March 12, 2014 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news.
Florentin Căpitănescu, 12.03.2014, 12:15
ROMANIA-UKRAINE– Romania unreservedly supports Ukraine’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty, Romania’s President Traian Basescu said in Bucharest on Wednesday. President Basescu condemned what he called Russia’s aggression on the Crimean Peninsula and gave assurances that Bucharest is firmly supporting the new, legitimate authorities in Kiev, in solving this file. Also on Wednesday, Romanian Prime Minister, Victor Ponta, reiterated that, with regard to the crisis in Crimea, Bucharest will take a stand in coordination with the EU and NATO. In another move, the Romanian Foreign Ministry recommends to all Romanian nationals, including journalists, to leave Crimea as soon as possible and to avoid travelling across Ukraine, particularly in the east and the south of the territory.
UKRAINE-The big western powers gathered in a G7 meeting, on Wednesday said a referendum on the Crimean Peninsula, on its joining Russia, will not have any juridical value. Germany, Canada, the US, France, Italy, Japan and Great Britain called on Russia to stop supporting the organisation of the referendum, which the pro-Russian authorities of Crimea scheduled for March the 16th. Also, the western powers reiterated that the declaration of independence adopted by the Crimean Parliament is illegitimate. In another move, the interim president of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, said Russia refuses, at least for the moment, the possibility of holding negotiations in order to solve the crisis in Crimea. Also on Wednesday, Moscow warned that if the EU imposes travel restrictions on Russian MPs, it will take similar measures.
EXTREMISM– The Romanian Interior Ministry has sent the necessary documentation to Romania’s President, Traian Basescu, in order to declare the leader of the Jobbik extremist party in neighbouring Hungary, Vona Gabor, undesirable person on Romania’s territory. The announcement has been made by Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who said that if the president, in his capacity as the head of Romania’s Higher Defence Council, approves of it, the decision will be enforced immediately. The Romanian government made this decision after several members of the Jobbik party on Monday attended a march in Targu Mures, central Romania, which degenerated into a conflict with the riot police. The participants chanted slogans for granting territorial autonomy to the so-called Szecklers’ Land, a small area in Romania inhabited by a majority ethnic Hungarian population.
ROMANIAN POLITICS-The Liberal-Democratic Party, in opposition, has drafted a censure motion against the new government, but so far, it hasn’t managed to collect the necessary number of signatures to officially submit it to Parliament, for discussion. The cabinet led by Social-Democrat Victor Ponta on Tuesday asked for Parliament’s vote of confidence on a new action program, to be carried out in the next two years and a half. The current cabinet also includes members of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, who joined the alliance after the withdrawal of the Liberals, amid disagreements with the Social Democrats. Besides the Social Democrats and the Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the cabinet also includes members of the Conservative Party and of the National Union for the Progress of Romania.
VISIT– The first joint session of the Romanian and Spanish governments, devoted mainly to economic cooperation is due in Bucharest this summer. The announcement was made in Madrid on Wednesday by the Romanian and Spanish foreign ministers, Titus Corlatean and José Manuel García-Margallo, respectively. On this occasion, the Spanish official said the large Romanian community in Spain, is very important to Spain, it is very well integrated into Spanish society and contributes to Spain’s budget. The Spanish foreign minister also reiterated the Madrid authorities support for Bucharest’s Schengen accession. In turn, minister Corlatean expressed hope that Romania will receive, by the end of the year, a just decision to its request to join the free movement area. We recall that official statistical data show that the Romanian community in Spain stands at approximately one million people.
HOME SEARCHES-Prosecutors from the anti-organised crime squad and officers of the judicial police on Wednesday made over 100 home searches in 18 Romanian counties, as part of wide-scope actions meant to disband two groups, made up of 80 people, specialising in tax evasion, money laundering, peddling in influence and illegally reintroducing expired products into circulation. The estimated prejudice exceeds 15 million Euros. According to prosecutors, the members of the groups purchased, through the intermediary of Romanian companies, meat and eggs from other EU member states like the Netherlands, Poland, Great Britain and Germany, without paying the VAT, only to sell the products to the final beneficiary, after adding the VAT.
