December 18, 2014
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Ştefan Stoica, 18.12.2014, 12:00
The Political Bureau of the mainstream National Liberal Party, Romania’s major political group in the opposition will today be casting their vote for the party’s interim president. National Liberal Party’s vice-president Ludovic Orban and former presidential campaign spokesperson, MP Alina Gorghiu have submitted their candidacies. The third hopeful for the party’s interim president position Teodor Atanasiu stepped aside, in favour of Alina Gorghiu. Klaus Johannis today has stepped down from his party head position, since on Sunday he is to be officially sworn in as Romania’s president. The National Liberal Party’s future co-president will hold the interim position until the 2017 Congress, when the National Liberal Party and the Liberal Democratic Party will be merging into one party, with a single leadership.
Commemoration events are well underway in the western Romanian city of Timisoara, to pay tribute to the heroes who lost their lives during the anti-communist revolution. We recall that 25 years ago, on December 18, martial law was declared in Timisoara, yet in spite of that tens of thousands of people took to the streets, in a sweeping outburst challenging the country’s regime. For the people of Timisoara, December 18 brings back the memory of the fact that on that day the wounded were subjected to criminal investigations while still in hospital, while dozens of Revolution martyrs’ dead bodies were absconded. The Timisoara riots that had seen their outbreak as early as December 16 are still remembered as the triggering event of the Romanian Revolution, which a couple of days later reached its peak with the collapse of the Ceausescu regime. The Romanian Revolution claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people, while 3,400 others were wounded. Romania was the former Eastern Bloc’s only country where the regime change occurred violently and the communist leaders were executed.
The Romanian Parliament’s budget and finance commissions in Bucharest continue the debates on the state and the social security budget bills for 2015. According to the document endorsed by the Government, the budget structure is based on a deficit level standing at 1.8% of the GDP, an inflation rate of 2.2 % and an economic growth rate of 2.5%. In 2015, the biggest amount of funds is to be earmarked to the Labor, Finance and Agriculture Ministries as well as to the Transport and Economy Ministries. The least funded will be the Health and Culture Ministries as well as the Administration and Interior Ministry. The budget-finance commissions in Romanian Parliament’s two chambers will be holding a debate on the draft budget, while on December 21 the Parliament’s plenary will cast their vote on the budget bill.
In Washington, Democrats and Republicans who support Cuba’s isolation deplored on Wednesday the decision made by President Barack Obama to normalize relations with the island nation, announcing they would oppose lifting the embargo. On Tuesday, President Obama and Raul Castro, the ruler of Cuba, decided to initiate better relations, in a move which the White House described as historic. The announcement came after the two countries, after 18 months of back room negotiations, exchanged persons they held under accusations of espionage. This move comes after roughly half a century of mutual shunning, which started with an embargo imposed by the US against Cuba in 1960.
Romania’s President Traian Basescu stated that at the European Council Summit in Brussels he would submit a proposal for Romania to avoid losing the European funds it was unable to spend by the end of 2015, given that subject to debate at the Council will be the creation of a EU investment fund. Basescu will also propose that the countries where funds were not spent should contribute, with the projects they have not finalized, to the future program put forward by the European Council, so that by 2017 they may continue implementing the projects they were unable to finalize. President Basescu has made the declaration today, ahead of his departure to Brussels, where alongside other heads of states and governments, for two days running, he will be taking part in the European Council meeting. Apart from debates focusing on the European Council’s proposal to create a new EU investment fund, also high on the European leaders’ agenda are the situation in Ukraine and placing new sanctions against Russia.
Romania’s women’s national handball team won its last fixture at the European Championship in Hungary and Croatia, 24-19, in the game against Poland. In the final rankings, Romania was unassumingly 9th-placed. In the main group stage, Romania snatched yet another win against Spain, but conceded victory to Hungary. At the present edition of the European handball championship, Romania’s record also included a win in the game against Ukraine, a draw against Denmark and a defeat they sustained in the game against Norway.
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the annual press conference said the political context at world level has had its negative impact on Russia’s economic situation, all the more so since the price of oil has dropped sharply. Putin voiced hope that in two years’ time Russia would recover from its present dire economic condition and that the economic growth to follow would have to be supported by oil imports. Earlier this week, the Russian national currency plummeted, reaching a record low since the 1998 financial crisis, when the value of the rouble had seen a sharp drop, which prompted the authorities in Moscow to declare insolvency.
