February 9, 2014 UPDATE
A look at some of the main stories in Romania today
România Internațional, 09.02.2015, 12:15
In his first parliament address since taking office, president Klaus Iohannis said he wanted a strong, responsible and active Parliament and stressed that the “progress of a nation cannot be the result of a permanent conflict between the people representing it”. Iohannis also said that the reform of political institutions required departure from certain practices, such as populism and electoralism. The president announced he wished a mediation of the so-called Big Brother laws on access to cyber data, which were recently rejected by the Constitutional Court. The president’s address came after a series of talks with the representatives of the political parties. The first round of talks ended with the signing of a political agreement to increase army spending, while the second, at the end of January, focused on the amendment of the election law and the law that regulates the activity of political parties.
Although Romania has not sent a new letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund, its agreement with this financial institution remains in place, said prime minister Victor Ponta after talks in Bucharest with the representatives of the Fund. While many of Romania’s goals laid down in its agreement with the International Monetary Fund have been met, the prime minister explained there are still issues on which an agreement is still to be reached, such as a timetable for the liberalisation of gas prices for the population and the restructuring of the coal energy industry. These two aspects will be discussed in April, when a mission of the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the World Bank returns to Bucharest. The current agreement, which was suspended in September, is the third signed by Bucharest since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2009. Due to expire this autumn, it is worth 2 billion euros. The aim of this stand-by agreement is to protect the Romanian economy from possible shocks on the financial markets.
Romania’s foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu attended a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday in Brussels to discuss the fight against terrorism. Bogdan Aurescu proposed the creation of an international court to punish crimes related to international terrorism. The meeting in Brussels also focused on the situation in Iraq and Syria and the actions of the Islamic State, as well as the latest developments in Syria and Yemen. The EU foreign ministers also talked about the situation in Ukraine and the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the crisis. They extended the list of persons punished for undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, adding another 19 persons and entities. Ukrainian, Russia, French and German leaders will meet on Wednesday in Belarus to negotiate a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.
The interim head of the Romanian Intelligence Service, Florian Coldea, on Monday rejected allegations by MP Elena Udrea, who accused him of abuse of office and requesting half a million euros from a business man for the creation of a television station by a Social-Democrat politician. Coldea told a parliament committee that these accusations were defamatory and that in 2014, which was an election year, the Romanian Intelligence Service acted with neutrality and political impartiality. The management of the Service ordered an internal inquiry in this respect and presented the conclusions of the report to a special parliamentary committee.
Military from Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Great Britaina and the United States onm Monday took part in Constanta, in southeastern Romania, in the opening ceremony of an annual US-led exercise in Europe and Africa. The drills will take place in the Black Sea area, the Balkans and the Caucasus area, while specific activities will be carried out in Romania, Bulgaria and Georgia. The ceremony also marked the end of the Black Sea Rotational Forces 2014 multinational exercise carried out in Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia.
