March 7, 2015
Click here for an update of Romanian and world news
România Internațional, 07.03.2015, 12:00
The informal meeting of the EU foreign ministers continues Saturday in Riga. Romania is represented at the meeting by minister Bogdan Aurescu. On Friday the EU foreign ministers pleaded for increasing the number of OSCE observers in the east of Ukraine, where a fragile truce between the pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian army has been is place since February 15th. The European officials have also agreed that the observers from the former Soviet republic needed technical support, including satellite television and other equipment, that should help them monitor the situation in certain areas where the access of civilian experts is impossible. Talks also focused on the crisis in Libya, the preparation of the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga on the 21st and 22nd of May, the revision of the European Neighborhood Policy as well as the EU Strategic Framework.
The Romanian economy might grow by 3% if the Fiscal Code and the Fiscal Procedure Code are modified said the Romanian finance minister Darius Valcov. The National Agency for Fiscal Administration should take further measures to fight tax evasion, and if the new codes, which are now under public debate, were applied, the population’s purchasing power would grow with the reduction of taxation, Darius Valcov added. In his opinion, the implementation of the new codes will create more than 500 thousand jobs.
The European Central Bank will launch on Monday a large-scale program worth 1,100 billion euros meant to support the Euro zone economy and avoid deflation in the euro zone countries. The president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, pointed out that, as of Monday, the bank would start purchasing euro bonds and would continue to buy mortgage-backed and asset-backed bonds. The European Central Bank program is applied in the context in which the annual inflation rate in the Euro Zone continued to drop in January, reaching minus 0.6% from 0.2% in December. If this trend continues, the Euro zone will technically enter a period of deflation.
The matches of Romania’s Davis Cup continue Saturday in Sibiu (central Romania) in the first round of Europe/Africa Zone Group I. In the doubles, the pair Horia Tecau/ Florin Mergea will play against the pair Jonathan Erlich/ Edan Leshem. Romania’s team is ahead of the Israeli team by 2 points after the first single matches played on Friday. Adrian Ungur defeated Bar Tzuf Botzer 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 and Marius Copil won against Israel’s no. 1 Dudi Sela, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2. On Sunday, Adrian Ungur plays against Dudi Sela and Marius Copil against Bar Tzuf Botzer.
Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will pay a visit to Romania on Monday. He will meet with president Klaus Iohannis, with PM Victor Ponta and his counterpart Bogdan Aurescu. According to the German embassy in Bucharest, during this visit, Steinmeier will receive the title of honorary citizen of the city of Sibiu. He will participate there in an event organized by the German’s Democratic Forum in Romania which marks 25 years of existence.
