February 17, 2015
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România Internațional, 17.02.2015, 12:00
Romania’s Supreme Court will today rule on the appeal lodged by former tourism minister Elena Udrea against the 30-day pre-emptive arrest sentence. According to prosecutors, Udrea was detained for having contacted other people involved in the file, which is against the law. Elena Udrea is accused, among other things, of abuse of office, influence peddling, money laundering and false declaration of assets. Meanwhile, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate has asked the Chamber of Deputies to approve another request for placing Udrea under pre-emptive arrest, this time for bribe taking. In this file, the former minister is accused of having received over 1 million euros to favor several firms who had contracts with the state.
Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors have today searched the offices of several companies in the capital city Bucharest and in Ploiesti, in the south, on suspicion of fraud against EU funds. One of these companies is owned by some of Prime Minister Victor Ponta’s family members. Investigators believe 54% of the funds allocated for a European project have been missapropriated. There are also suspicions of fiscal evasion. The damage to the state is estimated at 1.7 million euros plus another 555 thousand euros from fiscal evasion, judicial sources have anounced.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is travelling to Budapest to meet with the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban whom he sees as his ally in the European Union. While continuing to restate his commitments to NATO and the EU, Viktor Orban’s foreign policy has also been directed towards strengthening ties with the East. Putin and Orban will tackle the crisis in Ukraine and also energy security, a very important issue for Hungary, which depends on the natural gas imports from Russia that cover 80% of its domestic demand. Around 3,000 people protested in Budapest on Monday evening against Putin’s visit and against Hungary’s strengthening ties with Russia.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has today met in Bucharest with the Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin, to discuss tways to strenghten bilatral ties and the security situation in Ukraine in the context of last week’s Minsk peace deal. President Klaus Iohannis has voiced hope that the accord signed in Minsk will be observed by all parties involved and that it will help stabilise the situation in the region.
The euro zone finance ministers convened in Brussels are trying, for the second day in-a-row, to reach an agreement with Greek authorities on relieving the latter’s staggering debt burden after yesterday’s talks ended in no result. Talks were interrupted on Monday after Athens rejected a proposal to request a six-month extension of its international bailout package as “unacceptable”. In 2010 Greece got a 240-billion euros bailout from the EU, the European Central Bank and the IMF and pledged to implement a series of austerity measures. The new leftist-led government, however, vowed to scrap the bailout and reverse austerity policies. The Greek PM has proposed a 6-month agreement with the international lenders, followed by a new contract with the euro-zone. Without an accord Greece risks being forced to abandon the euro. The country’s debt stands at about 315 billion euros, which accounts for 175% of its GDP.
