Newflash, July 9

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România Internațional, 09.07.2013, 11:02

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Tuesday reiterated our country’s full support for Moldova’s EU accession efforts during talks held in Bucharest with his Moldovan counterpart Iurie Leanca. The two discussed the status of bilateral relations and progress in connecting the two countries’ energy and transport networks. Moldova and the EU have concluded negotiations regarding an Association Treaty, including a free-trade area, which is to be signed at the forthcoming Eastern Partnership summit in November 2013 in Vilnius. Prime Minister Leanca’s visit precedes the visit of Romanian president Traian Basescu to Chisinau on July 17, when he will be meeting with Moldovan high-ranking officials.

The Republic of Moldova has good chances to sign an association treaty with the European Union at the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said on Tuesday. Catherine Ashton held talks with Moldovan president Nicolae Timofti, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca, Parliament Speaker Igor Corman as well as other political leaders. Ashton hailed progress made by the Republic of Moldova in negotiations with the EU and its efforts to overcome the political crisis and put a new government in place.

Romanian authorities are open to consolidating cooperation with Russia, Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean said on Tuesday in Moscow following talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Corlatean pointed out that the cooperation potential between the two countries has not been fully tapped into, although there are good prospects to boost bilateral relations. Corlatean also invited Lavrov to pay a visit to Bucharest. The Russian official said Moscow regarded Romania as an important partner in southeastern Europe and expressed his interest to develop stable and predictable bilateral relations. On the sideline of the meeting, the two officials signed an agreement to set up the Romanian Cultural Institute in Moscow and the Russian Cultural and Scientific Centre in Bucharest. Also, the two high-ranking officials approved the cooperation program in the field of culture, education, mass-media, sports, youth and tourism, as well as the consultancy plan between the two countries’ foreign ministries for the 2013-2014 period.

Healthcare, justice, law enforcement and education are the fields reporting the largest number of bribe-giving cases. 1 in 7 Romanians have paid bribes in the Romanian medical sector in the last year, according to the Corruption Global Barometer made public on Tuesday by Transparency International. As regards the public perception of this phenomenon, Romania ranks 6th among EU Member States, above the EU average. Over half the people at global level see corruption as an escalating phenomenon in the last two years. The survey, conducted among a sample population of 114,000 people of 107 countries, reveals a profound crisis regarding confidence in politicians. Political parties are seen as the most corrupt institution in more than half of the countries, with 55% of respondents believing their Government’s actions serve private interests.

A joint mission of the IMF and the European Commission will come to Bucharest on July 17th to hold talks with Romanian authorities, the Romanian Public Finance Ministry has announced. In another move, Delegate Budget Minister Liviu Voinea on Tuesday took part in a meeting of the Economic and Financial Committee, held ahead of the Ecofin summit. The Romanian official said EU Member States had unanimously approved Romania’s request to sign a new precautionary stand-by agreement with the IMF. Last week Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced the Romanian Government would start negotiations with the IMF with a view to concluding a new two-year agreement.

Romanian Economy Minister Varujan Vosganian on Tuesday met with Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan and with the country’s Prime Minister Tigran Sarksian in Yerevan. Talks focused on prospects of boosting bilateral economic relations in such fields as trade, industry, SMEs, tourism, regional development, public administration, transports, agriculture and environment protection. Minister Vosganian attended the 4th session of the Romanian-Armenian Mixed Intergovernmental Committee for Economic Cooperation. On Wednesday the Romanian official will be attending the Armenia-Romania Business Forum in Yerevan.

Egyptian interim president Adly Mansour on Tuesday appointed former Finance Minister Liberal Hazem al-Beblawi as the country’s new Prime Minister. Mansour had previously signed a decree regarding the organization of legislative elections by early 2014 at the latest, after having introduced a previous amendment in the country’s Constitution to that end. The decree was challenged by representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood, the group supporting the former Islamic president Mohamed Morsi. Also on Tuesday, the Egyptian army warned it would show zero tolerance to any disruption of what has termed a “delicate and complex” transition process. In another development, an investigation has been launched to examine the violent incidents on Monday, when over 50 people were killed and another 400 were injured during a pro-Morsi gathering in Cairo.