February 3, 2015 UPDATE

For a roundup of domestic and international events, click here.

Valentin Țigău, 03.02.2015, 12:15

TALKS — Romanian Defence Minister Mircea Dusa on Tuesday had a telephone conversation with his Canadian counterpart Robert Nicholson, ahead of the summit of NATO Defence Ministers to be held on Thursday in Brussels. According to a Defence Ministry release, Minister Dusa thanked his counterpart for the excellent cooperation between Romania and Canada in the field of defence, which translated into the deployment of Canada’s F-18 squadron to Romania as part of NATO concerted actions to ensure the security of its allies on its eastern borders.

CORRUPTION — Anti-corruption prosecutors on Tuesday called on the Senate leadership to greenlight the arrest of Constitutional Court judge Toni Grebla, wanted for acts of corruption. In another development businessman Adrian Sarbu on Monday evening was placed under a 24-hour arrest, facing allegations of tax evasion, money laundering and embezzlement. The founder of a popular television station in the early 90s, Sarbu was long seen as one of the most influential media tycoons in Romania. Several other people are being investigated in the same case, three of whom have been put under a pre-emptive arrest.

PARTNERSHIP – Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday informed Parliament that the United States called for permission to continue operations to transport human and material resources to and from Afghanistan. Under the agreement, some 250 military will be deployed at Kogalniceanu base. The US has also requested to use Henri Coanda International Airport as an alternative, in the event of unfavourable weather conditions hindering the functionality of Mihail Kogalniceanu airport.

SERBIA — Serbia did not commit genocide against the Croats in the early 1990s during the war that led to the violent break-up of Yugoslavia, the International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled on Tuesday. The Court also decided that neither did Croatia commit any acts of genocide against the Serbian population on its territory or during the 1995 conflict, when Belgrade-backed rebels reclaimed areas. In July 1999, Croatia submitted an appeal to the Court, accusing the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia — whose lawful successor is Serbia at present– of “ethnic cleansing” among the Croat population in Krajina. According to the authorities in Zagreb, the action perpetrated by the Serbian army against the Croats left around 20,000 people dead, 50,000 others wounded, while more than 3,000 people were reported missing. The aftermath also included a tremendous amount of damages. In turn, Serbia also demanded reparations, accusing Croatia of genocide among the Serbs and other ethnic groups.

ENERGY — Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Tuesday said the project for the underwater energy transportation cable linking Romania to Turkey was a strategic one, as it can generate a major foreign market for electricity produced in Romania. The project stipulates the installation of an underwater energy transportation cable from Romania to Turkey via the Black Sea, with a capacity of 800 MW and a voltage of 500 KV. The cable is 400 kilometres long and the total investment stands at around 519 million euro.

IMF — The joint IMF, World Bank and European Commission delegation headed by Andrea Schechter is still in Bucharest, for their assessment of the precautionary loan agreement Romania signed with international lenders. The progress of the economic data, progress on privatisations efforts and the Tax Code are high on the agenda of talks, to be held with Romanian officials until February 10. A hot topic on the agenda is the draft law on personal insolvency, against the backdrop of the recent appreciation of the Swiss Franc against the national currency. This is the 10th stand-by agreement Bucharest has signed with the IMF in the last 23 years, and the third one Romania has called for, since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2009.

RESIGNATION — The Parliament in Bucharest on Tuesday took note of George Maior’s resignation as head of intelligence. According to procedures, the position has to be officially vacated for President Iohannis to make a new appointment, in line with his constitutional prerogatives. Maior has been in that position since 2006, and resigned a week ago, when he levelled harsh criticism at the Constitutional Court’s decision to rule unconstitutional the law on cyber-security, part of a national security package. In another development, on Monday interim director Florian Coldea, Maior’s former deputy, will appear before the intelligence committee in Parliament, after being implicated in several corruption cases by MP Elena Udrea, who is currently under criminal investigation.

MOLDOVA — The Republic of Moldova’s acting Prime Minister Iurie Leanca on Friday will submit to Parliament his government line-up. The media in Chisinau headlines that at present it is not certain whether Leanca will gather the lawfully required number of votes. A mere 42 deputies, liberals and liberal-democrats support Leanca’s candidacy, 9 votes less than the minimum required number. The Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party’s former governing coalition partners, the liberals headed by Moldova’s former president Mihai Ghimpu said they might cast their vote in favour of the future Government, provided they know the names of cabinet members. According to political analysts, the Liberal Party will not agree ministers facing corruption charges or with attitudes hostile to neighbouring Romania. The head of the European Union’s mission to Chisinau Pirkka Papiola has said that Brussels’ support for the Republic of Moldova depends only on the new government’s future course of action, and not on that government’s political leanings. In 2014 Moldova signed association and free-trade agreements with the European Union, where it hopes to gain membership in 2020.

UKRAINE — In the draft budget for 2016 US President Barack Obama has suggested earmarking 117 million dollars to thwart Russia’s ingressions in Ukraine, the United States Presidential Administration has announced. The draft budget also includes initiatives of political, economic and military support for NATO allies and partner states in Europe, the release also reads. Meanwhile clashes continue on the ground between separatist rebels and government troops in Eastern Ukraine. According to Ukrainian police, at least 112 civilians have been killed in January — the deadliest month since the outbreak of the conflict, in March 2014. The United Nations has estimated that the conflict in Eastern Ukraine has left more than 5,000 people dead.

SNOWSTORM – At least 10 people have been killed by the snowstorm that hit the north-eastern USA for the second time in less than a week. The bad weather has caused severe traffic disruptions, 4,400 flights have been grounded mainly on airports in Chicago, Newark, Boston and New York. Schools and courts have been closed down on Monday in Boston, covered in a 60-centimeter snow layer last week. The National Weather Service has cautioned the inhabitants of Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut to brace up for yet another storm expected to blanket the region with up to 30 centimetres of snow.

TOURISTS — Some 2 million tourists visited Romania last year, of which more than a half from Europe. The average length of their stay was 2 days, according to data released by the National Institute of Statistics. Most tourists were from Germany, tantamount to a quarter of a million. Over 180,000 visited Bucharest and other large cities. Up to 200,000 tourists came from Italy, France, the United States, Grate Britain and Hungary.