February 3, 2014

News and current affairs from Romania

Bogdan Matei, 03.02.2014, 11:00

PM Victor Ponta meets on Monday the IMF, EC and WB delegation arrived in Bucharest to evaluate Romania’s compliance with the terms of last year’s stand-by loan agreement. Talks focus on priorities in economi reforms and the legal framework. Previously, the members of the delegation met with representatives of the Finance Ministry, the national tax authority, the National Bank, trade unions, as well as President Traian Basescu. The latter reiterated the fact that he did not support the idea of additional excises on fuels, as he believes the budget can be supplanted without them.

In Bucharest, senators and deputies are back at work for the first time this year. The priority of the ruling Social Liberal Union is amending the Constitution. They plan to call a vote on that in April. The Liberal Democrats in the opposition said they would resort to every means at their disposal to prevent that move. Another priority for the ruling coalition are a revamped law of mining, while the Liberal Democrats are eyeing closely initiatives to reduce taxation.

Romanian head of diplomacy Titus Corlatean starts a two day visit to Slovakia. He will be holding talks with PM Robert Fico and Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák, along other officials in Bratislava. The agenda of talks includes enhanced bilateral dialog and improved economic exchanges, in addition to expanding the EU, and the Eastern Partnership, with emphasis on the Republic of Moldova. Additional topics are the EU strategy for the Danube and energy security. Minister Corlatean will also be attending alongside his Slovakian counterpart the opening of two honorary Romanian consulates in Banska Bystrica and Stara Lubovna.

Romania’s 24 member Olympic team left on Sunday for Sochi, Russia, to attend the 22nd Winter Olympics, scheduled for February 7th to 23rd. The 24 athletes will compete in 8 disciplines- alpine skiing, cross country skiing, biathlon, ski jumping, figure skating, bobsleigh, luge and skeleton. According to Ioan Dobrescu, the head of the Romanian Olympic Committee, any ranking above 10th for a Romanian athlete would be considered equivalent to a medal, while any ranking above 20 a special performance. Romania has taken part in all editions of the Winter Olympics, except for those in 1924 and 1960. In 1968, in Grenoble, France, Romania got its only medal in the history of its participation, when it clinched the bronze in the bobsleighing pair event.