February 18, 2015 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Roxana Vasile, 18.02.2015, 12:15
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said that if his brother-in-law Iulian Hertanu had done something illegal he would be paying as any other Romanian citizen. Iulian Hertanu has been placed under investigation in a file on EU funds missappropriation. MPs Sebastian Ghita and Vlad Cosma, as well as the chairman of the Prahova County Council in Southern Romania, Mircea Cosma, are also being investigating in the same file. Among other charges Mircea and Vlad Cosma are being accused of having supported a crime ring, while Sebastian Ghita, owner of a TV channel and close to Prime Minister Ponta, for using influence and authority with a view to obtaining undue benefits. According to sources with the Justice Ministry, prejudices in this file have been estimated at 1.7 million euros and another 555 thousand in tax evasion. In another move, the legal commitee of the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest, on Wednesday approved another two penal prosecutions as well as the preventive detention of former right-wing tourism minister Elena Udrea, presently facing new charges in one of the two corruption files levelled against her.
Romania’s best tennis player, Simona Halep on Wednesday qualified for the finals of the WTA tournament in Dubai with more than two million and a half dollars up for grabs. The Romanian has clinched a two-set win against Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, 6-4, 6-3. Also in the same tournament, the Romanian-Russian pair Niculescu-Panova has qualified for the doubles quarterfinals where they will be facing the Hungarian-French pair made up of Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic. Another WTA tournament is underway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with total prizes of 250 thousand dollars, where Romanian Irina Begu has qualified for the quarterfinals after a 6-2, 6-4 win against Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA.
France wants an agreement with Greece on financing the foreign debt of this country to be reached by the end of this week — French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said in Paris. According to the French authorities, the new agreement has to take into account the recent appointment of an anti-austerity government in Athens and the country’s compliance with European regulations. After two-week talks without any concrete results with the eurozone partners, the Greek government announced it would call for the provisional extension of the present bail-out accord agreed upon with international lenders, due to expire at the end of this month. Greece’s foreign debt stands at 315 billion euros, which accounts for roughly 175% of the country’s GDP.
NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday urged Russia to withdraw its forces from eastern Ukraine, end its support for the rebels and abide by the Minsk ceasefire accord. In a statement in Riga, Stoltenberg said that Russian troops, artilery and anti-aircraft units as well as command centers are still operational in Ukraine. According to the NATO official, the ceasefire has not been observed and the situation in Ukraine deteriorated. The head of the EU diplomacy, Federica Mogherini has denounced the violation of the truce by the separatists and cautioned that the EU is ready to take measures, if the fights continue. Since its beginning, the conflict in Ukraine has claimed the lives of 56 thousand people, mostly civilians.
The Foreign Ministry in Romania has been notified on the Parliament endorsement on Wednesday of the new government in the neighboring Republic of Moldova, an ex-soviet country with a Romanian-speaking majority. The Romanian diplomacy has voiced hope that the new government will carry on the country’s pro-European progress, implementing democratic reforms and strengthening the rule of law. In a communiqué issued by the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry, the country’s new cabinet, forged upon a long process of political discussions, is a prerequisite for the immediate dealing with the challenges the Republic of Moldova is presently facing. Romania, the communiqué shows, will be continuing the political dialogue and the concrete cooperation with Chisinau, backing the authorities’ efforts for consolidating the country’s European progress. The new government led by businessman Chiril Gaburici was given a confidence vote by Parliament on Wednesday; 60 MPs belonging to the Liberal-Democratic Party and the Democratic Party as well as communists endorsed the new cabinet with 15 ministerial seats.
