April 9, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Ştefan Stoica, 09.04.2015, 12:15
Four people were killed and another one was badly injured on Thursday at the Palace of Justice in the Italian city of Milan. The suspect, Claudio Giardiello, was reportedly a defendant in a bankruptcy case. He was arrested in a Milan suburb after fleeing the scene. The shooting has prompted scrutiny of security procedures at the courthouse.
The Romanian Senate will comply with the Constitutional Court’s decision and will publish in the Official Gazette the decision whereby it acknowledges that it rejected the Anti-Corruption Directorate’s request to place Social Democrat senator Dan Sova, accused of abuse of office, under temporary police custody. The Directorate had called on the Senate to green light Dan Sovas placement under temporary police custody but although most MPs had voted in favor, the Senate dismissed the request for lack of quorum.
Romania is a reliable NATO ally, and NATO defends all its allies against any threat, is the response of the North-Atlantic Alliance to the new warnings that Russia sent to Bucharest. Russia has warned Romania, for the second time in a week, that the decision to strengthen the NATO presence on its territory undermines regional stability at the Black Sea. In response, the NATO deputy spokesperson Carmen Romero said that Russia’s allegations are ungrounded, provocative and inappropriate. The Romanian PM Victor Ponta welcomed NATO’s response, which clearly underlines the decision of the Alliance to protect its members against any form of aggression. The Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu also posted a statement saying that NATO’s reaction to the warnings of the Russian Foreign Ministry accurately reflects Romania’s views.
The World Bank has decreased Moldova’s economic growth forecast for this year from 3.8%, to 2%, which is below the region’s average. A decrease in the country’s economic growth has also been forecast for 2016, from an initial 3% to only 1.2%. The report shows that the former Soviet republic, with a majority Romanian-speaking population, continues to be vulnerable to the geo-political tensions in the region and has transparency problems in its financial banking system. According to the World Bank, Moldova remains vulnerable to the geopolitical tensions, the soundness and transparency of the banking sector and the fiscal management pressure. The country should continue to implement prudent macroeconomic policies with low fiscal deficits and a flexible exchange rate subordinated to inflation to shelter from external vulnerabilities.
Eurozone officials say that Greece has 6 working days to come up with a revised list of economic reforms to seal a deal on its next rescue bailout. Greece is on the verge of bankruptcy because it could not agree with its foreign lenders on the reform package attached to some financial assistance programs worth 240 billion euros. Greece said it had met Thursdays deadline to repay 450 million euros to the International Monetary Fund.
