November 10, 2015

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 10.11.2015, 12:01

Today,
Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis is to announce the candidate for the office
of Prime Minister, after the second round of negotiations with representatives
of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the National Union for
the Progress of Romania, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
and the national minorities’ group. The
Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians and the National Union for the Progress
of Romania have stated they will support the president’s proposal for a technocratic
government. The minorities’ group too
supports a technocratic PM, but would prefer a political government. Yesterday,
the head of state met with representatives of the biggest parliamentary
parties, the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party. The Social
– Democrats’ proposal was Liviu Voinea, currently vice-governor of the Romanian
Central Bank and former Minister Delegate in charge of the budget in the
cabinet headed by the Social Democrat Victor Ponta. The liberals, on the other
hand, gave up the idea of early elections, and said they agreed with a
technocratic government and Prime Minister. The first round of consultations
was held last week, with
representatives of civil society and protesters participating in the talks.

One more victim
of the fire that broke out at the ‘Colectiv’ club in Bucharest on October 30th
has died today in a hospital in Great Britain, raising the death toll to 48.
76 wounded are still in Bucharest’s
hospitals, of which 24 in critical and serious condition. 34 patients have been
transferred to hospitals in 7 other countries. Doctors from Germany and France
are now assessing the possibility of further transferring patients to various
hospitals in Europe. On Monday, the interim PM Sorin Cimpeanu met with
representatives of the EU, US and Canadian diplomatic missions in Bucharest,
whom he thanked for their solidarity and the support provided to the suffering
ones, in particular for providing specialised medical treatment.

A new program with the IMF
and the European Commission is quite unlikely for Romania, as elections are drawing near,
the WB Country Economist Catalin Pauna has today said at a conference on
taxation. He has stated that the WB estimates a 3.6% economic growth rate this
year, because of the draught this summer. Also, the institution has forecast a
3.9% growth next year. As for 2017, the estimated rate is 4.1%. According to
Pauna, the inflation dynamics, affected by fiscal measures and the VAT cut of
June, will be influenced next year by the reduction of the VAT from 25% to 20% in
January.

Romania will enhance its
contribution to FRONTEX by deploying 30 National and Border Police staff, reads
a communiqué issued by the Romanian Interior Ministry today. According to the
Ministry, at yesterday’s extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council in
Brussels, Romania’s representative, the State Secretary Bogdan Tohaneanu, said
that the aid would be provided, at bilateral level, to Slovenia. Also on the
agenda of the council where the management of external borders, the
asylum-granting procedure in the EU as well as other operational matters,
concerning the relocation of migrants within the EU.

A NATO delegation is in
Chisinau to assess the reconstruction program of the Republic of Moldova’s defense
capability. The program, which involves major allies such as the US and
Germany, contributing both money and expertise, is run in keeping with the
decisions made at last year’s summit, when NATO included in its own security
strategy the defense capabilities of the partner countries, including the
Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia. The NATO Secretary General Jens
Stoltenberg said back than that the Republic of Moldova would thus be helped to
consolidate security against potential threats coming from Russia. The NATO
delegation’s visit is taking place against the background of political
uncertainty in Chisinau, where consultations on the formation of a new
parliamentary majority continue. On Monday, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis
called on Parliament to reexamine the law on the ratification of the
reimbursable financial assistance agreement with the Republic of Moldova, under
which the neighboring country could benefit from a 150 million Euro loan from Bucharest.

The EU must play a less prominent role when
it comes to certain aspects concerning the functioning of the member states,
the British PM David Cameron has stated today. He has presented his plans
regarding the reform of the EU, prior to a referendum on the EU membership, due
to be held by the end of 2017. According to Cameron, the EU should be more
flexible if it wants to convince the British people to vote in favour of
remaining part of the EU. Cameron has voiced confidence that an agreement will
be reached. If not, however, he has announced he will reconsider his country’s
membership of the EU. Opinion polls indicate that most of the British
population would be in favour of UK remaining part of the EU, even if the
percentage has dropped in the past few moths, against the background of growing
worries over the migrant crisis in
Europe.

The Israeli Prime Minister,
Benjamin Netanyahu, assured the US leader Barack Obama on Monday of his support
for the solution of two states in the conflict with the Palestinians, provided
the future Palestinian state was demilitarised and recognized the existence of
Israel. The talks held in Washington on Monday were the first since the
conclusion in July of the agreement between Iran and the big powers on
Teheran’s controversial nuclear program. Netanyahu has constantly opposed the
agreement, saying that Iran cannot be trusted, that all controls provided for
in the agreement are insufficient and lifting sanctions will allow Teheran to
fund its allies in the region. The two leaders also discussed the renewal of
the 10-year security agreement, which could ensure 30 billion dollars worth
of US military assistance to Israel.