August 21, 2014 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
România Internațional, 21.08.2014, 12:01
Former prime minister of Romania in the 2000-2004 period, Adrian Nastase, sentenced in January to 4 years and 6 months in prison for corruption deeds, was released on parole, on Thursday evening, after serving over one third of the sentence. Nastase had been charged with bribe taking and blackmail. Head of the leftist government in Bucharest in the early 2000, Nastase was the candidate of the Social Democratic Party in the presidential elections, which he lost to the incumbent president, Traian Basescu. While some of his supporters see him as one of the most efficient prime ministers after 1989, his opponents deem him as one of Romania’s most arrogant and corrupted high-level politicians.
Head of the pro-Russian separatist regime in Transdniester, in eastern Moldova, Evgheni Sevciuk, has signed a decree on partial military mobilization. Previously, Sevciuk accused the pro-Western authorities in Moldova and the neighbouring Ukraine of subjecting the separatist region to an economic blockade and of fuelling tensions in the area. The decree was signed just ahead of Thursday’s visit to Chisinau of the Russian deputy prime minister, Dmitri Rogozin, known for his firm support of the separatists. Transdniester came out of Chisinau’s control in 1992, after an armed conflict that killed hundreds of people, and following the intervention of Russian troops on the separatists’ side. The separatists later asked to be included in the Russian Federation. Moscow is supporting the secessionist regime in Transdniester, both financially and military, although officially it claims to be observing Moldova’s territorial integrity.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry warns Romanian citizens who plan to travel to Indonesia that on Friday the country will host rallies staged by the supporters of the two candidates to the presidency. Romanian citizens are advised to avoid the central areas of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta — the Indonesia Hotel and the Thamrin Square.
Romania firmly supports further negotiations in the Iranian nuclear file, State Secretary for global affairs with the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Carmen Burlacu, has said. She voiced hope that negotiations would eventually lead to an agreement to be signed by Iran and the western powers by November 24th. Teheran is suspected of working secretly on developing atomic weapons. Iran denies it and says it only works on a civil nuclear program.
Simona Halep, of Romania, the 2014 French Open finalist and Wimbledon semi-finalist has been named Seed no. 2 in women’s singles at the 2014 US Open. Serena Williams is the top seed. The US Open followed the WTA rankings released Monday to determine the women’s singles seeds.
