace Prize, was the first black president of South Africa and devoted his entire life to the fight against racial segregation. He died on Thursday, aged 95.
The Romanian Foreign Minister, Titus Corlatean, reasserted on Tuesday Romania’s commitment to promoting and protecting human rights, reads a communiqué issued by the Foreign Ministry. Romania, as a member of the UN Human Rights Council and of other international and regional bodies, joins the international community’s efforts with regard to observing human rights all across the world, Corlatean said. Every year, on December 10th, the world celebrates Human Rights Day.
On Tuesday, the Romanian Parliament voted in favour of setting up a special commission to verify the terms under which the state-owned Savings Bank granted a one million Euro credit to one of President Traian Basescu’s daughters. Suspicions regarding the loan, which was used for the purchase of a plot of farm land, occurred when the Finance Minister, Daniel Chitoiu, said that the had of state had allegedly used his influence to make sure the current president of the Savings Bank, Radu Gheteai, maintained his position. The Notary Publics’ Union has already stated that both the purchase contract and the mortgage contract requested by the Savings Bank are legal.
Ukrainian President Viktor Ianukovici said on Tuesday that the calls for revolution launched by the opposition were a threat to national security. At a meeting he had with three of his predecessors from the post-Soviet period, namely Leonid Kravciuk, Leonid Kucima and Viktor Iuscenko , Ianukovici said he had called for the release of some of the protesters detained during clashes with the police. He announced that a Ukrainian delegation would go to Brussels on Wednesday for talks on the Association Agreement with the EU. Large –scale protest rallies have been held in Ukraine since November 21st, when the power decided to suspend the process of association to the EU.
