September 28 – October 3
Click here for a roundup of the week's main stories.
România Internațional, 03.10.2015, 14:00
Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, has paid a visit to the US
During the visit he paid to the US this week, Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, delivered three speeches before the world leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly in New York, on the fight against terrorism, gender equality and the eradication of poverty. After the adoption of the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, Bucharest will revise its “National Sustainable Development Strategy, which will include the 17 goals and 169 targets agreed upon at the New York Summit, the Romanian President said. Klaus Iohannis said the revised Romanian strategy would lay emphasis on supporting the inclusion in the development policies of people with disabilities, youngsters and women. Decent employment opportunities should be created in order to eradicate poverty, and social cohesion policies are needed to prevent and avoid social exclusion, the Romanian president has also said.
The 2030 agenda is aimed at eradicating poverty under all its forms and at ensuring the sustainable development of the world. In another move, the Romanian president also said the United Nations should be less tolerant with respect to the prolonged conflicts in the Transdniester region (in the east of the Republic of Moldova), in Georgia and in Nagorno Karabah. Klaus Iohannis said the lack of action in such situations generated the wrong impression that it is possible and tolerable to illegally obtain territory to the detriment of sovereign and independent states. This goes for the situation in Ukraine, in which case the United Nations and the Security Council in particular didnt take the action measures in accordance with the provisions of the UN Charter. A focal point on the agenda of the Romanian Presidents visit to the US was the meeting with US Vice-president, Joe Biden. The Strategic Partnership between Bucharest and Washington, bilateral economic ties as well as the fight against corruption in Romania were also high on the agenda of the talks.
The Ponta Cabinet survives the 4th no-confidence motion
The Social Democrat PM Victor Ponta faced the 4th no-confidence motion in Parliament on Tuesday. In order to pass, the motion had to be supported by at least 275 senators and deputies, that is half plus one of the total votes. As expected, the motion did not pass, so the Ponta Cabinet continues its activity. The Liberals, who initiated the no-confidence motion, argued that Victor Ponta could no longer be head of the government because he lost his credibility after being sent to court by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate for forgery of private documents, accessory to tax evasion and money laundering. Ponta is accused of involvement, while a lawyer, in a case of legal assistance contracts signed by the Turceni and Rovinari power companies that caused losses to the state worth 16 million euros. In the Liberals opinion, Ponta is a prime minister who can no longer represent Romania with dignity. Victor Ponta has repeatedly dismissed the prosecutors accusations and has turned down President Klaus Iohanniss calls for his resignation. In Parliament, the PM said he could not see the point of the censure motion, as the accusations levelled against him had nothing to do with the Governments activity.
Bucharest wants to forge a new agreement with the IMF
Romania will officially ask for the signing of a new agreement with the IMF some time this year, Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici has announced. According to Minister Teodorovici, negotiations will rather focus on implementing structural reforms than on the budget deficit. In his opinion, this strategy is needed in order to protect Romanias finances against market shocks and to enable the country to take out cheaper loans from the foreign market. The latest precautionary accord that Romania had signed with the IMF in 2013, worth 2 billion euros, expired last week. Talks between the IMF and the Romanian authorities have been marked by divergences lately, because of the Romanian Governments fiscal plans.
Health system employees receive bigger salaries
Salaries of the medical staff went up by 25% as of October 1st, with 200 thousand people benefiting from this measure. The Government motivated the decision made this summer, by saying that it wanted to prevent the drain of physicians, in search for bigger salaries. At present, the average net salary in the health system stands at around 340 euros, according to the National Institute of Statistics.
The Volkswagen scandal in Romania
The Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and Seat car dealers in Romania are no longer allowed to sell the diesel cars they have on stock. The Bucharest authorities have taken this measure until the situation of the cars equipped with devices that cheat pollution tests is cleared. The German carmaker Volkswagen is involved in a huge scandal after admitting it has equipped 11 million diesel vehicles with software designed to cheat emission tests. Last week the Romanian Car Registry Authority asked the Volkswagen dealers in Romania to provide a list with the types of vehicles equipped with such devices. The Environment Minister, Gratiela Gavrilescu, said the Romanian State would take legal action against the producer or its representative in Romania.
