March 24, 2014 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 24.03.2014, 19:45
Romania and another 11 states agreed on Monday, at the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, to remove the highly enriched uranium material they have and convert it into much less sensitive material. Delegations from Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, Turkey, Georgia, Chile, Mexico, South Korea and Vietnam said in a joint statement that removing these materials will bring the signatory countries ”clear and tangible advantages” given the high costs and the security measures incurred by their possession. Previously, Japan, India and Belgium agreed to eliminate sensitive nuclear material from their territory. Over 50 world leaders are discussing in The Hague ways of preventing nuclear terrorism around the globe. Romania’s delegation at the summit is headed by President Traian Basescu.
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta presented in Parliament on Monday the measures in the energy sector to be taken by the government this year. Thus, the cogeneration tax for the energy export will be removed, the reference price of gas on the liberal market for industrial consumers will be the same as in January 2014 but in the case of domestic consumers it will go up by 2% as of April 1st. At the same time, the price of natural gas for non-domestic consumers will go up 5% as of April 1st. Ponta said these measures will be discussed by the government on Wednesday.
The Boeing 777 of Malaysia Airlines, which disappeared on March 8, crashed into the Indian Ocean. The announcement was made by, Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak who said the aircraft had deviated from its normal flight path and that there are no survivors. There were 239 passengers and crewmembers aboard the plane.
In Bucharest, the National Liberal Party, the People’s Movement Party, both in opposition, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, part of the government structure, on Monday submitted to the Central Election Bureau the lists with their candidates for the euro-parliamentary elections due on May 25. Previously, similar lists had been submitted by the ruling alliance made up of the Social Democratic Party, the Conservative Party and the National Union for the Progress of Romania. Romania will have 32 seats in the next European Parliament. Romania is one of the countries that gave up one seat in parliament in favor of the EU’s newest member, Croatia.
