January 27, 2015
For a roundup of domestic and international events, click here.
Florentin Căpitănescu, 27.01.2015, 12:00
IMF — A new joint mission of the IMF, the European Commission and the World Bank is in Bucharest to assess Romania’s ongoing precautionary agreement with its lenders. IMF officials will discuss with Romanian authorities the recent evolutions of the economy and the key priorities of economic reform. The mission comes at a difficult time for Romania, still gripped by the Swiss Franc crisis, causing panic to spread among Romanians with loans in the Swiss currency and prompting heated debates regarding the law on personal insolvency. IMF experts have already submitted a letter to Romanian authorities, expressing their concern regarding the potential risks of adopting such a law in the absence of an appropriate impact study and without consulting all stakeholders.
HOLOCAUST — Holocaust survivors, heads of state and government and representatives of Royal Houses worldwide are today attending a ceremony in Auschwitz, southern Poland, marking 70 years since the shutdown of the death camp here, against the backdrop of rising anti-Semite threats at European level. Attending, among others, are French president Francois Hollande, German president Joachim Gauck and Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko. Also today president Klaus Iohannis will be decorating several Holocaust survivors as part of a ceremony in Bucharest. According to a presidency press release, the distinction will be bestowed as a sign of deep respect for the suffering endured during the Second World War. In Sighet, north-western Romania, a moment of silence will be observed at the Memorial House hosting the Jewish Culture Museum, in memory of the Holocaust victims.
TALKS — Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti has summoned parliamentary parties for talks regarding the designation of the new Prime Minister. Attending the talks are representatives of the Liberal-Democratic Party and the Democratic Party, the Communist Party and the Liberal Party. The Socialist Party declined the offer to submit a nomination. The appointed candidate and his Cabinet will subsequently need Parliament’s vote of confidence, more exactly at least 51 of the total 101 seats. The Liberal-Democrats and the Democrats on Friday announced they had agreed on the future coalition without the Liberals’ participation. The two parties have nominated the acting Prime Minister Liberal-Democrat Iurie Leanca as their nomination for the position of Prime Minister.
CONVICTION — Two former economy and telecommunications ministers, Codrut Seres and Zsolt Nagy have today received definite prison sentences in the so-called strategic privatisation case. Seres will serve four years and eight months while Nagy has been sentenced to four years in prison. The two were found guilty of being part of a cross-border organized crime group and treason by disclosing confidential information. In another development, businessman Dan Voiculescu, who is currently serving a ten-year prison sentence, got his sentence confirmed in another investigation regarding an illegal privatisation. One of the most influential people of the past 25 years in Romania, Voiculescu is a former Securitate informer and the de facto leader of the Conservative Party in the ruling coalition.
TENNIS — Romanian tennis player WTA 3rd-ranked Simona Halep today lost to Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, 4-6, 0-6 in the Australian Open quarterfinals. The Russian player will next play Maria Sharapova. In the men’s doubles, Florin Mergea and Dominic Inglot of Britain will take on Horia Tecau of Romania and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands. Mergea and Inglot produced a big surprise in the round of 16 after knocking out defending world champions Bob and Mike Bryan of the United States.
UKRAINE — Nine military have been killed and 29 wounded in the last 24 hours in Eastern Ukraine, where fighting has escalated between pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian army. The OSCE has accused separatists of sabotaging its mission in the area. Secretary General Zamberto Zannier has said that OSCE observers have assumed the mission of the ‘blue helmets’ without having the proper equipment. In another development, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said that authorities in Kiev are still clinging to the idea of putting the US at the table of OSCE-mediated negotiations between Russia and Ukraine regarding the political situation in the Donbas region.
GREECE — The new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the radical left-wing Syriza party, is due to announce today the structure of his new Cabinet, set up jointly with the independents. Tsipras won Sunday’s elections and is planning to introduce an anti-austerity program. The priorities of the new Government are to reduce the country’s debt and economic strategies. The IMF has expressed willingness to continue its support for Greece and kick off talks with the new Government, France Presse reports. In 2010 Greece got 240 billion euros as part of a loan granted by the European Union, the World Bank and the IMF. The IMF earmarked its greatest loan to Athens, although grounded on harsh economic reforms. At present Greece has an outstanding debt of 300 billion euros, accounting for 175% of its GDP, and an unemployment rate of 25%.
BLIZZARD — Tens of millions of people in the US are bracing for a powerful blizzard set to hit the East Coast. Meteorologists say this may be the biggest and most dangerous blizzard in the history of the region. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent on the ground, authorities in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts have declared a state of emergency. Thousands of flights have been grounded, while all traffic on motorways, bridges, tunnels and the New York subway has been shut down. The authorities expect the massive snowstorm to blanket the region with up to 90 centimetres of snow.
