March 17, 2015
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Mihai Pelin, 17.03.2015, 12:00
Romanian President Klaus Johannis today is on an official visit to Ukraine, where he will be holding talks with his counterpart Petro Poroshenko, with Parliament President Volodimir Groisman and Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk. President Johannis’ visit to Ukraine has occurred against an intricate geo-political backdrop, while talks with his counterpart Poroshenko will mainly be focusing on the developments in the wake of Crimea’s annexation by Russia and the outbreak of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Klaus Johannis has reiterated Romania’s staunch support for neighboring Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders and firmly condemned the deterioration of the security condition. Johannis went on to say Bucharest favoured a dialogue-based solution to put an end to the armed conflict in Ukraine, while Romania wanted to get involved in solving the problem. Also high on the talks’ agenda is the support of Ukraine’s ethnic Romanians and of the ethnic Ukrainians living in Romania, a set target that can also be met through the reactivation of governmental mechanisms, Johannis added.
National Integrity Agency President Horia Georgescu has tendered his resignation and has today appeared before the Supreme Court, with the proposition to be kept in custody for 30 days. The National Anti-Corruption Department has detained Georgescu following accusations of abuse of office over 2008-2009, when Georgescu was a member of the Central Damage Assessment Commission, which was part of the National Property Restitution Agency. The estimated damage in a file targeting overvalued property restitution stands at 75 million Euro. Anti-corruption prosecutors have also detained the mayor of Constanta, Social-Democrat Radu Mazare, currently under investigation in several files. Mazare will find out also today if he is kept in custody for the next month. The National Anti-Corruption Department’s accusations target bribe-taking, abuse of office and conflict of interest, while the estimated damage stands at 26 million euro.
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said the he would call on the Senate to issue an emergency procedure for debating and passing the new Fiscal and Fiscal Procedure Codes. According to the Prime Minister, the bills are to be submitted to Parliament on March 25th at the latest and do not rule out the procedure of taking responsibility by the government in July this year. According to Ponta, the passing of the two bills is instrumental in assuring economic development and in keeping sustainable economic growth. The Prime Minister is looking for a new Financial Minister, after Darius Valcov tendered his resignation amid corruption allegations.
The naval exercise undertaken by the North Atlantic Alliance in the Black Sea, with Romania also taking part in it, draws to a close today, when six other vessels of the alliance – four frigates, a cruise ship and an auxiliary ship will be leaving the area. Earlier this week American and Romanian military have initiated warfare exercise action targeting submarines and enemy vessels, repelling attacks by enemy ships and motor boats, as well as communications exercises. Another joint Romanian-American exercise is to take place in Romania’s air space in the central-western region of Campia Turzii, until March 26. Concurrently, NATO has initiated large-scale military exercises in western and Northern Europe, in Great Britain, Norway and Germany. In turn, the Russian Federation has begun unannounced military manoeuvres in its European arctic territory. A group of ships, part of the Russia’s Black Sea fleet has performed drills using live rounds, while 8,000 Russian military have started manoeuvres in the Russian Federation’s Southern districts, Northern Caucasus and Crimea, as well as in Russias military bases in Armenia, South Osetia and Abhasia.
The world’s number three tennis player, the Romanian Simona Halep is today taking on the world’s number 15 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, in the round of 16 at the WTA tournament of Indian Wells, with 5.3 million dollars prize money at stake. Halep had been facing Pliskova only once this year, in the finals of the tournament in Dubai, when the Romanian secured a laid-back win against her Czech opponent. In the men’s doubles, the Romanian-British pair made of Florin Mergea and Dominic Inglot has got through to the Indian Wells quarterfinals, where they will be taking on the winner of the match pitting the Australian-British pair made of Thanasi Kokkinakis and Andy Murray against the Polish-Serbian pair made of Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic.
