January 7, 2014 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 07.01.2014, 19:54
Romanian President Traian Basescu on Tuesday said that the statements made by Prime Minister Victor Ponta as regards the Romanian justice system are staining the country’s image abroad. Basescu’s reaction follows statements made by PM Ponta according to whom Nastase’s corruption case was politically orchestrated and that he is a victim of the Basescu regime. On Monday, Nastase was sentenced to 4 years in prison for bribe taking and blackmail. Nastase had been released on parole after serving nine months of his prison sentence in another corruption case.
The European Commission has not received any sign yet from member states, Britain and Germany in particular, of a so-called invasion of Romanians who have the right to employment anywhere in the EU starting January the 1st. The EC says that any problems that might emerge can be dealt with by using tools made available by the Commission, such as the European Social Fund, worth 10 billion euros. Member states must use at least 20% of the money allotted to them for social inclusion.
The European Commissioner for Employment, Laszlo Andor, on Tuesday hailed Romania’s progress with regard to the absorption of structural funds. The European official has stated that Romania was a country that managed very well to face the challenges posed by the absorption speed. According to Bucharest authorities, late last year, the current rate of absorption of structural and cohesion funds was 33.47%, four times than in 2012. We recall that between 2014-2015 Romania can still absorb the funds allocated for the period 2007-2013.
The Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers in Romania on Tuesday celebrated St John the Baptist who baptised Jesus Christ in River Jordan and presented Him to the crowds as the long awaited Saviour. St John’s day and the Epiphany, celebrated on Monday, mark the end of the winter holidays and of the celebrations related to the birth of Jesus. Also on Tuesday, the old Orthodox faithful celebrate Christmas. Among them are over 1 million Ukrainian, Armenian and Serb ethnics in Romania.
The Turkish government has dismissed 350 police officers in Ankara, following a corruption case involving people close to the Government, the BBC announced. Claiming that it is the target of a conspiracy, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogans government has dismissed hundreds of police chiefs and officers since police launched raids targeting close Erdogan allies on Dec. 17.
At least 25 insurgents were killed in Iraq on Tuesday, after war planes bombed the town of Ramadi, 100 km west of Baghdad, which is partially controlled by Al Qaida. For several days now, Sunni fighters members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant Group, have controlled Fallujah and Ramadi, former strongholds of anti-American insurrection after 2003. Washinton has voiced worries over Islamists’ attempts to force their authority upon both Syria and Iraq and has announced to fasten the delivery of military equipment to Iraq. The US Sectetary of State John Kerry has stated though that no US force will return to that country.
The US will deploy in South Korea an additional battalion of armored vehicles made up of 800 soldiers and their vehicles, in order to increase the reaction capacity in case of a new crisis with Pyong Yang, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday. The battalion will be deployed in the Hovey and Stanley camps, north of Seul, near the border with North Korea. Currently Washington has 28 thousand 5 hundred soldiers stationed in South Korea, and the alliance treaty between the two country stipulates that the General heading the US troops in the peninsula shall take over the command of the 640 thousand South Korean soldiers in the even of a war with North Korea.
