November 13, 2017

Speaker of Romanian Parliament investigated for fraud; Thousands protest in Bucharest against proposed legislative changes in justice

România Internațional, 13.11.2017, 14:11

JUSTICE – Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea, head of the Social Democratic Party, has been put under investigation by anti-corruption prosecutors for organizing a crime ring, abuse of office and crimes related to funding fraud, alleged crimes that go back to the time when he was head of the Teleorman County Council, according to a press release by magistrates. 8 other people are involved in the case. The Anti-corruption Directorate announced that the case has been built after a complaint was filed by the European Anti-fraud Office on September 30, 2016, for several crimes, such as accessing European funds based on false documentation, claimed to be used for road repairs. Dragnea was called for interviews on Monday. At present, Dragnea is involved in one other case, prosecuted by the High Court of Cassation, accused of instigation to commit abuse of office. The Social Democratic chairman has already been sentenced to 2016 to two years in prison, a suspended sentence for election fraud. In 2012, as Social Democratic secretary, Dragnea urged territorial operatives of his party to bring people illegally to the polls, in order to win the referendum to impeach the then president, Traian Basescu.

PROTESTS — The National Liberal Party, the main right wing opposition party in Parliament, begins today procedures for a no-confidence vote against the ruling coalition. Liberals will file a complaint with the national ombudsman in order to have the fiscal reform promoted by the government contested in Constitutional Court. The new government measures and the bills meant to modify the laws governing the justice system have brought out to the streets thousands of people on Sunday night in Bucharest and other cities. Both PM Mihai Tudose and Social Democratic chairman Dragnea said they would revise their proposals for changes to the tax code, which they claim would bring in more budget revenue and pension fund revenue, also simplifying procedures for businesses.

BRUSSELS — Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu takes part today in Brussels in the Foreign Affairs Council, which discusses topics on the relationship with Africa, in preparation for the African Union-European Union summit in Abidjan, in the Ivory Coast. At the same time, European diplomats will have a formal session and a working lunch with EU defense ministers, including Romanian minister Mihai Fifor, discussing security and defense. They will sign a joint statement to launch the Permanent Structured Cooperation in Defense, also discussing better cooperation between the EU and NATO.

EARTHQUAKE — The violent earthquake that hit Sunday night on the border between Iran and Iraq has claimed 345 lives so far, according to Iranian official sources. The US Geological Survey estimates the earthquake was a 7.3 on the Richter Scale. The epicenter was in Sulaimaniyah province, in the autonomous Kurdish region of Kurdistan in Iraq, about 200 km away from Bagdad. The quake was followed by two aftershocks, magnitude 4.5 and 4.7. The local press relates that the tremor was felt as far as Turkey and Kuwait.

TENNIS — The Romanian-Dutch tennis pair Horia Tecau- Jean-Julien Rojer was defeated Sunday by the French pair Pierre-Hugues Herbert/ Nicolas Mahut, 1-6, 7-6, 10-8, in their first game in London. In the other game in the Eltingh/Haarhuis Group in the tournament, Ryan Harrison of the US and Michael Venus of New Zeeland defeated 6-4, 7-6 Henri Kontinen of Finland pairing up with John Peers of Australia. The latter will play Tecau and Rojer next. Tecau and Rojer won the trophy in London in 2015.

IMF — The IMF has launched a new report on Monday, according to which several emerging economies, such as Hungary, Poland, Romania, Western Balkan countries and the Community of Independent States still run high deficits. The IMF advises these countries to improve the quality of their public spending and to change their revenue structure in order to preserve their competitiveness. The IMF improved its forecast for most areas in Europe, but points out that countries should make room in their budgets for maneuvers allowing them to stay afloat in times of difficulty. The fund opined that decision makers should take advantage of improvement prospects in order to rebuild their reserves, improving the ability of their economies to grow and absorb shocks.