December 3, 2013 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 03.12.2013, 19:39
The Prime Minister of Romania, Victor Ponta, announced on Tuesday, after a meeting with President Traian Basescu, that the President would resend the state budget bill to Parliament. Under these circumstances, the PM urged him to complete these procedures as soon as possible, so that Romania may have a budget on January 1st. Traian Basescu said he would turn down the bill because of what he sees as an unjustified 8% increase of the excises on fuels. He also reiterated his decision to reject the latest memorandum signed by the Romanian government with the IMF, World Bank and EC. These institutions announced they monitored the developments in Romania.
Washington’s views on the importance of missile defence in Europe remains unchanged, the American Embassy in Bucharest said on Tuesday. The statement comes after the Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov said the anti-missile shield was no longer needed after Iran and the international community reached a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme, and considering that Washington mentioned Tehran as the main missile threat. As regards the reason for the United States’ decision to build the anti-missile defence facility jointly with Romania, the Embassy mentions a US Defence Department analysis that reads that Romania has a good geographic position to allow for an efficient response to prospective threats.
The Romanian Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, Rovana Plumb, will be received in London on Wednesday by Price Charles. The Romanian Minister is on a three-day visit to the UK, trying to extend environment protection projects in Romania and integrate them into European and world programmes. The agenda of the Romanian official also includes a meeting with her British counterpart, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Eduard Davey, and meetings with House of Lords members.
Romania’s Supreme Court Tuesday sentenced Codrut Seres to six years in prison and Zsolt Nagy to five, in a case involving strategic privatisation operations. A former minister of economy and commerce, Ioan Codruţ Seres, was charged with joining an organised crime group and treason by disclosure of classified economic information. A Czech citizen and a Romanian-British citizen also received prison sentences (between nine and ten years), as accessory. The sentences are not final.
The Parliament in Kiev Tuesday dismissed a motion of censure against the Government, in spite of thousands of pro-European Ukrainians protesting in front of the building, international news agencies report. Attending the debates, the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Mikola Azarov, apologised for the police violence, which left scores of people injured. Previously, President Viktor Yanukovich had admitted that the crackdown on protesters had gone too and dismissed the Kiev police chief. President Viktor Yanukovich’s refusal to sign the EU association agreement triggered large-scale protests in Ukraine, some of them spiralling down into violence, criticised by the international community. NATO has called on both parties to refrain from violence, while calls for calm and dialogue also came from the UN and EU.
