January 16, 2014
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international events.
Florentin Căpitănescu, 16.01.2014, 12:04
Romania’s President Traian Basescu in Brussels today is holding talks with the European Council’s President, Herman Van Rompuy. Talks will mainly be focusing on Romania’s Schengen accession bid. Talks are held at the behest of the Romanian president. During yesterday’s meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Bucharest, Basescu said that for Romania, accession to the Schengen area was a strong EU accession element. Basescu went on to say Romania would no longer accept terms other than those imposed for the accession proper. Scheduled for 2011, Romania’s Schengen accession has been repeatedly delayed, since a series of member states opposed it, demanding deeper reforms of the judiciary system to be implemented in Romania, as well as the strengthening of the fight against corruption. High on the agenda of President Basescu’s talks with Van Rompuy are the Republic of Moldova’ s association to the European Union, as well as the development of the southern European corridor, supplying natural gas to the European market.
The joint IMF, European Commission and World Bank mission will arrive in Bucharest this coming Tuesday, for a second assessment of the precautionary loan agreement which was sealed in mid-2013, as well as for the conclusion of the initial assessment. In December, the IMF Board delayed talks on the progress of its agreement with Romania, as President Basescu refused to sign the last letter of intention, since he opposed the implementation of the extra excise of 7 Eurocents per liter of fuel. The government delayed the implementation of the excise by three months. Romania has an ongoing agreement with the IMF and the European Union, standing at 4 billion Euro, but as yet has no intention to access those funds. The agreement’s eventual aim is to protect Romania from suffering because of prospective shocks on the financial market, as well as to contribute to the reduction of financing costs.
The statements Romania’s Prime minister Victor Ponta made taking up on the prison sentence with full execution of penalty issued in the case of one of his predecessors Adrian Nastase in a corruption case have affected the independence of the judiciary system. This is the conclusion of a report which has been approved today by voting, in a plenary session of the Higher Council of Magistracy. The document was compiled by the Judicial Inspection, in the wake of the notifications submitted by the Higher Council of Magistracy’s judges and prosecutors’ sections. Prime Minister Victor Ponta on January the 6, the day Nastase found out his verdict, stated that the latter was a political convict, a victim of what he termed the regime of the head of state, Traian Basescu. Ponta also said Nastase’s case was similar to that of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Iulia Timoshenko. Nastase, who was Romania’s Prime minister over 2000 and 2004, is the current president of the Social Democratic Party’s National Council. We recall Victor Ponta is the leader of the Social Democratic Party, the country’s main political party.
Romania’s minister delegate for higher education Mihnea Costoiu during the final part of his visit to the USA held talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry’s advisor for science and technology issues William Colgrazier, as well as with other high-ranking officials in Washington. Talks focused on the joint work in the fields of applied research and higher education, aimed at bringing together Romanian and US institutions. Throughout the visit Mihnea Costoiu held talks with representatives of several American universities, mainly targeting the conclusion of partnerships in the field of education. Costoiu also stated the American Spatial Agency NASA would develop joint projects with the Romanian Space Agency ROSA.
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep today has made headway into the third round of the Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, as she defeated the American Varvara Lepchenko. Halep’s next contender is number 11 favorite, the Azeri Zarina Dias. Also in Melbourne, another Romanian, Monica Niculescu has qualified for the third round, following a surprising win against the WTA 15-seed, the German Sabine Lisicki. In her forthcoming fixture, Niculescu will be taking on Russian Ekaterina Makarova, a WTA 22-seed. In the men’s version of the Australian Open, the Romanian Victor Hanescu today in the third round will be facing the Canadian Milos Raonic, a WTA 11-seed.
