July 20, 2015 UPDATE
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România Internațional, 20.07.2015, 12:05
The leaders of the ruling coalition in Bucharest discussed on Monday the strategy they will pursue to promote the new Fiscal Code, after President Klaus Iohannis sent the bill back to Parliament, on grounds that the measures provided for in the code were not sustainable. The interim president of the Social Democratic Party, Rovana Plumb, said that PM Victor Ponta was the one to announce the solution that would be chosen. She explained that Ponta had not attended the meeting because he was in Turkey for check-ups after the surgery he underwent last month. The government has several options in view regarding the application of the new Fiscal Code: a vote of confidence in Parliament, an emergency ordinance introducing some of the measures stipulated in the Code, or calling for a special Parliament session. The Liberals are against the adoption of the new fiscal measures by means of Government taking responsibility for the bill. The Presidents rejecting the Fiscal Code has triggered a dispute between the power and the liberal opposition. Meanwhile, President Klaus Iohannis Monday signed into law the Code of Fiscal Procedure and a bill cancelling a number of fiscal obligations.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry hails the historic decision to restore diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba, starting July the 20th, by reopening embassies in Washington and Havana, after more than 50 years. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, this is an essential landmark on the way to fully restore normal bilateral relations. According to the Ministry, Romania, alongside the EU, appreciates the new stage in the relations between the USA and Cuba, consisting in negotiations on lifting the embargo and the restrictions on the free movement of people, goods and information between the two countries. Bucharest closely monitors the developments in Cuba and expresses its interest and willingness to contribute, as much as it can, to the progress of the Cuban society.
The UN Security Council Monday approved the nuclear agreement signed by the worlds powers with Iran, one which keeps the door open for restoring sanctions in case Teheran breaches the terms in the next ten years. In exchange for cancelling the sanctions imposed by the USA, the UN and the EU, Iran will restrict its nuclear activities. Israels PM Benjamin Netanyahu Monday criticised the support of the Security Council for this agreement, which will bring war closer, he says, because Iran will receive hundreds of billions of US dollars and a nuclear arms race will begin in the Middle East. On July the 14th, the 5+1 group (the USA, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) reached a historic deal with Iran stipulating a progressive and conditional lifting of sanctions in exchange for guarantees that Iran will not build atomic weapons.
Initial data indicate that the suicide attack that killed at least 30 people on Monday in the Turkish town of Suruc, near the Syrian border, was perpetrated by the Islamic State group, the Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu told a press conference. He said Turkey will strengthen security measures in the border area and will continue to fight IS. The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also condemned the attack. Suruc is hosting many Syrian refugees that have fled the town of Kobane because of the clashes between the IS and the Syrian Kurdish forces, which last month regained the town.
Banks in Greece reopened on Monday, for the first time in the past three weeks, after the Greek Parliament endorsed last week the austerity measures requested by the international creditors under a new loan program. Some of the restrictions have been lifted, but the cap on cash withdrawals will be maintained at 420 Euros per week. Also starting on Monday, the VAT in Greece went up from 13 to 23% for a number of goods and services. In exchange for that, Athens got a 7 billion Euro emergency loan, which has been used to pay back some of its debt to the European Central Bank and the IMF, which exceeds 6 billion Euros. Under the deal between Athens and its lenders, the Greek Parliament must approve on Wednesday another set of measures, in the judiciary and banking sectors. In exchange for these measures, Greece will benefit from another financial aid program, worth over 80 billion Euros.
