The Week in Review, 20-27 July
A look back at the weeks top stories in politics, economy, society, culture and sports.
România Internațional, 26.07.2014, 17:35
Candidacies for the presidential elections
Prime Minister Victor Ponta, the leader of the main ruling party, the left-wing Social-Democratic Party, announced on Thursday he will be running for president in the upcoming elections of November. Victor Ponta announced that in next week’s meeting of the National Council he would officially seek his party’s support. Ponta added that the Conservative Party and the National Union for the Progress of Romania, the Social Democrats’ allies in the ruling coalition, have also rallied to support his candidacy. Also this week Sibiu Mayor Klaus Iohannis, the leader of the National Liberal Party in opposition, has been designated as the party’s candidate in the presidential elections. The National Liberal Party has decided to merge with the Liberal-Democratic Party, also in the center-right opposition, and to designate a joint candidate in the elections. Klaus Iohannis will have to compete for the nomination with the Liberal-Democrat candidate, Catalin Predoiu. Kelemen Hunor will be running for the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, while Cristian Diaconescu will be the candidate of the People’s Movement Party.
Economic measures
A delegation of the International Monetary Fund was in Bucharest this week to discuss the first budget adjustment in 2014. The Romanian authorities and the International Monetary Fund agreed on a budget deficit level of 2.2% of the GDP. According to official data, although budget returns increased in the first five months of the year, they are lower than expected when the budget was first drafted. Moreover, the government must also address the drop in budget returns as a result of a 5% cut in the amount of social security contribution paid by employers, planned for October. President Traian Basescu sent the bill in question back to Parliament for reexamination saying he did not have a problem with the bill as such, but that his objections had to do with how the resulting pension fund deficit would be financed. According to the prime minister, the measure, which costs the state 4.8 billion lei per year, may be covered by the additional returns resulting from the social contributions paid for the newly created jobs, additional VAT returns following new potential investments, the recovery of debts from insolvent companies and lower tax evasion.
The situation in Ukraine
Romania wants the NATO military resources not to be reduced on the Alliance’s eastern flank. The statement has been made by Romanian President Traian Basescu, who has described the situation in northern Ukraine as a hybrid war. According to President Basescu, responsibility for the latest developments in Ukraine lies with the separatists, but also with Moscow, which has been supporting them. Traian Basescu has taken part this week in Warsaw in a meeting of heads of NATO states in central and eastern Europe, which focused on the regional situation, with an emphasis on the crisis in Ukraine and preparations for the NATO summit in the UK in September. The crisis in Ukraine topped the meeting’s agenda. The EU has added 15 Russian and Ukrainian individuals and 18 entities to its sanctions list, for their role in the Ukrainian crisis. In another development, the Netherlands has started the process of identifying the bodies retrieved after the plane crash in Ukraine. All 298 people on board, including 193 Dutch citizens, lost their lives. Pro-Russian separatists are considered to be guilty of downing the plane, by using a missile supplied by Russia, while Moscow accuses the Ukrainian army for the crash.
Romanians repatriated from Gaza
As many as 19 Romanian citizens and their families have been repatriated this week from Gaza, following an escalation of violence in the region. Last week, another 84 Romanian citizens were repatriated together with their families. The conflict in Gaza, which started on July 8th, has already caused the death of hundreds of Palestinians, most of them civilians, and tens of Israelis. Major European and American airlines cancelled their flights to Tel Aviv for security reasons. Other air companies, including the Romanian Tarom, have resumed flights after a temporary halt.
Russia imposes embargo on Moldovan products
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta and Agriculture Minister Daniel Constantin reiterated their commitment to supporting the Republic of Moldova – a former Romanian province with a mostly Romanian-speaking population – in order to help it face the economic sanctions imposed by the Russian Federation. Russia has banned fruit and vegetable imports from Moldova, after previously doing so with meat and wine. The Russian embargo follows Moldova’s ratification, in June, of the association and free trade agreements with the European Union. The decision, although anticipated by analysts, is nevertheless inexplicable according to Moldova’s PM Iurie Leanca. Russia motivated its decision by saying the Moldovan products are infested. The exports banned by Russia will most likely reach the EU market, and also Arab and Belarusian markets.
