December 8, 2014
A roundup of domestic and international news.
România Internațional, 08.12.2014, 12:00
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova has postponed the examination, initially set for today, of a notification regarding the neutrality of this former Soviet state with a majority Romanian speaking population. The notification was filed by the Liberal parliament members who want the country to join NATO. According to the Constitution, the Republic of Moldova is neutral and does not allow the deployment of foreign troops on its soil, but the leader of the Liberal Party, Mihai Ghimpu, says that these provisions are null, given the presence of Russian soldiers in the pro-Moscow separatist region of Transdniestr. In another move, the liberals and their partners in the current pro-Western government coalition, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party, continue talks on the future government program. At the legislative elections of November 30th, the three parties got, together, 55 of the 101 MP seats. The Chisinau Government hopes Moldova will get the status of EU candidate country in 2017 and that of EU member in 2020.
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta, announced after the meeting of the Standing Bureau of the Social Democratic Party, that on Monday, december 15, he will present Parliament the new government structure. According to previous statements, the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR), the Conservative Party (PC) and the Liberal Reformist Party, a disident Liberal faction headed by Calip Popescu Tariceanu, will be part of the next government. In another move, negotiations over the 2015 budget continue in Bucharest between Romanian authorities and a joint IMF – EC delegation. The two sides have divergent opinions regarding the budget deficit, with the creditors’ representatives insisting for a deficit of 0.9% of the GDP, while Romanian authorities say the deficit should stand at 1.4%. According to Bucharest officials, the figure set by the international partners is unacceptable, because that would entail a reduction in the amounts earmarked for investment, health and co-funding of European projects and would not allow for pensions and child benefits to be indexed. The draft budget will be sent to Parliament on Friday with a final vote likely to be held on December 21.
The Euro zone finance ministers are today meeting in Brussels for debates on the member states’ national budgets. The situation in Greece, whose 2015 austerity budget was adopted on Sunday night, will be discussed in a separate meeting. The disbursement of the last instalment of a loan aimed at helping Greek economy recover, depends on this budget. At the meeting in Brussels, the European Central Bank chief, Mario Draghi, will present a new economic and financial forecast. In his opinion, Europe’s economic recovery is threatened by three major risks: unemployment, the lack of productivity and the lack of structural reforms. The European Central Bank is expecting a moderate economic progress of the Euro zone.
The Kiev Parliament is today examining the issue of Ukraine’s leaving the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Petro Porosenko’s Bloc announced. In March, after Crimea’s anexation to the Russian Federation, Ukraine anounced it would not take over the CIS presidency in 2014 and that it planned to withdraw from the organisation. Following the announcement by the Kiev authorities, the Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov said that Ukraine’s withdrawal from the organisation is another anti-Russian move. Set up in 1991 by Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, the Commonwealth of Independent States now includes the former Soviet republics, except for the Baltic states and Georgia.
Belgian unions are holding protests in Brussels and the surrounding provinces, against the austerity measures announced by the rightist Belgian government. Protests will culminate in a nationwide day of protest on Dec. 15. The countrys new centre right government intends to cut health and social security budgets in an effort to raise competitiveness and reduce public sector debt from around 100 percent of annual economic output. The protests triggered the cancellation of 44% of the flights to and from Brussels.
Romania’s national handball squad lost on Sunday in Debrecen, Hungary, to Norway, 19-27, in the first game at this year’s European Women Handball Championship. Romania is part of Group B. Also on Sunday, and also in Group B, Denmark defeated Ukraine, 32-23. Group B’s next matches will see Romania against Denmark and Norway against Ukraine, both held on Tuesday.
Romanian meteorologists have today issued a Yellow Code alert for heavy snowfall, blizzard and glaze valid as of today until Wednesday evening, in 31 counties and the capital city Bucharest. Maximum temperatures on Monday range from minus 1 degree Celsius and plus 8 degrees. The noon reading in Bucharest was 1 degree Celsius.
