March 21, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Roxana Vasile, 21.03.2015, 13:48
All countries that join NATO’s anti missile shield will be a target for Russian ballistic missiles, Russian Ambaasador in Copenhagen, Mikhail Vanin has warned. In 2014, Denmark agreed to contribute to NATOs shield with at least a single frigate with sophisticated radar capacity. Russia strongly opposes the missile defense method, with bases planned in Romania and Poland. Russia’s deputy Foreign Minister, Serghei Riabkov has recently warned that the anti-missile systems to be set up in Romania and Poland violate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, something that the US president denies. The US and NATO have repetedly explained that the anti-missile systems in Europe are not directed against Russia but against countries who are not compliant with international laws, such as Iran.
Diversity and multiculturalism enrich today’s world, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday in a message conveyed on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The President pointed out that preserving a historical memory of the forms of racial discrimination, which have greatly impacted mankind, is a duty and an obligation for the progress of society. Only by acknowledging and understanding historical tragedies we become aware of the devastating impact of discrimination, Iohannis said in his message.
The President of the Republic of Moldova, Nicolae Timofti has summoned the country’s Supreme Security Council on Monday, to discuss the regional geopolitical evolutions. The Council, that includes the foreign, home affairs and defence ministers as well as the intelligence chief, will assess the situation in the neighbouring Ukraine where the armed conflict between the government army and the pro-Russian separatists killed over 6 thousand people. Previously, President Timofti said that in this context Moldova must draw closer to NATO, as its security is at risk. The meeting in Chisinau follows elections, on Saturday, for the position of governor of the autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia, in southern Moldova, whose favourite is a candidate supported by the pro-Russian socialists and by Moscow. Opinion polls show that most of the over 150 thousand Gagauz people are in favor of closer ties with Russia and Turkey and over 5% of them want closer ties with the EU. The Gagauz people’s options are radically different from the Chisinau Government’s pro-European orientation, that last year forged association and free trade agreements with Brussels hoping to achieve EU membership in 2020.
The leaders of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the largest party in Romania’s leftist government, revised their party status to include provisions for the political sanctioning of corrupt members. If criminal proceedings are initiated against a PSD member, he or she will lose their position within the government and the parliament, while those held in temporary police custody will automatically lose their political position within the party. In their turn, the leaders of the National Liberal Party, the most important party of the centre-right opposition, have announced that members who are convicted will be expelled from the party while those held in temporary police custody will be suspended from all public positions. These decisions come after tens of Social Democrat and Liberal ministers, MPs, county council presidents and mayors have been prosecuted and convicted for corruption in the last 3 years.
The Romanian Prime Minister, Social Democrat Victor Ponta is also interim Finance Minister. The decision was taken last evening after consultations between the PM and President Klaus Iohannis. Ponta will be interim Finance Minister until Wednesday, when the Government endorses the new Fiscal Code and Fiscal Procedure Code. The former finance minister, Darius Valcov, resigned after being charged with corruption. The National Anti Corruption Directorate has asked the Senate to green light Valcov’s temporary arrest on suspicion of having received 2 million euros in 2008 and 2009 while he was the mayor of Slatina, in exchange for assigning preferential contracts.
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number three in the world, will meet Serbian Jelena Jankovic, ranked 21st, in the final of the Indian Wells tournament. Serena Williams, the world No. 1, was unable to play in her semi-final match due to a right knee injury, resulting in Simona Halep winning via walkover. Halep’s qualification to the final won her 439,420 dollars and 650 WTA points.
