January 17, 2017
Florian Coldea broke no law or regulation while holding the position of First Deputy-Director of the Romanian Intelligence Service, according to the special investigation commission./ The European Parliament elects its new President.
România Internațional, 17.01.2017, 13:47
ROMANIAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE A special commission of the Romanian Intelligence Service has today announced that the analysis of the activity carried out by the first deputy-director Florian Coldea has revealed no elements that would constitute violations of laws or regulations in force. Florin Coldea was suspended last week, and his responsibilities were taken over by the director of the institution Eduard Hellvig, following accusations made by the former deputy Sebastian Ghita, who had accused Coldea of illegal activities. The executive board of the Romanian Intelligence Service has decided to put the first deputy director back in office. However, Coldea has asked to be released from office and placed at the disposal of the institution, invoking reasons that have to do with military dignity and honour. The Director of the Romanian Intelligence Service has asked Romanias President Klaus Iohannis to grant Coldea the reservist status.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT The 751 Members of the European Parliament are electing in Strasbourg today their new president, who will replace the German Social-Democrat Martin Schulz. The election is going to be tight, given that the pro-European parties have not managed to find an agreement on a single candidate to represent them. Therefore, there are six politicians now running for the seat of president: three Italian, one Belgian, one British and one Romanian from the Eurosceptics group. The Romanian candidate is Laurentiu Rebega, vice-president of the Europe of Nations and Freedom group, co-presided by the French nationalist Marine Le Pen. The new president of the European Parliament will start working right after the validation of the voting. The 14 Vice-Presidents and 5 Quaestors will be elected tomorrow.
BREXIT The British Prime-Minister Theresa May is to present in London today the list of Brexit priorities. Downing Street sources say that Mrs. May prefers a full divorce, rather than an agreement under which Great Britain would be half in half out of the EU. The British PM is thus very likely to announce that Great Britain will leave the single market, the European Customs Union and the European Court of Justice. She will also insist on the need for her country to sign its own trade agreements with the Commonwealth countries, the Asian giants and the US. Seven months after Britains historic vote in favour of the Brexit, Theresa May promises to start the exit procedure by the end of March. Negotiations with Brussels will last two years.
MOLDOVA The new president of the Republic of Moldova, the pro-Russia socialist Igor Dodon, is today holding talks in Moscow with the Russian president Vladimir Putin. The Moldovan president wants to obtain the lifting of restrictions on the import of Moldovan agricultural products. Restrictions were imposed by Moscow in the aftermath of Moldovas signing an association agreement with the EU. The president also hopes that the status of the 500,000 Moldovan citizens working in Russia will be regulated. Another issue is that of Transdniestrs debt to Gazprom, standing at 4 billion dollars. The Transdniestr issue will be approached also against the background of the recent meeting between the president of Moldova and the new leader in Tiraspol Vadim Krasnoselski. Transdiestr came out of Chisinaus control in 1992, after an armed conflict that claimed hundreds of lives, settled by the intervention of the Russian troops on the separatists side.
ATTACK The man who shot and killed 39 people on New Years in a club in Istanbul has been arrested in a neighborhood of the European part of the city. According to authorities, the perpetrator, an Uzbek aged 34, member of a terrorist cell in Central Asia, has admitted his guilt. Another four people have been detained in this case, a Kirghiz, the owner of the apartment he was caught in, and three women. More than half of the victims of the attack were foreign citizens, from Israel, India, Lebanon, France, Tunisia, Belgium, Kuwait and Canada. The attack has been claimed by the Islamic State organization, as an act of retaliation against Turkeys involvement in Syria.
NATO The Romanian Army Chief of Staff Nicolae Ciuca is attending the proceedings of the 176th NATO Military Committee in Brussels. According to the Romanian Defense Ministry, the agenda of the meeting includes topics such as the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan and the recent threats against NATO. Also, sessions will be held devoted to NATOs partnerships with Ukraine and Georgia.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN Two Romanian tennis players Monica Niculescu and Ana Bogdan have today lost matches in the first round of the Australian Opens singles. Niculescu was defeated 2-1 by the Russian Ana Blinkova and Bogdan lost 2-0 to Elena Vesnina, also from Russia. On Monday, in the inaugural round, Sorana Carstea beat 2-nil the Russian Irina Hromaceva, and Irina Begu defeated in three sets Iaroslava Svedova of Kazakhstan. Another two Romanian players have been eliminated. Simona Halep, number 4 in the WTA rankings, was surprisingly defeated by the American Shelby Rogers, ranked 57th in the same classification. Patricia Tig was eliminated by the Puerto Rican Monica Puig, in two sets.
