July 24, 2014 UPDATE
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România Internațional, 24.07.2014, 19:48
PM Victor Ponta, the head of the largest left-wing party in Romania, the Social Democratic Party, announced on Thursday that he would run for president this November. He said that next week he would officially seek his party’s support in this respect, in the National Council meeting. Ponta also said the Conservatives and the National Union for the Progress of Romania, junior partners in the ruling coalition, would also back his candidacy. Also this week, the mayor of Sibiu, Klaus Iohannis, the leader of the Liberal Party in opposition, was nominated as the candidate of his party in the presidential election this autumn. Iohannis will compete with Cătălin Predoiu, the candidate supported by the Liberal Democrats, also in opposition. The two large right-wing parties in opposition, which plan to merge into a National Liberal Party, will thus have a common presidential candidate, which will be chosen further to a sociological survey. Kelemen Hunor, head of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, a member of the ruling coalition, and Cristian Diaconescu, from the pro-presidential, right of center People’s Movement, were also confirmed as candidates in the presidential election.
Romania will bring the Italian company Enel before the International Court of Arbitration in Paris for failing to comply with the privatisation contract for Electrica Muntenia Sud. Enel was bound to purchase until the end of 2012, another stake of 13.57% of the shares held by Electrica SA in Electrica Muntenia Sud, after having paid in 2008, around 394 million euros for 50% of the stock. Romanian authorities claim over 520 million euros from the Italian corporation, and according to the Minister Delegate for Energy, Razvan Nicolescu, the decision to bring the case to the Paris Arbitration Court was taken after the amiable talks between Bucharest and Enel failed to lead to an agreement. The Italian company has recently announced its plans to sell its electricity supply operations in Romania.
The EU decided on Thursday to add new names to the list of sanctions against Russia, in the context of the Ukraine crisis. Fifteen individuals, Russian citizens as well as pro-Russian Ukrainians, and 18 legal entities, 9 companies and 9 institutions, accused of supporting the separatists in east Ukraine, have been included in the EU list. Also on Thursday, the Netherlands started on Thursday the identification of the bodies recovered after the Ukraine plane crash, in which 298 people died, including 193 Dutch citizens. Meanwhile, the UK announced data recorded by the two black boxes in the plane were downloaded. Accusations primarily target the pro-Russian separatists, who have allegedly used a missile provided by Russia, whereas in turn Moscow accuses the Ukrainian army.
The European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled against Poland in a case involving secret CIA prisons, AFP reports. Warsaw was condemned for its role in the torturing, on its territory, between 2002 and 2003, of a Palestinian and a Saudi citizen, before they were transferred to the American basis in Guantanamo, where they have been held to this day. Although the ruling is not final, Poland becomes the first EU member state sentenced in the secret CIA jail case, whereas other member countries, including Romania, have been suspected of having hosted similar illegal detention centres. Bucharest denied any involvement in the CIA prison affair.
The Israeli army Thursday carried on its offensive in Gaza Strip, in spite of international diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas. Also on Thursday, the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, called on Qatar and Turkey to pressure their ally Hamas into accepting mediation in this conflict. Since the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza on July the 8th, some 750 Palestinians and 35 Israelis have died, according to a UN report.
