April 9, 2014

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Mihai Pelin, 09.04.2014, 12:00

The Constitution revision Commission resumes its work in Bucharest today. The Commission’ s eventual aim is to get the constitutional draft completed by autumn, when the document will be submitted for the Parliament’s debate. The draft will be reexamined, in keeping with the Venice Commission’s recommendations and the Constitutional Court’s observations. According to the Social Democratic Party, which is the ruling coalition’s leading political group, a referendum for the revision of the Constitution will most likely be held in the autumn of 2015.

The European Commission is set to create a “support Group “ for Ukraine, in a bid to provide a framework for the member states’ joint financial efforts, as well as for external donors and the IMF, the AFP has quoted European sources as saying. The group’s coordinator will be the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Stefan Fule. The European Commission in March presented a plan for Ukraine’s substantial aid, with at least 11 billion Euros to be earmarked to that country, under the form of loan, donations and trade incentives. The Commission offers Kiev a year’s customs duties deduction standing at more than 500 million Euros. In turn, the IMF announced it would rush in a financial aid package ranging from 14 to 18 billion dollars, on condition, however, a series of measures is adopted, such as the natural gas price increase and the freezing of salaries for those employed in the public sector. The activities of the support Group could be extended to Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, the two countries that in the near future are to sign an association agreement with the European Union.

The situation in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists continue to seize state administrative buildings in at least 2 cities, will be sorted out in the next 48 hours, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has announced today. Avakov has warned that if political negotiations fail, then force will be used. The threat of secession seems to be growing in Luhansk and Donetsk, the two regions where pro-Russian protesters have demanded their union with Russia. Kiev and Washington have accused Russia or having orchestrated the protests, sending special agents whose mission was to wreak havoc in the region, so that a subsequent military intervention could be justified, following the Crimean model. Moscow has denied allegations of a Russian invasion in eastern Ukraine, also stating that the West, the USA and Ukraine need not fear the Russian troops buildup along the Ukrainian border. For the first time since the outbreak of the crisis, four-party talks are to be held next week, including Russia, Ukraine, the USA and the European Union, in a bid to find a solution to the crisis.

Six US F-16 fighter jets, startling tomorrow and until April 17 will be taking part in a joint US – Romanian Air Forces exercise, to be held in central Romania. More than 200 Romanian military, aircraft pilots and technical staff as well as around 250 US Air Forces military will be taking part in the exercise, whose aim is to enhance cooperation among NATO member states armies, as well as the practice of techniques, tactics and procedures, jointly with the American partner. In another development, the USS Donald Cook warship will sail into the Black Sea come Thursday, as part of the US military efforts to support their Eastern-European allies, who have voiced their concern over the Russian military buildup along the Ukrainian border, according to the CNN. The destroyer has guided missiles on board and is scheduled to start a series of exarches and visits to Black Sea ports.

The West must take tough measures against Russia and not just come up with tough declarations, so as not to de facto validate Vladimir Putin’ s interventionist policy, which will most likely lead to the resumption of the arms race at world level, as well as to security guarantees being completely deprived of their value, the famous Polish economist Leszek Balcerowicz said at a conference organized in Bucharest. Balcerowicz also said there was a lot more the West could do in its relationship with Moscow, not through military, but by means of economic action, taking into account that the USA and the European Union’s GDP is 20 times greater than that of Russia. Leszek Balcerowicz is a former Polish deputy prime minister, former Finance minister and former president of Poland’s National Bank. The famous economist and politician is known to be artisan of reforms initiated in Poland in 1989, after the fall of communism. Balcerowicz was a towering figure in his country’s economic strategy, during the transition process from centralized to market economy.

The Romanian Secretary of State Bogdan Aurescu highlighted the profile of Romania, – a NATO and EU member state – which is a close ally and strategic partners to the USA, in a lecture he gave this past Tuesday at the Center for Transatlantic Relations in Washington. Aurescu underscored the Romanian military participation in international missions, also stressing the importance of Romania’s contribution to the protection of the USA and that of Europe’s allied territory in its entirety, through the anti-missile facilities in Deveselu, in southern Romania, and the military base in Mikhail Kogalniceanu in the south-east, which is a transit center for the American forces in Afghanistan. Aurescu also hailed the USA’s enhanced commitment in its relationship with the authorities in Chisinau, with a view to supporting the European aspirations of the Republic of Moldova, which is a former Soviet republic, with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population. The Romanian authorities have also firmly supported the objective.

BUCHAREST — Romania’s High Court of Cassation and Justice today decides if the mayor of the south-eastern Romanian city of Constanta Radu Mazare is kept in custody. We recall Mazare is currently under investigation facing bribe-taking charges. According to the National Anti-Corruption Directorate prosecutors, in 2011 Radu Mazare took 175, 000 Euro from a firm that had built a housing project district. area. Prosecutors said Mazare helped the firm win the tender, and later increase the value of the contract, which was worth ten million euros, with another one million . We’ll revert to that after the news.

The headlines:

The Constitution revision Commission has resumes its work in Bucharest today, in a bid to get the constitutional draft completed by autumn.

The West must take tough measures against Russia and not just come up with tough declarations, so as not to de facto validate Russia’ s interventionist policy, the famous Polish economist Leszek Balcerowicz said at a conference organized in Bucharest.

The situation is still tense in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have been calling for the unification with Russia.