March 13, 2014 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Valentin Țigău, 13.03.2014, 13:41
Russia has dispatched six SU-27 fighter jets and three military cargo planes to Byelorussia in response to a request from the local authorities in Minsk against the background of intensified NATO activities at the Byelorussian borders, sources with the Byelorussian Defence Ministry have announced. On Monday, NATO announced that AWACS radar-planes were carrying out surveillance missions in the air space of Ukraine’s neighbours, Romania and Poland. Concurrently the United States decided to step up joint military drills with Poland as well as its involvement in protecting the air space of the Baltic countries. The European Parliament on Thursday called on the EU to adopt a.s.a.p fresh sanctions against Russia, including an arms embargo as well as economic sanctions if the situation in Crimea remains tense.
Romanian president Traian Basescu received in Bucharest on Thursday the general director of US company Chevron, Derek Magness. The two discussed the importance of transferring know-how in shale gas exploitation to Romania. The Romanian official also received the vice-president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company Johnny L. Hall and the general director of OMV-Petrom, Mariana Gheorghe, who briefed him on the arrival in the following months of a new oilrig to operate close to the Romanian Black Sea coast. Traian Basescu has told the ExxonMobil and OMV-Petrom experts that when they are doing research on the local market, they should also take into consideration the neighboring Republic of Moldova, which Romania pledged to supply with energy.
About 1000 trade unionists from Romania’s metallurgy sector took to the streets of Bucharest on Thursday for protests against the government’s energy policy. The protesters said the liberalization of the price in energy and gas would entail the closing down of the big plants. On Wednesday, trade unionists from Romania’s industrial sectors picketed the headquarters of the Constitutional Court and called for the immediate cancellation of an ordinance on renewable energy and for cutting down on prices in electricity. According to them the government’s lack of action in this situation is to cause losses by limiting and closing down industrial sectors, and as a result many jobs will be axed.
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta will be paying a formal visit to Georgia over March the 14th and 15th. This is Ponta’s first visit to this country in his capacity as a Prime Minister. On Friday, Ponta will first go to the Republic of Moldova, for talks with Prime Minister Iurie Leanca. In Georgia the Romanian Prime Minister is to be received by the country’s president Giorgi Margvelashvilli and hold talks with his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvilli. According to an official communiqué Ponta’s visit to Georgia is conveying a clear message for the country’s European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations against the background of the latest regional developments.
Romania is counting on Italy’s support for its Schengen accession, Valeriu Zgonea, president of the Chamber of Deputies in the Romanian Parliament said during the meeting he had with his Italian counterpart Laura Boldrini in Rome on Thursday. Zgonea has also held talks with the speaker of the Italian senate Pietro Grasso and with the state secretary for European Affairs, Sandro Gozi. Among other things Laura Boldrini has highlighted the contribution of Romanian workers to the Italian economy, at the same time condemning the xenophobic reports in the media, which have created a negative image of the Romanian community living in Italy. Between March 13th and 15th Zgonea will be talking part in the international conference entitled Europe’s Values. Economic Growth, jobs and fundamental rights: Challenges for the European Union, staged in Rome by the Chamber Deputies in the Italian Parliament jointly with the Parliament of Greece, a country currently holding the EU rotating presidency.
