September 4, 2018
Supreme Defense Council discusses security budget; Swine fever culling continues in Romania
Bogdan Matei, 04.09.2018, 13:27
BUCHAREST – Romanias Supreme Defense Council meets on Tuesday in Bucharest to analyze proposals to adjust the budget of national security institutions. President Klaus Iohannis decided to call this meeting after the governing coalition accused him of blocking a budget adjustment this year, with relevance regarding salaries, social assistance expenditure, financing the action to combat the swine fever epidemic, as well as Romanias contribution to the EU budget. The head of state said that the executive could have already made budget adjustments outside the national security sphere. He said that the Social Democrats have put together an irresponsible budget that cannot be applied in practice.
PROTESTS — The Senate Defense Committee canceled, upon request from the ruling Social Democratic Party, the hearings scheduled for today around the violence that erupted at the August 10th anti-government protests in Bucharest. The committee had called in Interior Minister Carmen Dan, the coordinator of gendarmes at the protest, Laurentiu Cazan, and Bucharest Prefect Speranta Cliseru. Hearings are being held, though, at the General Prosecutors Office, which interviewed the mayor of Bucharest, Social Democrat Gabriela Firea. On Saturday, at the National Executive meeting of her party on Saturday, she called for the interior minister to resign, accusing her of passing on to the prefect the responsibility for the forceful intervention of the gendarmes. So far, 770 criminal complaints have been filed by people who suffered injuries as a result of the intervention.
EPIDEMIC — 11 counties in Romania have so far been affected by the swine fever epidemic, resulting in the culling of over 140,000 pigs, and Minister of Agriculture Petre Daea said that action would continue. According to the minister, many of the culled pigs were female, but that repopulation would occur within 90 days. Meanwhile, two new outbreaks have been confirmed in the county of Constanta, in the southeast, and the authorities started slaughtering pigs in the two villages. Right now, the number of outbreak spots amounts to around 180.
FOOTBALL – The Romanian national football team prepares its first game in the newly created League of Nations, scheduled for Friday against Montenegro, at home in the city of Ploiesti. On Monday, the Romanians play away from home against neighboring Serbia, in Belgrade. In October, they play away from home against Lithuania, within Group 4. The results in the League of Nations count towards the preliminaries of the 2020 European Championships.
CHISINAU — The Moldovan Defense Minister, Eugen Sturza, warned from Chisinau that the presence of Russian troops on his countrys territory is a danger, comparing the situation in Transdnestr with that of Crimea, which Russia annexed four years ago. In June, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution introduced by Chisinau to have Russian troops pull out of Transdnestr. The Moldovan authorities lost control of Transdnestr after an armed conflict in 1992, which left hundreds dead and was settled by the intervention of Russian troops on behalf of the pro-Russian separatists.
WARSAW — Around 50 politicians, analysts and businesspeople represent Romania at the International Economic Forum, taking place today in the Polish city of Krynica. Participants from 60 countries on three continents will evaluate the prospects of world economy for the future. The three day conference will analyze the future of Europe in terms of energy security, EU internal cooperation, European agriculture, as well as continental security. According to Radio Romanias correspondent there, the conference also analyzes security in the Black Sea area following the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia.
