February 11, 2016
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 11.02.2016, 12:01
VISIT Romanias President Klaus Iohannis is on a working visit to the German land of Bavaria, and on February 12th to 14th he will attend the Security Conference in Munich. Today, the Romanian head of state will meet with the President of the Bavarian Parliament, Barbara Stamm, and on Friday he is due to hold talks with the Minister – President of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer. At the Security Conference in Munich, Klaus Iohannis will be the main speaker of the panel on the future of NATO. Among the topics that will be approached at the conference are the stand on Russia, the refugee crisis, the future of NATO, terrorism, the situation in Syria, Ukraine and Africa, as well as climate change. The conference will be attended by heads of state, prime ministers, European commissioners and ministers.
NATO NATO will strengthen its presence on the eastern flank, according to a plan approved by the defense ministers of the member states, gathered in Brussels. The measure is aimed at discouraging a potential aggression by Russia and was made following the USs decision to increase four times its military budget for Europe. The details of the plan, including the number of soldiers and the contribution of each country, will be established before the NATO summit in Warsaw, due in July. The Secretary General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, has announced that NATO has become more present in the Black Sea area and is closely monitoring the developments in the area. He has talked about Awacs surveillance airplanes flying above Romania, Bulgaria and the Black Sea, near Turkey. The defense ministers are also analyzing Germanys and Turkeys call for help in dealing with the refugee crisis. They have asked for NATOs involvement in the south, in the Mediterranean area, with sea surveillance operations. At the summit in Brussels, Romania is represented by the Defense Minister Mihnea Motoc.
MILITARY The Romanian Parliament has approved the request made by president Klaus Iohannis regarding Romanias participation in 2016 with up to 50 military staff in training activities for the Iraqi security forces, as part of the anti-ISIS international coalition. Romania will help with trainers, personnel, military intelligence, special and ground forces. The Romanian Defense Ministry will conclude a memorandum of understanding with the American side and other members of the coalition which have voiced their wish to support the Romanian forces in theaters of operations. The US and its allies are bombing Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq, where the terrorist organization controls large areas.
CORRUPTION The Ethics Committee of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies must make a decision by Monday regarding the request made by the National Anti-corruption Directorate to place in temporary detention the Social Democrat MP Madalin Voicu and the representative in Parliament of the Roma community, Nicolae Paun. They are accused of misusing European funds in projects targeting the Roma community in Romania. According to the prosecutors, between 2010-2015, under the pretense of helping thousands of ethnic Roma to find a job or become entrepreneurs, the two allegedly made up a plan through which they misappropriated over 6 million Euros, using the money for their own personal benefit. Voicu is accused of aggravated influence peddling, forgery and money laundering, and Paun of false statements, changing the destination of European money, embezzlement and financial operations incompatible with his position. Also prosecuted in the same case are the head of the National Fiscal Administration Agency (ANAF) Gelu Stefan Diaconu, and the Vice-President of the same institution, Mihai Gogancea Vatasoiu, for abetment in crime and malfeasance in office resulting in undue benefits for themselves and for third parties.
TENNIS Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu and her pair, the German Laura Siegemund, have qualified for the quarter finals of the WTA tournament in Sankt Petersburg, with 700 thousand dollars in prize money. The Romanian – German pair defeated on Wednesday the Romanians Raluca Olaru/Patricia Tig. Monica Niculescu has also qualified for the eighth singles, where she is 9th seeded and will play against the Hungarian Timea Babos. The pair made up of the Romanian Elena Bogdan and Ilona Kremen of Byelorussia has too qualified for the quarters, after defeating Darija Jurak (Croatia)/Nicole Melichar (US). Also on Wednesday, the pair made up of the Romanian tennis player Victor Hanescu and the American James Cerretani qualified to the quarter finals of the Santo Domingo challenger, defeating the 2nd seed pair Purav Raja (India)/ Ruan Roelofse (South Africa). In the quarters they will be facing the all-Spanish pair Roberto Carballes Baena / Oriol Roca Batalla.
