September 15, 2016 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 15.09.2016, 12:32
Romania wishes to be better integrated in all the EU processes, said Romanias president Klaus Iohannis on Thursday, one day before the European Council summit in Bratislava. He gave assurances that Romania would actively contribute to the initiatives aimed at counter fighting threats to Europes security. The president also said that the future of the EU depended on the way in which it managed to respond to citizens concerns regarding migration, terrorism and the economic situation. He mentioned the fact that, at the European Council in Bratislava, he would stress that the EUs strategic priorities should be security, economic growth, the creation of jobs, especially for the youth, and strengthening the domestic market.
Road transport operators in Romania announced on Thursday theyd reached an agreement with the Financial Surveillance Authority regarding the price of the mandatory liability insurance for vehicle owners. Therefore, tariffs will be almost three times smaller than the current ones. Also on Thursday, road transporters unions staged large-scale protests all across the country. The Romanian technocratic government has adopted an emergency ordinance under which the insurance premiums established by the Financial Surveillance Authority are frozen for a period of six months.
Romania will be able to export live pigs to the EU as of October, following a decision made by the European Commissions Veterinary Committee, the Romanian Agriculture Minister Achim Irimescu announced on Thursday. Pork deliveries by domestic companies were banned in 2003, as Romania was using vaccines to eradicate swine fever. The last cases of swine fever in Romania were reported in 2007. According to data provide by the National Statistics Institute, in late May Romania had a livestock of some 4.66 million pigs.
The Bucharest Tribunal has ordered the 30-day arrest of the former Romanian Intelligence Service officer Daniel Dragomir, for his involvement in the so-called Black Cube case. According to the prosecutors, Dragomir got in touch with representatives of the Israeli company Black Cube aiming to denigrate the people he considered responsible for his indictment, last year, by the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) on charges of money laundering and influence peddling. Dragomir allegedly paid the company Black Cube to spy on Laura Codruta Kovesi, the head of the National-Anti-Corruption Directorate. Three Israeli citizens were indicted in the same case, of whom two were arrested and one managed to flee Romania.
The Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu has been heard by anti-corruption prosecutors in the case involving the former deputy governor of the National Bank of Romania, Bogdan Olteanu. In August 12, judges decided to place Olteanu under temporary arrest. According to anti-corruption prosecutors, Olteanu received 1 million euros and other benefits from Sorin Ovidiu Vantu to use his influence and have the Government name Liviu Mihaiu as governor of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. This happened in 2008, when Olteanu was president of the Chamber of Deputies. According to the media, Liviu Mihaiu was appointed Danube Delta Governor in 2008 at Tariceanus order, who at he time was prime minister and leader of the National Liberal Party. Bogdan Olteanu is the first Central Bank official ever detained by prosecutors, but the investigation targets his activity before he took over this position, in 2009.
The Romanian Foreign Minister hails the celebration on September 15th of the International Day of Democracy, established under a resolution issued by the UN General Assembly. In a communiqué, the Ministry recalls that, after the fall of Communism, Romania supported the need for all countries to get involved in strengthening democracy in the world, both directly and through the UN or other international initiatives and organizations. Romania has successfully promoted an initiative at the Human Rights Council, namely the organization of the first Forum on human rights, democracy and the rule of law, due to take place in Geneva between on the 21st and 22nd of November.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that her country must find “viable solutions” to integrate refugees into the workforce faster, as German companies hired less than 100 refugees out of more than one million that entered the country in 2015. Merkel has been harshly criticized for her open-door policy and that caused her the loss of citizens support. Merkels conservative Christian Democrats fell to third place in a recent regional election, after the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
