January 8, 2015 UPDATE
For a roundup of domestic and international events, click here.
România Internațional, 08.01.2015, 12:15
TERRORIST ATTACK — Thursday was a national mourning day in France, in the memory of the victims of Wednesday’s terrorist attack on the headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine. A moment of silence was observed at noon in all public institutions. A total of 12 people, mostly journalists, but also 2 police officers were killed, and another 11 were wounded. Two of the attackers are still at large, while the third is now in police custody. President Francois Hollande has labelled the attack as a barbaric act of terrorism. Muslim leaders in France have condemned the attack and warned the population against extremist attempts to manipulate public opinion. In Paris and other large cities, but also in cities across Europe, the United States and Canada anti-terrorism protests were staged, with journalists’ associations describing the attack as “a black day for the freedom of the press”. The international community has harshly condemned the attack, with most Western powers raising their anti-terrorist alert levels.
REACTIONS — Romania firmly condemns terrorism and all violence targeting the freedom of the press and democratic values, Bucharest authorities have announced in the wake on Wednesday’s terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo weekly in Paris. President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Victor Ponta and other Romanian officials on Thursday signed the book of condolences opened at the French Embassy in Bucharest. Numerous heads of state and government all around the world have condemned the attack. In another development, the Romanian Intelligence Service has announced there are no terrorist threats at present in Romania, and there is no need to raise the alert levels.
VISIT – Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has reiterated his intention to pay a first visit in his new capacity to the Republic of Moldova, an ex-soviet country with a Romanian-speaking majority. Iohannis said he wanted to underline in this way the special relation between Bucharest and Chisinau and encourage the pro-European parties to forge a new government. In November, right after being elected president, Iohannis met in Chisinau the pro-western leaders at that time in full legislative election campaign. The Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Party and the Liberals have mustered 55 out of the 101 MP seats. Chisinau hopes to get the EU accession candidacy in 2017 and become an EU member in 2020.
ARMED ATTACK — Interior French Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Thursday called to national unity after Wednesday’s terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris. The French official added that all available police units have been mobilized, with the authorities having taken exceptional measures, such as monitoring the transport system, of large retail stores. In addition the French authorities have temporarily suspended classes in some schools. The minister also said that the perpetrator of Thursday’s attack that killed a police officer in Montrouge, southern Paris, has been apprehended. Minister Cazeneuve went on to say that there was no link between this attack and the one on Wednesday. In another development, a series of explosions were reported in 3 mosques in northern, southern and southwestern France, with no victims reported.
IMF — Romania can negotiate an agreement similar to the one Poland has signed with the IMF, with a flexible line of credit, or may choose not to conclude any further agreements, Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Thursday told a Finance Ministry press conference. According to PM Ponta, a decision in that respect will be taken after the current precautionary agreement comes to an end in September. This is Romania’s 10th agreement with the IMF over the last 23 years, and the third Bucharest has signed with international lenders since the economic crisis of 2009. The flexible line of credit is an instrument the IMF has set up in 2009 for countries with good economic performances.
SESSION — Romanian Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea has summoned the Strategic Interministeral Task Force for combating microcrime and the Committee for Emergency Special Situations in an emergency session on Friday. According to a Ministry press release, the decision was taken in the wake of security developments at EU level in areas of strategic interest for Romania. The agenda of the session includes, among others, measures to step up the operational capability of our country’s integrated response system in emergency situations with a view to preventing and combating terrorism and large-scale crime.
PENTAGON — The Pentagon on Thursday announced it would terminate operations at an airbase in Great Britain, also closing down another 14 locations in Europe, which will be taken over by those countries’ authorities, as part of a strategy aimed at saving some 500 million dollars per year, Reuters reports. US military bases in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands will also be affected by a similar decision. The US has over 64,000 military deployed in Europe, mostly in Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. The decision to re-structure US bases in Europe comes as the Pentagon needs to cut down on spending by nearly 1,000 billion dollars over the next 10 years.
