March 5, 2015
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Mihai Pelin, 05.03.2015, 12:00
A NATO fleet is in the Black Sea for a joint drill with naval forces from Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey against the background of Moscow’s continuous aggression, sources with the Alliance have announced. The multinational rapid response maritime force is made up of USS Vicksburg a guided missile cruiser and five other warships. Romania’s Queen Marie frigate has joined the drill consisting of simulated anti-air and anti-submarine attacks as well as basic naval maneuvers. Tension in the Black Sea is on the rise after the breakaway conflict in eastern Ukraine and the last year’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia. In another development, Russia commenced military exercises in the south of its territory, in the separatists regions of Georgia as well as in Crimea, with more than 2000 soldiers involved.
The Republic of Moldova, an ex-soviet republic with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population, remains a key priority on the agenda of neighboring Romania, especially in terms of preparation for the Eastern Partnership Summit due in Riga, in May — says George Ciamba, state secretary for the European Affairs with the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest. The Romanian diplomat has underlined the necessity for the republic to capitalize on the new executive to express its desire on carrying out its European headway by means of a sustained reform pace and concrete results in the modernization process. Ciamba’s statement comes after Bucharest and Chisinau have voiced their will that the EU acknowledge the progress achieved by the former soviet republic including in terms of reformed neighborhood policy and the Eastern Partnership.
Former world chess champion and Russian opponent Garry Kasparov has called on the US and the rest of the world to whip up pressure in a bid to isolate Russian president Vladimir Putin and send weapons to Ukraine, while he was heard by the American Senate. A few days after the assassination of Boris Nemtsov in Moscow, Kasparov spoke up, being vocal about the loss of an old friend and colleague who in 2008 joined the Solidarnosti movement, under his aegis. The US parliamentary hearing was officially dedicated to the “Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, and the situation in Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and Georgia”. Also attending the hearing was Georgia’s former president Mikhail Saakashvili. According to Kasparov, the situation Ukraine is only the aftermath of the police state today’s Russia has grown into. One of Vladimir Putin’s most vocal opponents, Boris Nemtsov was shot dead this past Friday near Kremlin.
Miners from the uranium exploitation in Suceava, northeastern Romania called off their strike on Monday after having received assurances that a legislative framework had been put in place with a view to meeting their claims. The authorities have pledged to increase every miner’s salary by 67 euros until June, when the pay rises agreed upon in January are to come into effect. Hundreds of miners, of which a part went on strike underground, had protested the government’s failure to implement a pledged pay rise. Romania has only one uranium mine in Suceava, which is providing fuel for the country’s Nuclear Plant in Cernavoda, in the south of the country. The mine has been operational for almost 30 years.
Representatives of the Bucharest stock exchange are in London to present to representatives of major investment funds business opportunities offered by the Romanian market, during an event called Romania Investor Day. The event, which is due to end on Friday involves the participation of 30 major fund managers with assets exceeding Romania’s GDP a couple of times. The event is also being attended by managers of top Romanian companies, particularly from the energy field. According to Lucian Anghel, chair of the Romanian Stock Exchange, investment funds have shown a keen interest in large-scale initial public offerings. Other aspects appreciated are good dividend returns for enlisted companies, strong local institutional investors, the private pensions fund as well as the EBRD participating as a shareholder in the Romanian Stock Exchange.
Following unseasonably warm weather at the beginning of March, Romania is bracing up for a wave of cold with rain and snowfalls in most of its regions. Highs are ranging between 2 and 10 degrees Celsius and a code yellow alert for bad weather has been issued for counties in central and southwestern Romania until Friday afternoon. The cold wave is expected to gradually move south and southeast where rainfalls will be predominant. Snowfalls and gale-force winds are expected in the mountains while a headsup for flooding has been issued for rivers in the south and southwest.
