January 2, 2016

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 02.01.2016, 12:01

The Republic of Moldova’s
Prime Minister Designate, Ion Sturza, is to present his cabinet’s membership
and governing program, for which it will call for Parliament’s endorsement on
Monday. Following consultations with the parliamentary parties, he only managed
to get the support of the Liberal Democrats, who are only 19 out of a total of
101 MPs. Most parliamentary parties have announced they will not support the
government on January 4th. Last week, the Constitutional Court in
Chisinau ruled that president Nicolae Timofti’s decree on the designation of
Ion Sturza as PM was constitutional. The ruling was given following a claim
filed by 14 former Communist MPs, now allies to the Democratic Party, according
to which Nicolae Timofti had not consulted them on the designation of the PM
and had not proposed a candidate accepted by a parliamentary majority.

On January 7th,
the Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos will pay a formal visit to Berlin,
during which he will meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel. The two officials will
discuss, among other things, means of strengthening bilateral cooperation and
also the situation created by the influx of migrants to Europe. The visit’s
agenda also includes meetings with members of the Romanian community in Germany
and of the Romanian – German Economic Forum. The delegation that will accompany
PM Ciolos will also include the Foreign Minister, Lazar Comanescu.

On January 1st, the Netherlands took over, for the 12th time, the
rotating presidency of the EU. Fighting terrorism, the influx of migrants and
the situation in Syria will be the main challenges facing the Netherlands in
this extremely difficult period, both at European and international level. The
key role of the Dutch presidency will be that of moderator between the 28 EU
member countries. The Dutch PM Mark Rutte has given assurances that it will be
a pragmatic presidency, focused on solving common issues, which can only be
settled through cooperation.

In 2016, Romania must pay 113
million Euros, in interest rates and commissions, to the EU and the WB, under
the stand-by loan agreement concluded in 2009. in 2015, Romania paid over 1,8
billion Euros to the IMF, the EU and the WB. Also, 2015 was the year when
Bucharest fully paid the loan from the IMF. The total amount reimbursed by
Romania over 2009-2015 stood at 4,837 billion Euros, according to the Romanian
Finance Ministry. By 2023 Romania must pay 4.88 billion Euros to the WB and the
EU. The largest amount, 3.8 billion, will go tot the EU.

The trajectory of populist movements, the elimination
of the threat posed by the Islamic State terrorist organisation, the popularity
issues facing the German and French leaders, are the main international events
to be followed in 2016 according to the Wall Street Journal. Almost every EU
country is faced with the emergence of populist parties discontent with
Brussels’s policies, which are pleading for regaining national independence,
the famous publication also reads. As regards terrorism, the Obama
administration has not yet found a solution to effectively fight against the
Islamic State network without amplifying Iran’s and Russia’s power. On the
other hand, the wave of terrorist attacks in France and the inflow of
immigrants to Germany are serious challenges for the two countries and for the
EU’s essential values. Despite that, analysist say that, both the French
president Francois Hollande and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel will
probably stay in power until the 2017 elections.

The Romanian Ministry of
Culture keeps on its priority agenda the purchasing of Constantin Brancusi’s
work Wisdom of the Earth, although it does not have the necessary money in
this year’s budget, and very likely in next year’s budget either, as the owners
request 20 million Euros for this piece of art. Constantin Brancusi, who lived
between 1876 and 1957, is dubbed one of
the greatest sculptors of the 20th century. He deeply influenced the
modern concept of form in sculpting, painting and drawing. We recall that the sculptural
ensemble in Targu Jiu, made up of the ‘Table of Silence’, ‘The Gate of the
Kiss’ , ‘The Chairs Alley’ and ‘The Endless Column’, was included in UNESCO’s
heritage list in 2007.

Romanian tennis players Irina Begu, Monica Niculescu, Andreea Mitu
and Patricia Tig will participate in the Shenzhen tournament in China,
shedulled to start on Sunday. The tournament has over 400,000 USD up for grabs.
According to the organizers, Begu and Niculescu will be among the top seeds.
Andreea Mitu will also be on the main table, while Patricia Tig will play in
the qualifiers. Simona Halep, who won the Shenzhen tournament in 2015, is top
seeded in the Brisbane tournament in Australia, which will be unfolding in the
same period and has over 900,000 dollars in prize money.