January 22, 2015 UPDATE

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

România Internațional, 22.01.2015, 12:15

DNA — One of the nine judges of the Constitutional Court of Romania, Toni Grebla, is being investigated for influence peddling and organized crime, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) announced on Thursday. According to the Directorate, Grebla is suspected of having received undue benefits from a businessman in the 2010-2015 period. In turn Grebla allegedly promised to abuse his office to help several public servants favour companies controlled by the businessman. In another development, the High Court of Cassation and Justice greenlighted the Directorate’s request to place Former Interior Minister Liberal Cristian David under a pre-emptive 30-day arrest, pending the investigation of bribe-taking allegations. David is suspected of having received bribes of up to 500 thousand eurpos in the 2007-2008 period. David purportedly also used his influence to convince a local county council president, who was arrested in another court case, to issue a property title for a 15-hectare plot of land. Also on Thursday, former Social-Democrat MP Viorel Hrebenciuc and his son, Andrei Hrebenciuc, as well as Social-Democrat MP Ioan Adam, former Justice Minister Tudor Chiuariu and another 13 people were brought to court by anti-corruption prosecutors, in a notorious court case regarding illegal restitution of forestland. They are being accused of setting up a crime ring in April 2013. The case regards the restitution of over 43 thousand hectares of forestland in Bacau County, based on illegal decisions issued by certain judges, also involving certain MPs. The prejudice brought to the state is more than 300 million euros.

IMF – Romania’s Energy Minister Andrei Gerea is holding preliminary talks with IMF officials in Bucharest. High on the talks’ agenda is the timetable for the stock exchange listing of some of the companies subordinate to the Energy Ministry. The IMF’s official mission will be in Bucharest over January 27-February 10, for a new assessment of the existing stand-by agreement. As part of the meeting with Romanian officials and representatives of the private sector, trade unions, business enterprise associations as well as with representatives of political parties and civil society, talks will also focus on economic developments and the priorities of the structural reforms. IMF’s last visit to Bucharest was in December 2014, when key elements were agreed upon, underlying the budget structure for 2015.

TALKS — Three-way talks will continue on Friday in Chisinau, bringing together the pro-European parties, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and the Democratic Party, in an attempt to set up a coalition capable of forming the new government, in the wake of the legislative elections held in November last year. Negotiations failed on Thursday and Wednesday, despite recommendations made by the European politicians who had been holding talks in Chisinau with the leaders of the three parties. The Party of the Communists, in opposition, announced it would in no way join a governing coalition, while the socialists, who received the greatest number of votes in favour in the most recent election, have suggested denouncing the association agreement with the European Union. Moldovan Parliament’s plenary session on Wednesday turned down the initiative.

MEETING — US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond re co-chairing the meeting of the Coalition Against the Islamic State, the terror organization controlling large areas in Syria and Iraq. Foreign Ministers from 20 countries are attending the meeting. Talks are set to focus on the military campaign against IS targets, means of preventing recruitment of militants, blocking sources of financing for the organization, and humanitarian assistance in the region. A special focus will be on westerners who travel to the Middle East to join the Islamists, in the context of the terror attacks in Paris.

PRESSURE — Constitutional Court president Augustin Zegrean on Thursday complained about pressure from politicians and institutions regarding the cyber security legislation, which the Constitutional Court sees as going against the Constitution. On Wednesday, the Court ruled that the Law on Cyber Security is unconstitutional. According to the Law, the so-called “Big Brother” package is in breach of the free access to justice and the right to a fair trial, the right to privacy, family and personal live as well as the right to secret post. The law on cyber security, put forth by the Government, was adopted in December 2014 by the Senate, after being tacitly steered through the Chamber of Deputies.

UKRAINE – Violence has escalated to the level prior to the Minsk ceasefire concluded in September 2014 and even beyond it, head of U.S. European Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Philip Breedlove At least 41 people were killed in the last 24 hours in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking eastern region, 10 of whom were Ukrainian soldiers, France Presse reports. The Ukrainian army on Thursday morning abandoned Donetsk airport’s new terminal, their main stronghold, to fight against pro-Russian separatist forces, France Presse also reports. As of January 15, rebels, who seized part of the airport’ s buildings, have launched a strong offensive, in a bid to regain control over the positions last held by the Ukrainian army. President Petro Poroshenko has said that more than 9,000 Russian soldiers, with more than 500 tanks, heavy artillery weapons and carriers have been deployed in eastern Ukraine. The allegations mark an absolute first since the Minsk agreement has been signed in September last year. According to OSCE, since April 2014, more than 5,000 people, civilians and military, have been killed in clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels.

ECB — The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday announced new quantitative easing methods worth 1,100 billion Euros, aimed at preventing the stagnation of the Eurozone economy. ECB president Mario Draghi announced a plan of monthly procurements mixed by sovereign bonds from Eurozone countries and corporatist bonds up to 60 billion euros, from March 2015 to September 2016. The measures are aimed at preventing the 18 Eurozone countries from entering recession. The procurement of sovereign bonds will also lower the costs of taking out loans for Eurozone states, as well as support lending and result in a devaluation of the Euro, making it more competitive on the market.