September 11, 2014

News and Current Affairs Romania

Bogdan Matei, 11.09.2014, 11:59

The Parliament committees in charge of the diaspora have called for the resignation of the minister designated to deal with communities abroad, Bogdan Stanoevici, under accusations of incompetence. Members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are also accusing the Social Democrat minister of planning the World Congress of Romanians Abroad in November going against the rules on consulting Parliament, as Parliament did not get to vote in joint session the budget of the event and the methodology of appointing delegates. MPs have also complained loudly about the Diaspora Festival, organized in the summer.

Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean said that the strategic partnership with the US is essential. He added that there is no alternative outside NATO for Romanian foreign policy. 13 years away from the 9/11 attacks, Corlatean said that Romania joined the global war on terror since the beginning, and could not be on the sidelines militarily or from an intelligence point of view.

Romania is not threatened militarily or territorially by the conflict in the area, but will be under economic, informational and commercial threat, said for Mediafax Romanian head of intelligence George Maior. He specified that strategically involved institutions should be supported by the political class in Bucharest in order to be able to cope with these challenges. At the same time, Maior said that, according to Romanian intelligence estimates, tax evasion dropped in Romania from 22 to 27% of the GDP to 18 to 20%. He also added that the worst tax evasion is in VAT, estimated at 12%, followed by national health insurance tax evasion, estimated at 2.4%.