April 28, 2014

News and current affairs from Romania

Ştefan Stoica, 28.04.2014, 14:12

Romanian President Traian Basescu issued a message on Monday stating that free circulation in the EU for Moldovan citizens was a welcome move towards European integration for their country, encouraged by the upcoming signing of the Association Agreement. The message was occasioned by the EU lifting visa requirements for the Republic of Moldova. The president added that Moldova’s accession to what he called ‘the great European family’ was a priority for Romania. A Moldovan delegation headed by PM Iurie Leanca will take a symbolic trip to Greece, which now holds the EU rotating presidency. On Tuesday, the PM will hold another symbolic event alongside his Romanian counterpart Victor Ponta on the common border.

Romanian PM Victor Ponta announced today that the defense budget of the country would be supplemented by 0.2% of the GDP as a result of the crisis in Ukraine. He specified that this budget boost would not suppose cutting other parts of the budget. The supplementary funds, worth around 700 million lei, around 157 million Euro, will be used for modernizing existing military capabilities, mostly by Romanian factories, which would stimulate the economy and industry in particular, the premiere said. In early April, the head of government had stated that Romania should live up to its role as defender of NATO’s borders in a region of frozen conflicts, which, according to him, should be sufficient reason for bringing defense spending up to 2% of the GDP.

Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean on Tuesday and Wednesday is in Washington DC to attend a conference on European topics, according to the Foreign Ministry. Attending will be US officials, high European Union and NATO officials, as well as heads and members of government from several European states. The topics on the agenda are both significant events leading to a strong and prosperous transatlantic alliance, as well as the strategic future of eastern and southern Europe. At the same time, the Romanian minister will be meeting members of the US Congress and representatives of the Romanian community in the US.

A ceremony commemorating the victims of the Holocaust was held on Sunday at the Jewish Community Center in Bucharest, recalling the Warsaw ghetto revolt of 1943, the most important act of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust, and the first large scale civilian anti-Nazi revolt in Europe. At the Holocaust Memorial, Shimon Peres condemned anti-Semitism, still present 70 years from the end of WWII, and expressed worry at the rise of extremist parties in countries like Hungary, France, Greece and Ukraine.