February 21, 2017
General Herbert R. McMaster appointed US national security advisor/ House of Lords votes on Brexit bill/ Greece to apply measures set by the EU and IMF/ Romanian deputies to vote on decrees 13 and 14
Newsroom, 21.02.2017, 13:45
MPs VOTE– The government emergency decree no. 13 amending the Criminal Codes and the one repealing it, namely decree no. 14, are being debated and voted on today in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, a decision-making body in this case. On Monday, decree no. 13 was rejected with a majority of votes by the plenum of the Senate. The government’s move to change the criminal law by an emergency decree brought hundreds of thousands of Romanians into the streets. The anti-government protests started on January 31, when decree no. 13 was passed, and have continued daily ever since, even after it was repealed by means of decree no. 14. In parallel with the anti-governmental protests, protests were also staged against president Klaus Iohannis who has been blamed for failing to fulfill his role of mediator in the political crisis and for siding with the anti-government protesters.
COMMUNE MAYORS — The mayors of Romania’s communes have a 30-day deadline to present infrastructure projects. The national local development program has this year been allotted funds worth 30 billion lei, that is around 6.5 billion euros. The mayors met Monday in Bucharest to review the problems facing the local communities. At present, 47% of Romania’s population lives in the rural areas.
GREECE– The Greek government agreed Monday in Brussels, at the meeting of the finance ministers of the euro zone, to apply measures set by the EU and IMF in exchange for the disbursement of the next installment worth 86 billion euros of the loan granted by international creditors, which is needed for Greece to avoid bankruptcy. The head of the euro group, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, has said that Greece has now a new outlook: less austerity and more reforms. Brussels officials will soon travel to Greece to discuss the new structure of reforms. According to statistics, the debt of Greece at present stands at 177.4% of the GDP.
LONDON — The House of Lords in the British Parliament is today debating the draft law allowing the government to start the process of Great Britain leaving the EU. The bill has already been passed by the House of Commons. PM Theresa May has called on the House of Lords to take the example of the House of Commons and rapidly pass the bill. After last year’s historic vote in favor of Brexit, Mrs. May promised to start the Brexit procedure by the end of March. The negotiations with Brussels, which are going to be very tough, will last two years. nt stands at 177.4% of the GDP.
WASHINGTON — The American President, Donald Trump, has appointed general Herbert R. McMaster (54) as national security advisor. He replaces Michael Flynn who has recently stepped down for failing to tell the truth about a conversation he had with the Russian ambassador to Washington. Herbert R. McMaster is one of the most appreciated generals of the American army and a strategist with a tremendous talent. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, general McMaster criticized the way in which the former president George W. Bush intervened in Iraq, drafting a different strategy against terrorism. This strategy was used by general David Petraeus, a former commander of the American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it changed the fate of a war which the US was about to lose. (translation by L. Simion)
