July 18, 2015

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 18.07.2015, 12:01

The Romanian Government wants the new
Fiscal Code to come into force at the beginning of next year at the latest and
it will use all the necessary legal means to make sure this happens, the
Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici has stated. We recall that president Klaus
Iohannis rejected the new code and sent it back to Parliament for
reexamination. According to the president, the fiscal relaxation measures
provided in the new code would
seriously affect the state budget. The fiscal code should not promote policies
that generate excessive taxation, but it should not allow for steep relaxations
either, the head of state has also said.
In turn, the Finance Minister has drawn attention to the fact that the
president’s decision delays the preparation of the 2016 state budget and
generates confusion in the business environment. Prime Minister Victor Ponta
too has criticized the president’s rejection of the new code, saying that such
a decision runs counter to the country’s interests. The liberal opposition, however,
claims that sending the Fiscal Code back to
Parliament was the right thing to do, as the Government had not provided
any details regarding the preparation for implementation of the new provisions,
without which economic imbalance may occur.
The main political parties in Romania are in favour of an extraordinary
parliament session to reexamine the law, as Romania urgently needs a Fiscal
Code.

The Greek Prime Minister
Alexis Tsipras reshuffled his government after the revolt of part of its
majority during the voting in parliament on the reforms requested by the
international lenders in exchange for a fresh bailout program, France Presse
and Reuters report. Tsipras changed ten ministers and deputy-ministers who
voted against the proposed measures. In exchange for 86 billion Euro worth of
funding, Greece has accepted major reforms in the pensions system, a higher
VAT, a revision of the rules of collective bargaining and a tighter control of
public expenditure. In Berlin, the Bundestag approved the start of negotiations
for a third financial program for Greece. The largest EU economy, Germany is
the biggest contributor to the aid plans for the Eurozone countries. The EU has
decided to grant Greece 7 billion Euros in the form of a loan which will allow
Athens to keep part of the commitments it made in exchange for the financial
aid.

70 members of the Romanian
Ground Force are participating starting today until the end of the month in a
multinational exercise in Ukraine. Some 1 thousand 800 soldiers from 18 countries
members of NATO and the Partnership for Peace will train for defensive and
peace keeping operations. In another development, the ‘Sea Shield’
multi-national exercise is due to start in the Black Sea on Monday, organized
by the Romanian Naval Forces and focusing on fighting techniques deployed
against submarines. Participating will be some
2000 soldiers from 7 NATO countries – Bulgaria, Greece, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Romania, the US, Turkey – and also Ukraine.

Three Ukrainian civilians and
one soldier have been killed in the
past 24 hours in the separatist east of Ukraine, where the army have today
denounced an escalation of violence, despite the international calls for
observing the peace accords, France Presse reports. The Russian president Vladimir
Putin, his French and Ukrainian counterparts Francois Hollande and Petro
Porosenko respectively, together with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel had a phone conference on Friday, the first
since April 30th, and they made an appeal for a strict observance of
the commitments made by the parties involved.
Over 6,500 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine in 15 months of
armed conflict.

Today, in the Romanian Black
Sea Coast resort of Mamaia, Horia Tecau and Florin Mergea of Romania will take
on the Slovak pair Andrei Martin/Igor Zelenay in the Davis Cup’s doubles event.
On Friday, after the first simple games, there is a draw, 1-1. Adrian Ungur
lost to the Slovak Martin Klizan, while Marius Copil defeated Norbert Gombos.
On Sunday, Marius Copil will be taking on Martin Klizan, and Adrian Ungur will
face Norbert Gombos. The winner of the Romania – Slovakia game will play for
qualification to the Davis Cup World Group.

The Romanian women’s epee
team, made up of Ana Maria Branza, Simona Gherman, Loredana Dinu and Simona Pop
has today qualified for semifinals of the World Fencing Championships in Moscow, after
defeating the Hungarian side. In the world semifinals, which are a
qualification criterion for the 2016 Olympic Games, Romania will face the
Ukrainian team.