January 21, 2014 UPDATE

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

Leyla Cheamil, 21.01.2014, 12:26

PLANE CRASH – Romanian prosecutors are investigating the plane crash on Monday in western Romania in which two people were filled and give wounded. A small-size plane transporting a medical crew was forced to land in the mountains at 1,400 meters altitude. The members of the crew were found by a forest ranger after a search of more than 6 hours involving firemen, mountain rescue officers, police officers and local people.

CVM – Romania has made progress in many fields, but there are still worries regarding the independence of the judiciary, reads the report on the Romanian justice system drawn under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Romania, Agerpres reports. In the document, the EC recommends MPs to observe the independence of the judiciary and court rulings. The report will be published tomorrow and will include an assessment of the progress made by Romania since the latest report, drawn up in January last year, the EC spokesman Mark Gray has stated. We recall that both Romania and Bulgaria have been monitored since their accession to the EU in 2007.

VISIT – Romania’s president Traian Basescu on Tuesday during his meeting with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said that the purpose of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks is to bring peace, not to ascertain historical truth. Basescu said Romania fully supported US Secretary of State John Kerry’s peacemaking plan. Basescu is in favour of a peaceful solution, in the interest of the tens of thousands of Romanians in the region. On the other hand, he added that between February 12 and 14 a mixed Romanian-Palestinian committee will convene in Bucharest. President Basescu said Romania would continue to offer scholarships to young Palestinians. Upon his visit to Israel earlier this week, Basescu held talks with his counterpart Shimon Peres, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other high-ranking officials in Tel Aviv.

IMF – A joint IMF, WB and EC mission is assessing in Bucharest the stand by agreement signed last year. According to IMF representatives, the talks focus on recent economic developments and structural reform priorities. Another topic on the agenda regards the identification of necessary means to compensate for the revenues that have not reached the state budget because of the postponement of the additional excise duty on fuel. According to Prime Minister Victor Ponta talks on this matter are premature, as the situation of revenues will only be clear after six months. The Prime Minister has also stated that the level of contributions to the social insurance fund will probably drop on July 1st and the tax on reinvested profits will most likely be eliminated.

EU FUNDS – EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn on Tuesday congratulated Romanian Minister for European Funds Eugen Teodorovici for Romania’s absorption of EU funds in 2013. According to the EU official, Romania made good use of structural funds it had access to last year. In turn, minister Teodorovici said that following talks with Johannes Hahn, the Partnership Agreement would be submitted to the European Commission in February, while the operational plans in late March. Teodorovici recalled that in the following two years Romania must absorb another 12 billion euros.

SERBIA – The Romanian Government on Tuesday hailed the official kick-off of Serbia’s accession negotiations with the EU. According to a Government press release, the event comes as recognition of Serbia’s efforts to move closer to the EU. Accession talks officially started on Tuesday in Brussels. Analysts say the most contingent of the 35 negotiation chapters is the normalization process of Serbia’s relations with neighbouring Kosovo, an autonomous region with a majority Albanian population. A neighbour of Serbia, Romania has constantly supported Serbia’s EU bid, in exchange calling on Belgrade authorities for a fair treatment of the Romanian minority in Timoc Valley, eastern Serbia.

SYRIA – Russia thinks the UN made a mistake when it did not invite Iran on Wednesday’s conference in Geneva, devoted to coming up with a solution to the conflict in Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that all international actors who have a say in the matter should be present. The US, the UK and France want to oust Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. The three states had stipulated Iran had to support the democratic transition in Damascus as a pre-requisite to attending the conference. Iran had subsequently ruled out this option.