March 11, 2015
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 11.03.2015, 12:04
The European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, is today on the second day of her visit to Romania, received by President Klaus Iohannis and the minister for European funds, Eugen Teodorovici. On Thursday she takes part in a conference on financing opportunities for SMEs in 2014-2020, and the launch of the 2014-202 ‘Administrative Capacity’ Operational Program. Yesterday she held talks with the Transport Minister Ioan Rus, on Romania’s transport master plan, considered a strategic document by Brussels. According to Commissioner Cretu, the EC will supply 6.8 billion Euro before 2020 for infrastructure projects included in the plan. More details after the news.
The head of the Social Democratic Party, standing PM Victor Ponta, testified today in the Supreme Court that there was no violation of the law in the conduct of the presidential impeachment referendum of 2012. The case involves Deputy Prime Minister Liviu Dragnea and 74 people. Liviu Dragnea was indicted by anti-corruption prosecutors on 7 October 2013, accused of using undue influence to alter the outcome of the referendum on July 29, 2012, organized to dismiss by popular vote the then president, Traian Basescu. Many more present or former members of the Social Democratic Party have been heard in the case, mostly involved in organizing the referendum. Even though 87% of voters were in favor of dismissing the president, the referendum was declared invalid for lack of a quorum. The central election commission said poll attendance was 46.24%, below the prescribed 50%.
Romanian and US forces continue joint exercises as part of the Black Sea Rotation Force. The exercise is part of the large scale program of exercises currently run by the US Marine Corps in the Black Sea, Balkan and Caucasus area. Manoeuvres are attended by troops from Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, the UK and the US, with activities in Bulgaria, Georgia and Romania. Naval forces from Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Canada, Germany, Italy and the US are also training. This large scale endeavour comes in response to alarming developments in Eastern Europe.
After 8 consecutive days on the rise, the US dollar has reached the historic high exchange rate of 4.2 lei. Financial analysts expect for the dollar to continue to appreciate against the Euro as well as the leu, as the European Central Bank is flooding the market with currency. The Euro will drop against other currencies in the upcoming period, and the leu will drop against the dollar and other currencies. The ECB started taking Monday quantitative relaxation measures worth 1,100 billion Euro to fight deflation and unemployment, in an attempt to stimulate the Eurozone economy. For consumers, a more expensive dollar means paying more for products priced in the US currency, most notably fuels, whose price will continue going up.
The lower chamber of the Romanian Parliament votes today on the simple motion filed by the Liberal Opposition in relation to European funds. The document calls, among other things, on the standing minister, Eugen Teodorovici, to testify in Parliament on the low performance of the country in this area. The party who filed the motion claim that the present budget bill, covering 2014-2020, only repeats the mistakes of the 2007-2013 budget, which put Romania in the last place in Europe in terms of absorbing community funds.
Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu will today be taking on Serbia’s Alexandra Krunici in the first round at Indian Wells, a tournament with more than five million dollars prize money. If she makes headway into the competition, Niculescu will be facing world’s number one tennis player, Serena Williams. The world’s number 3 tennis player, the Romanian Simona Halep will be playing straight into the second round. In the qualifiers of the tournament’s men’s version, the Romanian Victor Hanescu will be proving his mettle against Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili.
