January 21, 2015 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of Romanian and international news
România Internațional, 21.01.2015, 12:15
The situation created by the appreciation of the Swiss franc, caused by last week’s decision of the Swiss Central Bank to eliminate the cap on the Swiss franc which kept the exchange rate at 1.20 francs against the euro, was Wednesday debated by Romania’s Parliament. The Romanian MPs are seeking solutions to support the over 75,000 Romanians who have contracted loans in Swiss francs. As a result of the appreciation of the Swiss franc, the interest rates they must now pay are about 20% higher than last week. The Chamber of Deputies’ budget committee is having talks with the representatives of the banking environment, including the central bank, and of the customers who took out loans in Swiss francs. The Chamber of Deputies designated a sub-committee that should issue a bill, in the coming days, regarding the insolvency of natural persons.
The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Romania on Wednesday rejected the appeal made by the National Integrity Agency and ruled that the incumbent Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, was not in a state of incompatibility when he was mayor of Sibiu. In April 2013 the National Integrity Agency declared Johannis to be in a state of incompatibility as he was acting both as mayor of Sibiu and as a city representative in the General Shareholders’ Assembly of the companies responsible for Water and Sewerage and Markets. After a local court ruled in favour of Iohannis, the National Integrity Agency appealed the ruling. By law, a person who is declared to be in a state of incompatibility no longer has the right to hold public office for a period of three years after being released or sacked from office or the termination of his or her term in office.
Also on Wednesday, the High Court of Cassation and Justice should have issued a ruling in a case of strategic privatisations in which two former ministers, Codrut Seres and Zsolt Nagy have been convicted, among others, but the ruling was postponed for January 27th. In December 2014, prosecutors requested maximum sentences for the two. A former economy minister, Codrut Seres was convicted to six years in prison, while the former communications and IT minister Zsolt Nagy to five. They are accused of being part of a cross-border crime group and of treason by passing on classified information to private companies during the privatisation of a number of state companies.
The law on cyber security is unconstitutional, ruled Wednesday the Constitutional Court of Romania, following the notification previously made by a group of Liberal MPs, in opposition. According to the Constitutional Court, this 3rd law from the so-called Big Brother package violates the free access to justice and the right to a fair trial, the right to intimate, family and private life, as well as the right to secrecy of correspondence. The law on cyber security, initiated by the government, was passed by the Senate in December, after it had been tacitly approved by the Chamber of Deputies. Another two laws related to the storage of the data of communications networks’ users by the provider for a period of 6 months and to the sale of prepay phone cards were declared unconstitutional.
The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep on Wednesday qualified for the 3rd round of the Australian Open, in Melbourne, which is the year’s first Grand Slam tournament. She defeated the Australian player Jarmila Gajdosova, number 62 in the world, 6-2, 6-2. Simona Halep, WTA 3rd-seed and number 3 favorite to winning the Australian Open, will play in the next round against the American Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Also on Wednesday the second Romanian player to remain in the competition, Irina Begu, currently no. 42 in the world, defeated the Czech player Katerina Siniakova 7-5, 6-4, and qualified for the 3rd round where she will take on the German Carina Witthoeft. In the men’s singles, Romania’s Marius Copil, no. 194 in the world, will play against the defending champion and world no. 4 Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. In the doubles, the Romanian-British pair Florin Mergea and Dominic Inglot qualified for the second round after defeating the Australian pair Matthew Ebden and Matt Reid. The Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecau and Jean Julien Rojer are playing against the Lithuanian-Austrian pair Ricardas Berankis and Andreas Haider-Maurer in the first round.
The former Liberal interior minister Cristian David was detained Wednesday by anticorruption prosecutors in a case related to bribe taking and money laundering. Also on Wednesday, a former state secretary in the justice ministry, Ovidiu Putura, currently a director in this ministry, was detained by prosecutors for 30 days for bribe giving and peddling in influence. The mayor of the western town of Recas Teodor Pavel, currently a member of the Social Democratic Party, and the head of Timis County Police Sorin Muntean and his deputy Florin Balbos, as well as two other police officers have been arrested for 30 days for abuse of office and bribe taking.
