March 2, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Bogdan Matei, 02.03.2015, 12:15
The United States has warned Russia that it risks further economic sanctions if the Minsk ceasefire fails to hold. The US Secretary of State John Kerry, after a meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov on Monday in Geneva, said that talks involved frank discussions on Ukraine, coming less than a week after he accused Moscow of lying about its involvement in the conflict. Also on Monday, the EU, Ukraine and Russia continued consultations in Brussels on natural gas deliveries. It was the European Commission that proposed these consultations, amid concerns that Russia might cut off gas deliveries to Ukraine, which might affect the rest of Europe.
Chief of the Cardiovascular Department of a Bucharest hospital and one of the best Romanian cardiologists, Serban Bradisteanu, a former Social Democratic senator, received a one-year suspended prison sentence on Monday for having tried to delay the incarceration of former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase by invoking false health issues. The ruling was delivered by the High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest. Also on Monday, anti-corruption prosecutors started the criminal investigation of the former head of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Liberal Mihail Vlasov, for bribe taking.
The Bucharest Parliament approved on Monday the appointment of MEP Eduard Hellvig at the helm of the Romanian Intelligence Service. Nominated by president Klaus Iohannis, Hellving was supported in Parliament by both opposition parties, such as the Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, and by the parties in power, such as the Social Democratic Party, the Conservative Party and the National Union for the Progress of Romania. Right after the vote Hellving resigned from the National Liberal Party. A member of the Liberal Party since 2008, Hellvig was the Minister of Regional Development and Tourism in 2012 in Victor Ponta’s Social-Liberal Cabinet. This autumn he joined Klaus Iohannis’s staff. The position of Intelligence Service chief was left vacant on January 27, when George Cristian Maior tendered his resignation after eight years in office.
The access of the Romanians abroad to voting and the Congress of Romanians Everywhere, to be staged by year-end were among the issues discussed on Monday by Minister Delegate for Romanians Abroad Angel Tilvar and representatives of the Romanian communities in Sicily. Monday was the last in the three-day official visit of Minister Tilvar to southern Italy in order to address the situation of Romanians in the region. Minister Tilvar encouraged Romanians in Italy to preserve their identity and promote their culture, religion and customs. On Saturday and Sunday the Romanian official met with representatives of the Romanian community here which totals over 40,000 people. Talks focused on certain labour issues the Romanians have been signalling in recent years, such as labour conflicts, labour abuses or unreported employment. Some 1 million Romanians are living in Italy, making for the largest community in the Diaspora.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday will chair the first meeting of the Supreme Defence Council since he took office. The situation in Ukraine and its effects on Romania, challenges such as migration from areas with terrorist potential and the Euro-Atlantic integration of the countries in the Western Balkans are among the issues to be approached.
