March 5, 2014
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news.
România Internațional, 05.03.2014, 12:00
ROMANIAN POLITICAL SCENE-Romania’s president Traian Basescu today has talks with Social-Democrat Prime Minister Victor Ponta in a bid to find a solution to finalizing the procedures of appointing the new government.The new Romanian government made up of the Social-Democratic Party, the National Union for the Progress of Romania and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, which received Parliament’s vote on Tuesday, cannot work for the time being because president Traian Basescu has not signed the decrees appointing the new ministers. President Basescu claims that before the investiture, the new cabinet must adopt a government programme reflecting the present political alliances. He also mentioned a notification submitted to the Constitutional Court by the Liberal-Democratic Party in opposition and the People’s Movement Party regarding the legitimacy of the new government. In turn, Prime Minister Victor Ponta said that the present cabinet would go ahead with the government programme promoted by the previous cabinet. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania joined the government after the liberals’ leaving the Social-Liberal Union and the government.
INTERIM SPEAKER OF THE SENATE-The Social-Democrat vice-president of the Senate Cristian Dumitrescu will take over the prerogatives of president of that chamber until the new president is elected by Parliament. Liberal leader Crin Antonescu on Tuesday resigned from the office of president of the Senate. Earlier, he had called on Prime Minister Victor Ponta to jointly resign since the Social-Liberal Union no longer existed. The National Liberal Party, former number 2 in the Social-Liberal Union, left the government because of the differences with the Social-Democratic Party.
FOREIGN POLICY- Romanian foreign minister Titus Corlatean and his Ukrainian interim counterpart, Andrii Descita have agreed to have a meeting in Kiev in the next period. The Romanian foreign minister has explained to his Ukrainian counterpart that Bucharest closely follows the situation of the 400,000 strong Romanian minority in Ukraine and hopes that a new law in the field, in keeping with the European norms will be passed as soon as possible. Romania wishes minorities and the Venice Commission to be consulted in the drafting of the new law, state secretary for strategic affairs at the Foreign Ministry, Bogdan Aurescu told Radio Romania. The new Ukrainian Parliament has decided that the languages of all ethnic minorities, including the Romanian one, should lose the status of regional languages.
UKRAINE CRISIS– US secretary of state John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Serghei Lavrov will have a round of talks in Paris today. The talks are considered crucial in the bid to ease the tensions triggered by the Ukrainian crisis. On Tuesday, in Kiev, Kerry condemned what he called Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and said that Moscow, which had taken control of Crimea had looked for a pretext to invade that country. Kerry also announced a package of economic aid and technical assistance worth one billion dollars for Ukraine, in support for the new government in Kiev. Also on Tuesday, president Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military participating in drills close to the border with Ukraine to go back to their bases. Putin denied that the Russian army had been involved in capturing Crimea saying that the Ukrainian military bases had actually been surrounded by local militias.
DIPLOMACY-The Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to Romania, Thenjiwe Ethel Mtinso on Tuesday was received by state secretary for political analysis and the relationship with Parliament at the Foreign Ministry, Radu Podgorean, presenting his credentials. The two dignitaries highlighted the mutual interest of the two states in consolidating political dialogue and boosting business cooperation. Special attention was paid to the development of bilateral relations in the field of education, healthcare and culture.
RALLY- Over 10,000 employees of the Dacia Renault plant in Southern Romania are today expected to take part in a rally calling on the government to complete the works on the Pitesti-Sibiu motorway as soon as possible. They also demand that pledges be abided by regarding the amendment to the legislation of labour and industrial relations.
SPORTS– Romania’s national football team and the Argentine team are today playing a friendly game in Bucharest. The match will also be broadcast on foreign TV channels saying that the highlight is the presence of FC Barcelona’s striker Lionel Messi, four times winner of the Golden Ball. Also today, a new president of the Romanian Football Federation is going to be elected; only five contenders are left after the great favourite, the former football player Gheorghe Popescu on Tuesday was sentenced to three years in jail for economic offenses.
