August 19, 2015 UPDATE

Click here for a roundup of news from Romania

Mihai Pelin, 19.08.2015, 12:15

HEARINGS – The Prime Minister of Romania, Victor Ponta, was again heard at the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, in a case involving fraud in the Rovinari-Turceni power complex. He is charged with forgery of private documents, accessory to tax evasion and money laundering. On June 15, Ponta was subpoenaed for hearings, after ten days before the Directorate had announced that Ponta, a lawyer at the time of the events, was prosecuted for his involvement in the case. Ponta was unable to appear at the time, because he was undergoing knee surgery in Turkey. Also charged in the same case is the Social Democrat Senator and former transport minister Dan Sova.

PAY RISES – Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced that for the time being the budget only allows for an increase of salaries in the public healthcare system. He mentioned that last year an agreement was also signed with the teaching staff, regarding an increase of their salaries. These explanations came after the Government announced that salaries in the healthcare sector will be raised by 25%, starting on October 1, an announcement criticised by the Opposition and followed by similar demands from other categories of public sector employees.

ECONOMY – Romania exported in the first 6 months of the year goods and services in the amount of 27 billion euro, according to the statistics office of the European Union, EUROSTAT. During the same period, Romanias imports exceeded 30 billion euro, taking the countrys trade balance for the first half of the year to a negative 3 billion euro. Romanias foreign trade is relatively balanced as regards the partners from outside the EU, with a 100 million euro surplus, whereas its intra-EU trade balance is negative, reaching a deficit of nearly 3.5 billion euro.

SWIFT RESPONSE 15 – Romania and three other NATO member countries, Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria, are hosting for 4 weeks the largest allied airborne drills since the end of the Cold War, the American armed forces announced. Swift Response 15 is designed to help allied high-readiness forces act as one and demonstrate the alliance’s capacity to rapidly deploy and operate in support of maintaining a strong and secure Europe, the aforementioned source said. Taking part in the drills are nearly 5,000 troops from Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, UK and the USA. According to the US Army, it is for the first time that the US 82nd Airborne Division operates in Europe since the NATO support operations in Kosovo in 1999.

KABUL – The rotation of the Romanian troops has begun in Afghanistan, where the Romanians are in charge with the security of the Kandahar airport in the south, the largest base of the international coalition in that country. The Transylvanian Dragons of the Dej Battalion are taking over the responsibilities of the Posada Battalion, who conducted patrol missions for nearly six months. They will work together with the American partners and the Afghan national army, which is to gradually take over full responsibility for the security of their country. The International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF) officially concluded its mission last year, after 13 years of fighting in a country that continues to be ravaged by a violent Islamist insurgence. Since 2001, ISAF has lost nearly 3,500 troops there. As of January this year, only 12,500 international military are left in the country to assist the Afghan troops in their fight against the Taliban.

AGRICULTURE – In Romania, farming works will have to be suspended because of the rainfalls forecast for the coming days. According to the National Meteorology Agency forecast for August 19th to 25th, heavy rainfalls, thunderstorms and strong wind are expected across the country. These follow the longest drought of the past 50 years, which has destroyed crops on hundreds of thousands of hectares in Romania. According to farmers, losses exceed 2 billion euros.

CONSULTATIONS – Representatives of the parliamentary parties in Romania on Thursday
will have a technical meeting meant to reassess the Fiscal Code. The
consultations have been initiated by the National Liberal Party, in opposition.
In the initial form of the Fiscal Code, drafted by the government, the VAT
should have been reduced to 20%, but at the debates held in Parliament in June,
the Liberals proposed to cut the VAT to 19%, the amendment being adopted by
Parliament. However, on July 17th, President Klauss
Iohannis called on Parliament to review the Fiscal Code. Romania’s President
believes the envisaged fiscal relaxation measures might have a major negative
impact on the construction of the budget in the following years. The Fiscal
Code will be reviewed in a special session of Parliament, over August 24th-26th.

GREECE – The Greek parliament on Wednesday approved, by a large majority, the third bailout plan for Greece. German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, has said Athens showed will to redress its economy and underlined that refusing Greece the chance to start anew would be an irresponsible act. On Tuesday, the parliaments of Austria, Estonia and Spain, respectively, also approved the bailout plan. On Friday, the Greek parliament endorsed the agreement that Athens had reached with its international creditors on a new bailout package worth 86 billion Euros, in exchange for implementing severe austerity measures. The plan has also been green lighted by the Euro zone finance ministers, but it still should be approved by the national parliaments. Greece has a total debt of over 320 billion Euros, 65% of which to countries in the Euro zone and the IMF, and 8.7% to the European Central Bank. On July the 1st, Athens technically defaulted on its debt.

FOOTBALL – Romanias football champion, Steaua Bucharest on Thursday will face the Norwegian team Rosenborg Trondheim in the Europa League playoff. Romanias second representative in the competition, Astra Giurgiu, (in the south) will also play on home soil against the Dutch team AZ Alkmaar. The return matches are scheduled a week later. Rosenborg Trondheim, a team set up in 1917, has won 22 national titles, the last one in 2010, and 9 Norwegian Cup titles. Boasting a 48-year long history, AZ Alkmaar won two national titles, in 1981 and 2009. We recall that Steaua Bucharest takes part in the Euro League Play-off, after getting eliminated in the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League by the Serbian team Partizan Belgrade.