October 16, 2013 UPDATE

For a roundup of domestic and international news, click here.

România Internațional, 16.10.2013, 13:08

NEW ECONOMY MINISTER– Liberal Andrei Gherea has been sworn in as Economy Minister in the Romanian Government after President Traian Basescu greenlighted his appointment. President Basescu has said the new minister will have two very difficult tasks: to privatize the Oltchim petrochemical works and the CupruMin company, both owned by the state. Gherea, leader of the Liberal parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies, was nominated after Liberal Varujan Vosganian tendered his resignation last week, being charged with plotting and undermining the national economy.

ROSIA MONTANA-The special parliamentary commission set up to look into the draft law on gold mining in Rosia Montana, central Romania started debating the draft law by articles. The gold mining project proposed by a Canadian company is a controversial one, mainly due to the use of cyanide, triggering large-scale protests in Bucharest and across the country.

SHALE GAS-New projects to exploit shale gas took Romanians to the streets on Tuesday evening, in the commune of Pungesti, Vaslui County and the capital city, Bucharest.

SCHENGEN-Romania meets all necessary technical criteria for Schengen accession, the head of the Greek Parliament Evangelos-Vasileios Meimarakis said in Buchareston Wednesday. After a meeting with the Speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, Valeriu Zgonea, the Greek official said his country will continue to support Romania’s Schengen accession after his country takes over the EU presidency next year. The Greek official also met with Romanian deputy prime minister, Liviu Dragnea.

TRAFFIC CODE-The Romanian Government on Wednesday Ok-ed a new Traffic Code bill and submitted it to Parliament for debate. The bill has been revised several times and has stirred heated debates within the ruling Social Liberal Union. Drivers, on the other hand, have contested the bill. The decision to revise the Traffic Code was meant to decrease the big number of car accidents. In 2012, one person died in a car accident, every four hours.

FILM-The controversial film “The Life of Adele: Chapters 1 and 2” by the French-Tunisian film-maker Abdellatif Kechiche will be screened in Romania as of November 1st. Before its official premiere in Romania, the film will be presented at a festival dubbed “Cannes Films in Bucharest” to be held between October 25th and 31st. Almost 50,000 people went to see this film in France on the first day it entered cinemas. The film won a Palme d’Or this year.