April 5, 2014 UPDATE
For a roundup of domestic and international news, click here.
Corina Cristea, 05.04.2014, 12:05
PROTESTS – Protests against shale gas mining will take place on Sunday in 60 towns, but also in the Diaspora. According to a press release issued by environmentalist NGOs, protesters will call on Parliament and Government to ban hydraulic fracturing as a mining technique in the exploitation of hydrocarbons and to invalidate all Government decisions approving shale gas mining contracts. Over the past few weeks, several clashes between environmentalists and the riot police took place in eastern Romania in the area sold to Chevron. Protesters claim hydraulic fracturing is polluting underground waters and causing small earthquakes. In return, Bucharest authorities say shale gas mining might contribute to Romania’s energy independence and believe Russian authorities and the energy giant Gazprom are fuelling the protests.
REACTION – The Romanian Foreign Ministry has expressed surprise regarding the comments of Russian diplomats on certain statements of Romanian officials regarding the developments in neighbouring Ukraine. The Ministry states that Romania supports, alongside its partners from the EU and NATO, the need to observe the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Bucharest also says that the attempt of Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov to transfer the crisis in Russia’s relations with the EU and NATO to its bilateral relations with Romania is completely ungrounded and a mistake. On Friday, Moscow had criticized President Basescu and Minister Corlatean’s statements on Ukraine after the annexation of the Crimean peninsula to Russia, which is seen as an act of aggression in Bucharest.
VISITS – European Council President Herman van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will pay official visits to the Republic fo Moldova in response to Prime Minister Iurie Leanca’s invitation. According to a press release of the pro-Western Government in Chisinau, the two EU officials will review, on this occasion, Moldova’s EU accession prospects. In another development, the UN Senate advanced a resolution warning against a Russian invasion in the Republic of Moldova, urging the Russian Federation to withdraw its troops from the breakaway region of Transdniestr.
SINKAGE – A Hungarian freighter carrying iron ore sank on Saturday in the Danube-Black Sea Canal in southeastern Romania. The fire brigade tried for 12 hours to put out the fire onboard, most likely caused by a short-circuit in the electrical grid. None of the crew’s seven members was injured, although the freighter’s hydrocarbons got spilled in the canal waters. According to authorities, the salvage of the sunken ship will take some two weeks. The canal is currently a navigable watercourse, with one-way traffic restrictions on the wreckage site.
ELECTIONS IN HUNGARY – Parliamentary elections will be held on Sunday in Hungary. According to opinion polls, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Conservative Party Fidesz ranks first in terms of voters’ choice, with 47% of votes. The recently founded left-wing alliance in opposition is runner up with 23%, followed by the far-right Jobbik party, with 21%. These are the first elections held under Orban’s reformed election law, severely criticized by the opposition. The law provides for reducing the number of MPs to half, from 386 to 199, excluding the second ballot and giving voting rights to Hungarian nationals in neighbouring countries, such as Romania and Slovakia, whom the opposition claim to be supporters of the Fidesz party.
RULING – The Bucharest Tribunal on Saturday accepted the contestation filed by former Liberal Minister of Culture Mircea Diaconu against the ruling of the Central Election Bureau to turn down its candidacy for the European Parliament elections of May 25. The Bureau argued that Diaconu could not hold public office before 2015, after the National Integrity Agency found him incompatible. Subsequently Diaconu resigned from the National Liberal Party and announced he would run as an independent candidate. Overall 9 parties or political factions and seven independent candidates have been rejected by the Central Election Bureau.
ELECTIONS IN AFGHANISTAN – Presidential elections were held in Afghanistan on Saturday, aimed at ensuring the first democratic transfer of power in the history of this country. The results of the first ballot will be made public on April 24, while a possible second ballot will be held in late May. Among the candidates with the highest chance of winning are three former ministers, Zalmai Rassoul, supported by current president Hamid Karzai, opposition leader Abdullah Abdullh and economic expert Ashraf Ghani. Under the 2001 Constitution, Karzai is forbidden from seeking a second mandate. President Karza led Afghanistan after the ousting of the Talibans. According to analysts, Karzai leaves behind an impoverished country, with a high profile of producer and exporter of heroine, destabilized by the Taliban insurrection. The country is also facing the prospect of facing the Taliban threat alone after all NATO troops will be withdrawn by the end of the year.
MEETING – EU Foreign Ministers on Saturday have warned Russian against the risk of the Ukrainian economy collapsing due to a 80% hike in natural gas prices. On the sideline of a formal meeting in Athens, EU Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton said the EU was ready to impose new economic sanctions on Moscow provided the crisis escalates. This week Russia announced prices for natural gas exports to Ukraine will go up from 268 to 485 dollars per thousand cubic meters, one of the highest at EU level.
SPORTS – The Romanian men’s handball team on Saturday failed to qualify to the second round of the 2016 European Championships after losing 32-29 to Finland away from home. In the first leg on Wednesday on home turf, the Romanian team won 32-30. Also in Finland in Vantaa, the European Wrestling Championships continue. Romania has so far has one medal, Ana Maria Paval’s bronze in the 53-kg category.
