May 22, 2015
Click here for a roundup of Romanian and international news
România Internațional, 22.05.2015, 12:00
The EU leaders are participating in Riga in the Eastern Partnership Summit together with their counterparts from 6 countries members of the Eastern Partnership. Romania, which is represented by President Klaus Iohannis, supports the reiteration of the EUs commitment to the 6 former Soviet Republic: Ukraine, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, that already started to provisionally apply the association and free trade agreements concluded with the EU, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Belarus. The summit in Riga takes place against the backdrop of the tensest relation between the EU and Russia since the end of the Cold War, after Moscow was sanctioned for annexing Crimea and supporting the pro-Russian separatists in the east of Ukraine with weapons and troops, accusations which Russia rejected though.
The IMF experts continue their assessment mission in Bucharest until May 26th, in the context in which Romania wants to end the current financial program with the IMF in September. The main topics of discussion are the amendments brought to the Fiscal Code and the economic measures to be adopted as of January 1st 2016, in the context in which the government insists that Romania needs fiscal relaxation. According to the president of the Budget-Finance Committee, Viorel Stefan, the IMF representatives admit the need for fiscal relaxation considering it beneficial for the Romanian economy but they want guarantees for the compensatory measures related to preserving the budget deficit target assumed by Romania. The current agreement, the 3rd after the start of the economic crisis in 2009, was concluded in September 2013 for a period of 2 years and is worth almost 2 billion euros.
The Romanian Navy is organizing for the first time, until May 28th, a multinational exercise “Romanian Trident Poseidon 2015, which is taking place in the Romanian territorial waters and the Black Sea international waters. The exercise involves ships and marines from Romania, Bulgaria and the US, and also the ground forces, air forces, and Coast Guard troops as well as representatives of the Oil Services Group and the Medical Department. In another development, until the end of June, Romanian MIG 21 Lancer planes will undertake patrol missions alongside Portuguese fighter planes in the Romanian air space, including above the Black Sea. These missions are coordinated by the NATO Air Command based in Ramstein, Germany, and are part of the NATO measures for guaranteeing the security of the states on the Alliances eastern flank.
Romania will be represented in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, to take place on Saturday in Vienna, by the band Voltaj with their song “All over again. Of the 40 countries participating in the contest, another 20 countries reached the final besides Romania following the two semi-finals, not to mention the states directly qualified in the final which are the big sponsors of the Eurovision contest, Great Britain, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, which is the guest of this jubilee 60th edition of the contest, and Austria, the host country. The winner of the Eurovision contest will be chosen following the vote of the specialized juries from the participating countries, cumulated with the vote of the audience.
The terrorist group the Islamic State conquered the last cross-border point on the frontier between Syria and Iraq, this being a strategic victory that opens its path to key areas controlled by Bashar al-Assads regime, including the way to the capital Damascus. Despite the military help that the US grants to Baghdad and Damascus, the Islamic State at present controls more than half of the Syrian territory, a state torn apart by a civil war for four years. The Jihadists are also taking advantage of the instability in Libya, where they conquered several key-cities.
