May 12, 2015 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of news from Romania
Newsroom, 12.05.2015, 12:30
PROTESTS-Over 300 members of the two main trade unions in Romanias public administration on Tuesday protested in front of the government building in Bucharest. They demanded better working conditions and higher salaries. The protesters are disgruntled with a government decision under which 60% of these workers will be given minimum wages irrespective of their training, job seniority or the type of work. Public servants also staged protests on Monday. Similar actions are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
THE FORESTRY CODE-The joint environment, agriculture and legal committees with the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday rejected a request made by president Klaus Iohannis for a new assessment of the Forestry Code being made. The voting is to be held in a plenary session of the Chamber on Wednesday. If rejected, the draft law can only be appealed at the Constitutional Court, otherwise the president should promulgate it. The president has called for a reassessment of the document, which, in his opinion, includes provisions aimed at limiting the activity of entrepreneurs and creates the prerequisites for a discriminatory treatment. The Senate rejected the required amendments, given the majority votes cast by the MPs of the ruling coalition and of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, but the Chamber of Deputies is the decision maker in this case. In another move, the government has notified the National Anti-Corruption Directorate on scores of possible cases of corruption in the forestry sector between 2009 and 2012. Illegal deforestation sparked off numerous street protests in several cities across the country at the weekend. Klaus Iohannis has announced the issue will be discussed during the next session of Romanias Higher Defence Council.
CYBER SECURITY SUMMIT-A pilot-project has been launched by the Centre for Innovation in Cyber Security, during the Regional Cyber Security Summit underway in Bucharest. The summit, which is organized by the Romanian field ministry and the US Department of Commerce, brings together representatives and experts from 17 Central and South-East European states and the US, who present the cyber security polices pursued in their countries. Romania has already proved to be an IT leader and stands chances to become a regional cyber security leader, in the current context, marked by the Ukrainian crisis and Russias aggressive policy.
DIPLOMACY-Romanian foreign minister, Bogdan Aurescu, is attending the meeting of the NATO foreign ministers held in Antalya, Turkey, on Wednesday and Thursday. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, security challenges in the eastern and southern vicinity are the focal points on the agenda of the talks, to also be attended by the EU
High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. Other issues to be approached at the summit include the political transition process in Afghanistan as well as the security situation in that country and the region. In another move, Ukraines security situation and its impact on Euro-Atlantic security will be other issues to be tackled by the NATO-Ukraine commission. On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting, Bogdan Aurescu will have talks with his counterparts from NATO member or partner states.
VISIT– US secretary of state John Kerry on Tuesday met in the famous Black Sea resort of Sochi with Russias president Vladimir Putin and his Russian counterpart, Serghei Lavrov. The focal point of the talks was the conflict with Ukraine, which brought Russian-US relations to their lowest level since the end of the Cold War. This is the first visit paid by John Kerry to Russia after the annexation of Crimea and Moscows involvement in the conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Kiev forces, in eastern Ukraine. After his short visit to Russia, Kerry will leave for Turkey, where he will attend a meeting of the NATO foreign ministers on Wednesday. Later, he will return to Washington, to take part in a landmark summit of Gulf nation leaders, hosted by US president Barack Obama.
ECONOMY-Greece is facing the risk of running out of liquidities in a couple of weeks, the countrys finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said after Athens failure to reach an agreement on another bailout tranche, France Press reports. On Monday, the EU finance ministers hailed the progress Athens had made in talks with its foreign lenders, but said that ‘more work was needed. Lenders are asking for fresh economic reforms but the far-left government, which came to power on pledges to end austerity in the country, insists on finding alternative solutions. Greeces public debt has reached 320 billion euros, which accounts for 175% of the countrys GDP.
EARTHQUAKE– Over 48 people died in Nepal, following Tuesdays quake which measured 7.3 degrees on Richters scale, the authorities in Katmandu have announced. The tremor rocked Nepal just a couple of weeks after the powerful quake of April the 25th. The quake, whose epicentre was close to the Everest base camp, on the border with China, was reportedly felt in Indias capital city. An aftershock measuring 5.6 degrees was registered just minutes later, the US Geological Service has announced. We recall that on April 25th a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed 8,000 people and injured 18,000 others in Nepal, being the most devastating tremor to have hit the country in the past 80 years, Reuters reports.
TENNIS– Romanian tennis player Alexandra Dulgheru (72 WTA) on Tuesday qualified for the second round of the Rome tournament with a total of 2.4 million dollars in prize money, after defeating Japanese Misaki Doi, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3. Another Romanian, Irina Begu (31 WTA) defeated Polish Urszula Radwanska (109 WTA), in the first round, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. In the womens double, Romanias best ranked tennis player of the moment, Simona Halep (2 WTA), made a “tour de force alongside Italian Francesca Schiavone, qualifying for the second round of the tournament, after defeating the pair Jurak/Parra-Santonja (Croatia/Spain), 6-2, 6-2.
