December 14, 2014 UPDATE

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România Internațional, 14.12.2014, 19:17

The leaders of the ruling coalition in Romania Sunday agreed on a new government structure. The coalition currently includes the Social Democratic Party, the Conservatives and the National Union for the Progress of Romania, after the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania officially left the governing alliance on Saturday. The Reforming Liberal Party headed by Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu also joined the alliance, although it is not yet officially registered. The nominations for the new cabinet have been validated by the Social Democratic Party’s National Executive Committee. PM Victor Ponta will present Parliament on Monday with the list of the new cabinet members. These include Darius Vâlcov for the finances and budget Ministry, Gratiela Gavrilescu from the Reforming Liberal Party for the environment ministry, the Social Democrat Mihai Tudose for the economy ministry, Andrei Gerea for the energy and SMEs ministry, the Social Democrats Ionut Vulpescu and Sorin Grindeanu for the culture ministry and ministry for communications, Senator Adrian Anghel for the Ministry for the Romanian diaspora and Senator Liviu Pop for the Social Dialogue Ministry.

Romanian MPs had until Monday to submit amendments to the draft 2015 state budget law. According to the document, passed by the Government last week, the budget relies on a deficit of 1.8% of GDP, a 2.2% inflation rate and a 2.5% economic growth rate. No taxes and charges will be increased, and more money will be earmarked for investments. According to the timetable approved by the Parliament leading bodies, the budget bill will be discussed in the joint budget and finance committees of Parliament on Wednesday. On Friday the Parliament will analyse it in plenary meeting, and the final vote might be cast on December the 21st, when a special session is scheduled, for Klaus Iohannis to be sworn in as the new President of Romania.

The missile shield in Deveselu, in Romania, is a defensive project and not targeted against Russia, the Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Sunday in Bucharest, after a meeting with a US Congress delegation headed by the Republican Michael Rogers. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the shield, which will be operational as of next year, will enhance the protection of territories, peoples and allied forces in Europe against prospective missile attacks from outside the Euro-Atlantic space. The response of the Romanian official comes after Michael Rogers expressed his dissatisfaction with the US strategy for countering Russia and called for changes in the field of nuclear capacities and missile defence. The American delegation also met with the defence minister, Mircea Dusa, who stressed the importance of the American initiative to enhance the US presence in Europe.

The countries taking part in the UN conference on climate change, held in Lima, Sunday reached an agreement, after two weeks of intensive negotiations. The 194 participating nations undertook to present their individual plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, no later than the end of March. The plans will be brought together by November the 1st 2015, in a report that will be the basis of the negotiations in Paris at the end of next year, when a new global agreement must be reached. The document reiterates a call for the developed countries to give more financial support for the developing countries to be able to implement their own action plans and to adjust to climate change.