June 22, 2015

A round of local and international news

Newsroom, 22.06.2015, 12:00

Romania’s president
Klaus Iohannis is to decide who will ensure the temporary leadership of the
government while prime minister Victor Ponta is recovering from surgery. In a
written request, Ponta proposed deputy prime minister Gabriel Oprea for the
job, having last week handed over to him the the prime ministerial
prerogatives. According to a government release, the prime minister’s recovery
will last approximately 3 weeks and will not affect the cabinet’s activity.
Press agencies note that Victor Ponta’s health problems came amidst a big
corruption scandal, with the National Anticorruption Directorate starting
criminal investigations against the prime minister for money laundering,
falsifying documents and tax evasion, all of which were allegedly committed
some years ago, while Ponta was working as a lawyer. The prime minister says
the accusations against him are politically motivated and promised to present
documents proving his innocence.

President Klaus
Iohannis is today presenting Parliament with the country’s national defence
strategy for the 2015-2019 period. On the 17th of June, the defence
committees in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate gave a positive opinion on
the document ahead of the debate and vote in Parliament. The concept of extended
security is one of the novelties of the strategy. National security thus refers
not only to defence, but also aspects related to public order, economy,
infrastructure, education, healthcare, the environment and culture. The
national defence strategy reaffirms Romania’s strategic partnership with the US
and the country’s NATO and European Union membership as pillars of its foreign
and security policy.

EU foreign ministers have today launched a naval mission
to stop smuggling of migrants in the Mediterranean, the France Presse news
agency reports. The first vessels, submarines, patrol aircraft and drones are
to deployed within a week. The decision was taken in the opening of a monthly
meeting in Luxembourg which is also attended by Romania’s foreign minister
Bogdan Aurescu. Also today, EU foreign ministers decided to extend economic
sanctions against Russia by the end of January 2016 over this country’s
involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. The sanctions, which are to expire at
the end of July, target areas such as the banking, defence and oil sectors.

Romania’s defence
minister Mircea Dusa is today visiting the military taking part in the TRIDENT
JOUST and RESOLUTE CASTLE exercises under way in central Romania. Over 1,000
troops from 25 countries take part in the Trident Joust exercise between the 17th
and the 28th of June. As part of the exercise, structures of the
Allied Joint Force Command Naples are deployed to Romania and, as a first, the
command and control of the NATO Response Force are transferred to this
temporary location. The Resolute Castle exercise, which takes places until the
15th of September, involves over 200 military and military equipment
from the Romanian and American engineering corps.

The foreign minister of the
Republic of Moldova Natalia Gherman has been appointed interim prime minister
following the resignation of Chiril Gaburici over accusations that he forged
his baccalaureate diploma. Gaburici, who took office in February 2015, refused
to act as interim prime minister and resigned on the 12th of June.
Parliament has to appoint a new government within the next three months, by
September 12th at the latest. The daughter of former president
Mircea Snegur, Natalia Gherman took over as minister of foreign affairs and
European integration in 2013 in Iurie Leanca’s government. Earlier, she held
the position of deputy minister within the same ministry.

Eurozone
leaders meet in Brusels today to discuss Greece’s situation. This country risks
defaulting and exiting the eurozone unless it reaches an agreement with its
foreign creditors by the end of the month. Eurozone finance ministers are to
hold talks ahead of the meeting. Greece needs 7.2 billion euros by the end of
June, when the current agreement expires, but its leftist government has so far
refused to implement the reforms demanded by its creditors on account of their
social costs. The Greek government said prime minister Alexis Tsipras has
prepared a new set of proposals to reach a mutually beneficial agreement with
the country’s international creditors. Following austerity measures imposed by
the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central
Bank as part of two economic rescue packages, Greece’s economy has shrunk by
25%, pensions and salaries have been cut and one in four people is unemployed.