News and current affairs from Romania

President of Romania, Traian Basescu, announced on Monday having postponed a decision on the appointment of Liberal Ovidiu Silaghi as Transport Minister. The head of state mentioned he would make public his decision on August the 23rd, two days before prime minister Victor Ponta’s interim term in office at this ministry ends. According to the Constitution, the President may only once turn down a cabinet nomination by the prime minister. The Transport Minister seat has been vacant since the former holder, Relu Fenechiu, resigned after he recently received a five-year prison sentence.

Mihai Pelin, 22.07.2013, 11:57

President of Romania, Traian Basescu, announced on Monday having postponed a decision on the appointment of Liberal Ovidiu Silaghi as Transport Minister. The head of state mentioned he would make public his decision on August the 23rd, two days before prime minister Victor Ponta’s interim term in office at this ministry ends. According to the Constitution, the President may only once turn down a cabinet nomination by the prime minister. The Transport Minister seat has been vacant since the former holder, Relu Fenechiu, resigned after he recently received a five-year prison sentence.

Romanian PM Victor Ponta had a meeting in Madrid on Monday with his Spanish counterpart, Mariano Rajoy. The two mainly discussed about ways to strengthen bilateral relations, to attract Spanish investors to Romania and to protect and integrate the Romanians who live in Spain. Spain is currently home to a Romanian community of around one million people.

A joint mission of the IMF, the European Commission and the World Bank discussed in Bucharest on Monday with representatives of the Transport Ministry. The main topics on the agenda were the pending privatisation of the Freight Division of the Romanian Railway Corporation and the situation of Romania’s national airline, TAROM. This visit by representatives of the international lenders takes place in the context of Romania’s plans to sign a new precautionary loan agreement, after the last one was successfully completed this June.

The EU foreign ministers, convening in Brussels on Monday, decided to include the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah in the list of terrorist organisations. The decision, which comes amid concerns regarding the activity of Hezbollah in Europe, was welcomed by Israel. The EU foreign ministers have also once again called on the interim authorities in Egypt to free the former president, Mohammed Morsi. Romania was represented by foreign minister Titus Corlăţean.

The film ‘Of Men and Snails’, by Romanian director Tudor Giurgiu, won the award for best director at the International Film Festival in Palic, Serbia. This joint French-Romanian production had already won several awards internationally. The Palic festival was created in 1992 as one of the most prestigious in the Balkan region. Romanian films have already made an impact at this festival, with two movies, ‘The Death of Mr. Lazarescu’ by Cristi Puiu and ‘Everyone In Our Family’ by Radu Jude, which won the Grand Prize of the festival.