February 1, 2015
A roundup of the main stories in Romania today
România Internațional, 01.02.2015, 12:00
Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will have talks on Monday with the speakers of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, Calin Popescu Tariceanu and Valeriu Zgonea about Parliament’s priorities in the new session starting on the 2nd of February. Last Wednesday, Iohannis held consultations on this topic with the leaders of the parliamentary parties and groups. The president said all parties showed readiness to support the simplification of procedures to approve the start of criminal investigations against members of Parliament. Iohannis also said it was agreed for Parliament to pass legislation on the voting process for Romanians living abroad and the local and parliamentary elections and the financing of parties and election campaigns.
Romanians can start using their health cards starting on February 1st for all medical services subsidised by the state, but the cards will be mandatory as of May 1st. The cards may be used when seeing a family doctor, in hospitals and pharmacies, as well as by the providers of medical services, medicine and medical equipment, with the exception of services for medical and surgical emergencies.
The Romanian police are carrying out 146 searches in Bucharest and 11 counties of persons suspected of causing the state 30 million euros of damages through tax evasion and money laundering in the IT and building sectors. According to the police, between 2011 and 2014, representatives of over 200 companies are believed to have created false channels to avoid paying their taxes and duties. Warrants have been issued for 90 people. The companies involved are also suspected of transferring around 100 million euros to these people and the money thus obtained was reintroduced into the illegal circuit through withdrawals from the bank using false documents.
The Romanian foreign ministry has condemned “in the toughest of words” the execution by the Islamic State terrorist organisation of the Japanese national Kenji Goto. In a release published on Sunday, the ministry sent its condolences to the victim’s family and expressed its solidarity with Japan and the Japanese people. The foreign ministry in Bucharest says the terrorist acts committed by the Islamic State are unjustifiable, while those responsible must be held accountable in law.
The peace talks held on Saturday in Minsk between Kiev and the pro-Russian separatists in the presence of representative from the OSCE and Russia failed to reach an agreement, said the Ukrainian government envoy Leonid Kuchma. He accused the rebels of undermining the talks. The situation in Ukraine has deteriorated recently, with tens of people, mostly civilians, being killed in clashes between the government troops and pro-Russian rebels. Over 5,000 people have died since the start of the conflict in April 2014.
The new Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras on Saturday reassured the country’s investors and creditors as he promised that Athens will pay back its debts and reach an agreement with the European Union in an interview with Bloomberg. The Greek authorities beg for time, however, to be able to propose their own recovery programme. Tsipras and the finance minister Yanis Varufakis on Sunday started a tour of several European capitals to find allies for their anti-austerity plans.
