July 29, 2015

A roundup of domestic and international news.

Newsroom, 29.07.2015, 12:00

The board of the Romanian Public Television (TVR) has decided to reduce the number of working days from five to four days a week, as of August 1st until the year-end. The move will also trigger a salary cut of 20% and will mark the start of negotiations for collective redundancies. These measures are part of a financial recovery plan after the public institution’s accounts were blocked over unpaid debt. TVR employees are opposing these measures. The institution’s head, Stelian Tanase, has blamed the Government for the situation. The National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, both in opposition, have proposed a tax amnesty as the only solution to rescue the institution. TVR ended 2014 in huge losses — over 18 million euros. Its total debt exceeds 158 million euros of which 100 millions are owed to the state budget.

Romania’s Day is celebrated today at Expo Milan 2015, at the same time with the National Anthem’s Day. An official ceremony followed by a folk music and dance program will mark the event. A business and investment forum organised in collaboration with Romania’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, attended by Romanian and Italian business people will also be held on this occasion. An extraordinary concert performed by the Romanian Youth Orchestra and soprano Anita Hartig and directed by Cristian Mandeal will close the festivities marking Romania’s Day at Expo Milan 2015.

Romanian policemen have today seized a record 330 kilos of heroin, worth 40 million euros, at a check point in northwestern Romania, at the border with Ukraine. This is the biggest drug capture in Romania in 25 years. Prosecutors have said the drugs came from Afghanistan and traffickers planned to smuggle it to the Netherlands, via Romania. Four suspects, two Romanians and two Turks were detained by the police.

The capital city Bucharest and six counties in southern Romania are under an orange code alert for heat valid until Thursday. Temperatures will reach 40 degrees Celsius in some areas. In another 17 counties a yellow code alert is in place for the same reason. The severe drought in the past few moths has affected crops in north-eastern and southern Romania.

“Antimafia”, a social and political movement in the neighbouring Republic of Moldova initiated on Tuesday evening a protest action against the replacement of the education minister Maia Sandu, initially nominated for the prime minister position with Valeriu Strelet, the media in Chisinau reports. Strelet, a 45-year-old businessman and a deputy for the Liberal Democratic Party, was named as compromise candidate for prime minister in Moldova after the ruling pro-Europe coalition withdrew support for Maia Sandu amid a row over a massive bank fraud. According to the “Antimafia” movement, Strelet is vulnerable to blackmail and his candidacy should be rejected. The protest action will continue until Thursday, when the Moldovan Parliament convenes in plenary session to endorse the new cabinet.

Turkish fighter jets launched their heaviest assault on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq on Tuesday night since air strikes began last week, Reuters reports. The offensive took place hours after President Tayyip Erdogan said a peace process had become impossible. Turkey began bombing PKK camps in northern Iraq last Friday in what government officials have said was a response to a series of killings of police officers and soldiers blamed on the Kurdish militant group.

Today, in the third preliminary round of the Champions League, Steaua is facing in Bucharest the Serbian side Partizan Belgrade. The match will be played on the National Arena, but no public will be allowed. Steaua is still under a UEFA sanction for the incidents reported during the match against Dinamo Kiev, counting towards the Europa League group stage in the 2014-2015 season. The Romanian team comes after a string of unconvincing performances, both in the national championship and in the double leg against the Slovakian champions, Trencin, in the Leagues preliminary round 2.