June 21, 2015 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news...

Bogdan Matei, 21.06.2015, 19:13

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced on Facebook on Sunday that he would ask president Klaus Iohannis to have the deputy Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea take over all the responsibilities of a prime-minister. Deputy Prime Minister for Security Gabriel Oprea is the leader of the National Union for the Progress of Romania, the junior partner in the government dominated by Ponta’s Social Democrats. He had already taken over part of the prime minister’s responsibilities, as Ponta went through a surgery in Turkey and said he needed a long period of recovery. On Monday, the Prime Minister was expected at the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, as he is being prosecuted for corruption, but, invoking the knee surgery, his lawyer asked for a postponement. Also on Sunday, governmental sources, quoted by the media, announced that the Social Democrat senator Mihai Fifor was proposed for the position of Transport Minister. The office has been vacant since June 11th, when the former minister, Ioan Rus, had to resign, following the offending sentences he had made about the Romanians living abroad and their families in Romania.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry disapproves of the statements made by the Austrian Foreign Minister, Sebastian Kurz, regarding social security for intra-community workers. The Romanian Ministry believes that mentioning Romania in this context is unjustified, as the Romanian citizens only come 5th among the European beneficiaries of child benefits, after Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Slovenia. Taking such a stand, right before the regional elections in Austria, may turn the Romanian citizens who are legally working in that country into victims of an internal political dispute, and at the same time affect the relations between Romania and Austria, the Romanian Foreign Ministry has also stressed. The Federation of Romanians’ Associations in Europe has too criticized the Austrian Minister’s statements. Talking about the Romanian children in this context is inappropriate, reads a communiqué issued by the Federation, which also stresses the fact that the free movement of people and workers is one of the European Union’s fundamental principles, and access to social services should not be based on discrimination. Kurz had recently called for a reform of the Austrian social security system, saying it was not right, and gave as an example the situation of the Romanian citizens working in Austria, whose children were left back in the country. He said the 160 Euro benefit that the Austrian state paid to those children should be diminished down to the level of the one in Romania, namely 20 Euros.

On Monday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will present in plenary parliament session the country’s National Defense Strategy for the period 2015 — 2019. On June 17th, the defense committees of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies endorsed the document, which is to be debated and voted upon in plenary session. One of the novelties of the strategy is the concept of ‘extended security’. National security is no longer regarded as just a matter of defense, but also in relation to other aspects such as public order, economy, infrastructure, education, health-care, environment and culture. The strategic partnership with the US and the membership to NATO and the EU are reaffirmed in the document as the main pillars of Romania’s foreign and security policies.

The first Romanian citizens crossing the border on the basis of their national ID cards have been registered at the borders between Romania and the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, the former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian speaking population. On Tuesday, the Government in Chisinau adopted a decision under which all EU citizens are allowed to cross the Moldovan border also on the basis of their valid national identification cards, not just passports. Bucharest has hailed the decision, terming it as political evidence that Moldova is committed to its European integration efforts.

On Monday, the Romanian Defense Minister, Mircea Dusa, will pay a visit to the military personnel participating in the TRIDENT JOUST 15 AND RESOLUTE CASTLE 15 exercises, held in central Romania. Over one thousand soldiers from 25 NATO member countries are participating, until June 28th, in the TRIDENT JOUST 15 exercise. As part of this exercise, it’s for the first that time structures of the Allied Joined Force Command Naples have been deployed in Romania. Also as a first, the control and command unit of NATO’s Response Force has been temporarily transferred to Romania. Another 200 Romanian and American soldiers are participating in the RESOLUTE CASTLE 15 exercise until September 15h.

On Monday, the Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu will attend in Luxembourg the summit of the EU foreign ministers. The talks will mainly focus on the relation between the EU and Asia and the EU’s actions with regard to energy diplomacy. During a working lunch, the ministers will hold a debate on the EU — UN cooperation on crisis management and development, in the presence of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

On Sunday, the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras presented the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the German chancellor Angela Merkel and the French President Francois Hollande with Athens’s proposals for a mutually beneficial agreement. According to a communiqué issued by the Greek government, this agreement should provide a final, not a provisional solution to the Greek crisis. On Monday, the heads of state and government of the 19 Eurozone countries will gather in Brussels to establish the faith of the financial bailout program for Greece. The program was blocked when Athens refused to take new austerity measures. Greece needs 7.2 billion euros by the end of the month, otherwise it runs the risk of defaulting on payments.

Romania won silver in the group event of the aerobic gymnastics competition hosted by the European Games in Baku. Hungary got the first place and the bronze went to Spain. The Romanian delegation has won 5 medals. Gymnast Adreea Iridon won the silver medal in the beam event and one bronze in the bars event, Roxana Borha and Elena Meroniac won silver in the womens kayak double 500 m event and male gymnast Marius Berbecar got the bronze in the parallel bars competition.