January 26, 2016 UPDATE
A round-up of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 26.01.2016, 12:20
MOLDOVA– The new Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Pavel Filip, has said in Bucharest that his country is going through difficult political times, but his government wants to prove it is a European one. The Moldovan official has also said that Romania’s support is extremely valuable to Chisinau and has thanked the Romanian authorities for their help. In turn, the Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos has stressed that Romania will support Moldova financially as soon as measures are taken proving that there is will to reform the country. The 150 million Euro reimbursable loan will be disbursed in three instalments. The Republic of Moldova’s political stability is important not only to Chisinau, but also to Romania and the entire region, Dacian Ciolos has also said. Pavel Filip has also been received in audience by Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis. His visit to Romania, the first after the Moldovan government was sworn in last week, is taking place against the background of protests staged by pro-Russia parties and the pro-European Dignity and Truth Platform threatening with large-scale protest meetings unless early elections are announced by Thursday.
JHA COUNCIL– Romanian justice minister, Raluca Pruna, attended, in Amsterdam, on Monday and Tuesday, an informal meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, alongside her counterparts from all the EU member states. The justice ministers discussed, among others, ways to exchange and share information on criminal records and cross border cyber crime. On the occasion, the Romanian official expressed confidence that the half-yearly rotating presidency of the EU Council, held by the Netherlands, will be extremely energetic in the field of justice and home affairs.
CORRUPTION- The Speaker of the Romanian Senate, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, has announced that the Permanent Bureau of the upper chamber of the Romanian Parliament on Wednesday will discuss the National Anti-Corruption Directorates request to start prosecution against former Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea. The ordinary session of the legislature starts on February 1. The leader of the National Union for the Progress of Romania, former interior minister Gabriel Oprea, is facing two charges of abuse in office, relating to the use of the official motorcade.
FINANCE– The European Commission has published a report warning that 11 European countries, including Romania, are faced with high risks concerning the sustainability of public finances, with a debt level standing high even after a 10 year time-frame. According to the same document, though, in the short run Bucharest is not faced with significant risks of fiscal pressure. The European Commission has also announced that Romania’s public debt might increase to over 60% of the GDP in 2026. The other countries mentioned in the report are France, Italy, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Croatia, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland and Great Britain.
PROTEST-The main professional forestry associations in Romania on Tuesday organized in Bucharest, in front of the Government building, a protest action aimed at unblocking the activity of this sector. The main claims are related to the state-owned company “Romsilva, about which protesters say it blocked the entire industry after increasing by 300% the wood auction starting price. Therefore, those who need wood choose to buy it from the black market, and not from the state company, and that has tripled illegal cutting and selling of wood. Romania is now one of the countries with the highest prices of wood in Europe, protesters say.
TERRORISM– Islamic State Jihadists are preparing fresh attacks within the EU, a report issued by the European Police Office, Europol, reads. The document talks about a change in ISIS’s strategy, which is now capable of staging very complex and well coordinated strings of attacks anytime and anywhere in the world, with support from local militants. The report was presented on the official launching in Amsterdam of a new European Counter Terrorism Centre. The centre will mainly focus on the community of 5,000 European citizens who became radicals after taking part in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, many of whom returned to their countries of origin and are now a major threat to security, Europol, has announced. The Islamic State terrorist organisation is active in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan. Since September 2014, an US-led international coalition has been launching air strikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
TENNIS-The Romanian Horia Tecau and the American Coco Vandeweghe have qualified without actually playing in the quarter finals of the Australian Open’s mixed doubles. The two tennis players were to play against the all-Italian pair Sara Errani/Fabio Fognini, but the latter decided to withdraw from the competition. In the next stage, the Romanian – American pair will play against the Americans Bob Bryan/ Bethanie Mattek – Sands, seeded 2nd at the competition. Horia Tecau and the Dutch Jean Julien Rojer, the Australian Open’s first seeds, failed to qualify for the semi-finals, as they were defeated by the French Adrian Mannarino and Lucas Pouille.
(Translated by Diana Vijeu and Mihaela Ignatescu)
