January 16 , 2017

Parliament appoints budget commission, Moldovan president visits Russia

Mihai Pelin, 16.01.2017, 11:59

BUDGET — The plenum of the bicameral Parliament in Bucharest meets today to form the commission that will investigate the budget adjustments operated in 2016 by the former technocrat government. The commission was required by the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea, whose party won the latest elections of December 11. On the agenda of Parliament are also forming new regulatory commissions for the Romanian Intelligence Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service. On Thursday, the head of the Intelligence Service, Eduard Hellvig, order suspended his first deputy, General Florian Coldea, accused of illegalities by former deputy Sebastian Ghita, who is under investigation in several corruption cases, and has lately been missing.

BRUSSELS — The new Romanian foreign minister, Teodor Melescanu, joins today his EU counterparts in the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. According to his ministry, the meeting will be an opportunity to review the main topics on the European agenda for the first quarter of 2017. Also on the agenda will be recent events in Syria, relations with Morocco, and negotiations on the peace process in Cyprus. As part of the meeting, the head diplomat in Bucharest will meet Federica Mogherini, European High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. This is his first meeting since taking over as Foreign Minister, a position he also held between 1992 and 1996, as well as in November 2014. He resigned when bad organization prevented thousands of Romanians living abroad to exercise their right to vote.

MOLDOVA — Pro-Russian Socialist President of Moldova Igor Dodon goes on a three day trip to Moscow to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin. According to his office, Dodons priorities are to restore exports to the Russian market, which is presently under an embargo, and legalizing the situation of Moldovan workers in Russia whose work permits have expired. The same sources say that Dodon and Putin will also be discussing the situation in Transdnestr, a region that Moldova lost control over in 1992. Dodon, who was elected president of the Republic of Moldova in November, is the first high official from that country in 15 years to start his term with an official visit to Moscow.

CANBERRA — Romania’s best placed tennis player, WTA no. 4 Simona Halep was today ousted from the very first round at the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open, by Shelby Rogers of the United States, 52 WTA, after two sets, 6-3, 6-1. Simona conceded defeat for the second year running in the kick-start round of the tournament in Melbourne. Another Romanian tennis player, Patricia Tig, was also knocked out in the first round by the Olympic champion Monica Piug of Puerto Rico, 6-nil, 6-1. Still, two Romanian players advanced to the next round. Irina Begu defeated Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, while Sorana Carstea beat Irina Khromacheva of Russia, 6-2, 6-1. In the third round, Tig will prove her mettle against Czech contender Kristina Pliskova WTA 58. The main draw of the women’s’ singles this coming Tuesday will see the last two Romanians playing in the first round, WTA 32 Monica Niculescu and WTA 125 Ana Bogdan, who are pitted against WTA 189 the Russian Ana Blinkova and, respectively, WTA 18 Elena Vesnina, also from Russia.

BUCHAREST — The first post-communist president of Romania, Ion Iliescu, was today deposed by the General Prosecutors Office, in the case of the miners raids, under accusation of crimes against humanity. The leader of the miners who took part in the raid, Miron Cozma, was also deposed last week. Prosecutors accuse the people cited in the case of a generalized and systematic attack against protests in Bucharest in June 1990, people who were peacefully protesting against the newly installed power after the fall of communism. The attack by over ten thousand miners and workers, prosecutors say, was joined by forces of the ministries of the interior and defense, as well as intelligence agents. Against the background of several violent incidents in the capital, which the Army had already quelled, Iliescu claimed there was a coup attempt by the opposition, and called on the population to defend democratic insitutions. The miners of Jiu Valley, Romanias most important mining region, were brought to Bucharest, where they attacked the main university building and protesters camped outside it, as well as the offices of opposition parties and independent newspapers. The raids left four dead and over 1,200 injured.