The Week in Review, 24-30 August

A roundup of the week's main stories

România Internațional, 30.08.2014, 12:05

The inauguration of the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline

On August 27 Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his Moldovan counterpart Iurie Leanca, inaugurated the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline, a project that reduces the Republic of Moldova’s dependency on Russian gas imports. This inauguration coincided with the Republic of Moldova’s Independence Day and the message sent by Romania is of complete support for Chisinau’s European aspirations.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta: “This pipeline ensures, for the first time in Moldavian history, the possibility to receive gas not only from the East, but also from Romania. Together we become more and more a part of Europe. At Chisinau and at Ungheni we wanted to send this exact message, that we stand together and we can face anything together.”

On the same day the ambulance service SMURD was also inaugurated in the Republic of Moldova, and Romania donated emergency response vehicles. Prime Minister Iurie Leanca spoke about the economic benefits that these two projects have for the country, and about reaffirming the Republic of Moldova as a European state.

Iurie Leanca: “These projects are not designed to offend anyone, they represent my country’s interests, whether we are talking about home users, schools, hospitals and other economic operators. ”

Romania’s stance on the situation in Ukraine

Romania condemns Russia’s support of the separatists in Eastern Ukraine and reaffirms its support of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The declaration made by President Traian Basescu came in response to the escalation of clashes in Ukraine. The Romanian president said that Bucharest did not feel that Ukraine had been invaded, but that Russia had increased its support for the separatists by transferring state-of-the-art military equipment and by infiltrating combat specialists in that country. Traian Basescu and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton have labeled the security context in Eastern Ukraine as worrying. The European Office was a guest at the Annual Reunion of Romanian Diplomacy held in Bucharest between August 27 and 29. The main point on the agenda for talks was the crisis in Ukraine.

The Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy

Attending the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy held in Bucharest, Romania’s Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean said that despite the worrying developments in Ukraine, Romania faces no security risk at present.

Titus Corlatean: “We have all the reasons to remain resolute in our stance regarding the regime of sanctions agreed upon by the EU and NATO. This is non-negotiable. We cannot stand by and watch international law principles and fundamental rights being violated and re-written”.

The developments in Ukraine have also fuelled concern in neighbouring Moldova. Attending the meeting of Romanian diplomacy, Moldovan Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman, together with her Georgian counterpart, said that any escalation of the current context in Ukraine might negatively impact the region. In turn, Prime Minister Victor Ponta said that at the forthcoming NATO summit in Wales Romania would argue in favour of consolidating NATO’s eastern borders, strengthening the strategic partnership with Turkey and Poland and increasing NATO’s military presence in Ukraine. The Prime Minister has called on Romanian diplomats to outline Romania’s standpoint very clearly as regards the most important topics, and at the same time to promote the legitimate interests of Romania, the EU and their strategic partners.

Decision on political party switching

Local county council presidents, mayors, local advisors and county advisors will be able to switch parties within 45 days of their being elected under an emergency Government ordinance. According to the document, local elected officials will be able to do that without losing their current mandate. Prime Minister Victor Ponta said the measure would unclog the activity of local authorities. In response, the opposition has harshly criticized the emergency ordinance, labeling it as a blatant violation of democracy and claiming that it is merely an election ruse at ensuring wider support for the Social Democrat candidate Victor Ponta in the upcoming presidential elections of November.

Two football teams will represent Romania in the Europa League this season

Romanian Cup winners Astra Giurgiu qualified to the Europa League playoffs on Thursday, despite losing 1-nil at home to Olympique Lyonnais in the second leg of the Europa League playoffs. In the first leg Astra grabbed a surprising 2-1 away win, and thus qualified with 2-all on aggregate. The other Romanian team playing in the playoffs, Petrolul Ploiesti, was knocked out after losing 2-1 to Dinamo Zagreb away from home. In the first leg Petrolul had lost 3-1 on home turf. Joining Astra in Europa League this season will be Romania champions Steaua Bucharest, who lost on Wednesday to Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria in the Champions League playoffs.