September 1, 2014
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România Internațional, 01.09.2014, 01:00
The 65 years of diplomatic and political relations between China and Romania entitle us to consider major economic projects, particularly in the fields of agriculture, energy and infrastructure, the Romanian PM Victor Ponta has said in Beijing today. Jointly with other members of his Cabinet, the PM took part in an economic meeting attended by representatives of the most important Chinese companies and banks conducting business in Romania or planning to do so. The Prime Minister of Romania is on an official visit to China until September the 3rd.
The Parliament of Romania has today convened for the autumn session, which will end on October the 1st, when the presidential election campaign begins. In the Senate, the main bills on the agenda are those concerning the fiscal amnesty for mothers and pensioners who received undue amounts because of administrative errors. The Deputies are to discuss, among other things, a bill on the 5% reduction of social security contributions payable by employers, which has already been passed by the Senate. The document was sent back for a second discussion by President Traian Băsescu. Parliament is also to discuss a number of Government emergency ordinances, including the one allowing local elected officials 45 days to switch parties without losing their position.
In Romania, only 22% of high-school graduates have passed the autumn session of the Baccalaureate, held at the end of August. The National Education Ministry says the rate is about 1% higher than last year. The final results are to be made public on Thursday, after the complaints have been solved. In the first session of the exam, in June and early July, over 59% of the participants passed, which is 3% more than last year. Although irregularities have been reported, the exam took place without major incidents.
EU foreign ministers are convening in Chişinău today for the first time, in a meeting of the European Action Group for Moldova. The main topic of the talks is the EU accession of this ex-Soviet republic, after the signing of the association and free trade agreements with Brussels. Solutions are also sought for supporting the Moldovan farmers affected by the import ban imposed by the Russian Federation. According to the Radio Romania correspondent, the meeting, held under the presidency of neighbouring Romania and of France, is not hosted as usual by Brussels or Luxembourg, but in Chisinau, at the initiative of the Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlăţean, as a signal of support for Moldova’s European aspirations.
The Agriculture Ministry of Jordan banned cattle and sheep imports from Romania, after the World Animal Health Organisation reported recent cases of bluetongue disease in Romania. According to Bucharest, several hotbeds have been confirmed, in the east and the south of the country. Romania is the second largest meat exporter to Jordan, after Australia, with an annual 3 to 4 hundred thousand cattle and beef supplied to that country. Caused by a virus, the bluetongue disease is transmitted by insects from one animal to another, but is not contagious to humans.
The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroşenko, has today accused Russia of having launched “direct and open aggression” which has radically changed the balance on the battlefield against Kiev in its fight against the pro-Russian secessionists. In an address at a military academy in Kiev, he announced high-level personnel changes in the Ukrainian army. Also today, a task force for the Ukraine crisis, including representatives of Kiev, of the separatists, of Russia and the OSCE, is meeting in Minsk, Belarus. The meeting takes place amid increasingly strong clashes between the Ukrainian governmental forces and the rebels, backed, according to Kiev, by Russian military units. Dismissed by Moscow, these accusations are supported by some Western capitals. The Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised the European leaders for turning a blind eye to the military actions of the Ukrainian forces targeting civilian areas.
