February 10, 2015 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

România Internațional, 10.02.2015, 20:15

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced on Tuesday he will pay a visit to the US, where he will meet with the US Secretary of Commerce and business people. The Prime Minister has stated that given the excellent political and military ties between Romania and the US, the economic relationship needs to be brought up to the same level. Ponta has called on its ministers to remove all administrative and red tape barriers in order to render Romania more attractive for American investors.

The relationship with France is a priority, said in Paris on Tuesday the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, after talks with his French counterpart Francois Hollande. The Romanian head of state, who is currently on his first formal visit to France as president, invited Francois Holland to Bucharest. Klaus Iohannis asked for France’s support for Romania’s accession to Schengen and voiced hope that a decision would soon be made on that matter. The two heads of state also discussed economic and cultural cooperation. Hollande announced that 2018, when modern Romania celebrates its centennial, France will organise special events to celebrate that anniversary. Also, the two officials approached the situation in Ukraine. Klaus Iohannis reiterated Bucharest’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. In his turn, Holande voiced hope that at Wednesday’s meeting in Minsk, to be attended by the German chancellor Angela Merkel and her counterparts from Russia and Ukraine, an agreement will be reached to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Prosecutors with the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism have dismantled a trans-national group specializing in cyber crime and money laundering. According to the Directorate, the action was started at the notification of the Romanian Intelligence Service and with the latter’s information and technical support. Prosecutors say that between October 2014 and February 2015, 2 Israeli citizens carried out cyber crime activities against the Romanian banking system, using highly complex means, with the help of people from the Middle East. The actions of the group, which also includes Romanian citizens, have affected the security and integrity of national banks’ data infrastructures by fraudulently accessing IT systems and extracting stored data.

The Governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isarescu, has categorically ruled out any intervention of the Central Bank with regard to the leu — Swiss franc exchange rate as a measure to settle the crisis generated by the Swiss franc loans. On Tuesday, during a joint session of Parliament’s budget and finance commissions, Isarescu explained that an intervention by the National Bank on the currency market to bring the exchange rate down to the level valid before January 14th would entail the spending of several billions of Euros, which would in turn bring Romania into recession. Thousands of Romanians with loans in Swiss francs protested again on Sunday in Bucharest and other cities across the country. They are unhappy with the soaring of the Swiss currency and have been calling for a law to allow conversion at last year’s exchange rates. However, the Central Bank and the commercial banks say such a measure would be unconstitutional and would force them to default. Over 75 thousand Romanians have taken out loans in Swiss francs.

The acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Iurie Leanca, on Tuesday presented the governing program for the 2015-2018 period, two days before asking for Parliament’s vote. Among other things, the document sets as targets Moldova’s getting the status of EU candidate and consolidating the strategic partnership with Romania for the European integration of the former Soviet republic, with a predominantly Romanian speaking population. Also, the program provides for rendering the relations with Russia normal and furthering the strategic dialogue with the US. The Chisinau Parliament has again postponed, until Thursday, the voting of the designated Prime Minister and his team. In order to be invested, the government needs the support of the majority, which means at least 51 votes. The current pro-European coalition, made up of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party, only hold 42 seats out of the total of 101. The two parties are counting on some of the votes of the Liberal Party, a former partner of theirs, or on those of the pro-Russian communist party.

The US President Barack Obama confirmed on Tuesday the death of aid worker Kayla Mueller, held hostage by Islamic State militants in Syria. Obama said that the US would bring to justice the terrorists responsible for the death of the 26 year old woman. Last week, the Islamic State announced that the woman had been killed by a coalition air strike in Jordan, without presenting any proof of that. Kayla Mueller was kidnapped while she was working in Alep, Syria, in 2013.

Romania’s Fed Cup team will play against Canada in the World Cup playoffs, following the draw that took place on Tuesday in London at the offices of the International Tennis Federation. The World Group playoffs are scheduled for April 18th — 19th. Romania’s team qualified for the playoffs after they defeated the Spanish team 3-2 in the match that took place last week in Galati (eastern Romania). In women’s tennis the Fed Cup is similar to Davis Cup.