March 3, 2014
A look at the main headlines in Romania today.
România Internațional, 03.03.2014, 12:00
The Social Democratic Union made up of the Social Liberal Party, the Conservative Party and the National Union for the Progress of Romania today resumes talks with the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians to form a new government, following the withdrawal of the Liberal Party. If talks go well, the Social Democrat prime minister Victor Ponta will present his new cabinet to Parliament on Tuesday. In another move, president Traian Basescu says he will challenge the formation of a new cabinet with a different governing platform and run by Victor Ponta at the Constitutional Court. The president argues the replacement of the Liberals is tantamount to changing the governing platform for which the Ponta cabinet received Parliament’s vote. The president believes a new procedure should start to appoint the new prime minister, in which case he would not nominate Victor Ponta again. In response, the prime minister has said the platform of the Social Liberal Union which won the 2012 parliamentary elections will not see any changes, and Parliament will only vote on the government’s political make-up.
The EU foreign ministers are holding an emergency meeting in Brussels today for the second time in ten days to discuss the situation in Ukraine. Romania’s foreign minister Titus Corlăţean, who will be attending the meeting in Brussels said he would voice his country’s deep concern over the situation and emphasise the need to comply with international law. He will also reiterate the need to ensure Ukraine’s stability, security, sovereignty and territorial integrity and will call for active and consistent involvement by the European Union in Ukraine. On Sunday, president Traian Basescu called on Russia to put an end to its “aggression against Ukraine”.
Tensions in Crimea are reminiscent of the Transdniester conflict and show that separatism is contagious and will spread unless a solution is found, the prime minister of the Republic of Moldova, Iurie Leanca told a Radio Free Europe interview. He made these comments ahead of a visit to the US on Monday where he is due to meet US vice-president Joe Biden to discuss the situation in Ukraine and regional security. Supported by Moscow, Tiraspol unilaterally declared its independence from Moldova in 1990 and de facto broke away two years later following an armed conflict. In Bucharest, president Traian Basescu has spoken about the threat of a new frozen conflict in the Black Sea region.
Romania’s national currency has depreciated, with one euro being traded today at 4.52 lei. The drop is blamed on the growing tension in Ukraine and has also affected other regional currencies. European markets slumped on Monday, after climbing for four weeks. Also, the price of oil and natural gas has seen a rise on international markets. The price of Brent oil, which serves as a reference price in Europe, went up by 2% in London to reach 111.2 dollars a barrel. According to Bloomberg, oil and natural gas exports account for almost a half of Russia’s budget revenues.
