March 4, 2014
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România Internațional, 04.03.2014, 13:00
The Parliament of Romania is to vote today on the new membership of the cabinet proposed by the Social Democratic PM Victor Ponta, after weeks of political instability. The new cabinet includes members of the Social Democratic Party, the National Union for the Progress of Romania, the Conservative Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, which replaced the Liberals. In the new cabinet, the Union of Ethnic Hungarians will take over the Environment and Culture ministry, while the other parties will generally keep the same seats they had in the previous government make-up.
The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has ordered the troops deployed last Wednesday to the western and central parts of Russia to return to their units, after a Defence Ministry report indicating the success of the respective military exercise. The moves, taking place in the context of the political crisis in Ukraine, were seen by some international observers as a sign of a possible massive military intervention. Tensions still linger between the Russian and Ukrainian forces in the Crimean Peninsula, but fears of an imminent attack have been disproved. Ukraine had previously announced that its forces had been instructed to surrender their weapons otherwise they would be attacked, but Russia denied having ordered such an ultimatum. The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, is expected to arrive in Kiev and voice support for the new power. In Madrid, the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, is meeting with the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, to analyse the situation in Ukraine, while NATO has convened an emergency meeting on this topic, at the request of Poland. An IMF mission is also in Kiev, to put together a financial support plan, jointly with the new Ukrainian authorities.
The actions of the Russian Federation are a clear violation of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine, the Romanian foreign minister Titus Corlatean said yesterday. He took part in an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers held in Brussels, and focusing on the conflict in Ukraine. According to Corlatean, the EU is deeply concerned with the emergence of a number of frozen conflicts in regions such as Nagorno-Karabah, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdniester.
The European stock markets and the one on Moscow had resumed an upward trend Tuesday morning, after the plunge on Monday triggered by investors’ concerns with the possible economic consequences of a Russian intervention in Ukraine. The Russian rubble also saw a slight recovery against the main western currencies, after a record low on Monday. The world financial markets panicked as the situation in Ukraine worsened, to reach the red zone. In New York, oil quotations reached the highest level since September 2013.
The US supports the European aspirations, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Moldova, the US President Barrack Obama told the Moldovan PM, the pro-Western Iurie Leanca. The two had a meeting in Washington, focusing on bilateral relations and the regional situation, in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. Previously the US Secretary of State John Kerry had announced an increase of the economic aid provided to Moldova.
