November 26, 2014
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 26.11.2014, 00:00
In Romania, a special parliamentary commission will analyse, as of today, suggested amendments to the election laws. The commission is to convene on a weekly basis to draw up the amendments and discuss the principles and priorities for each type of election, namely local, parliamentary, presidential elections and elections for the European Parliament. This decision was made after flaws have been reported in the voting process in the diaspora this November, when thousands of Romanians were unable to cast their votes in the presidential ballot. The topic was discussed yesterday in the Chamber of Deputies.
In 2014, only 17% of the cases investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate have been based on notifications received from the intelligence services or the mass media, in spite of the perceived increase of the involvement of the Romanian Intelligence Service in the work of the Directorate, the chief of the institution, Laura Codruţa Kovesi, said today. Most of the notifications came from citizens and public institutions, Kovesi explained. She emphasised that, compared to previous years, the number of notifications received by prosecutors from individual citizens has increased by around 63%, which proves the people have confidence in the National Anti-Corruption Directorate. Over the past year, the efficiency of the institution’s work and the number of large-scale investigations have grown, chief prosecutor Kovesi added. She also mentioned that, according to a World Bank report, the number of trials won by the Directorate, accounting for nearly 90% of the total, is a lot higher than in other countries, where a 75% ratio is viewed as reasonable.
The US vice-president Joe Biden congratulated the president elect of Romania Klaus Iohannis for winning the elections, and said the high turnout was a proof of strong and healthy democracy. The two also discussed over the telephone about the importance of reforming the judicial system, both as a driving engine for economic growth and for national security. Joe Biden also expressed his appreciation for Romania’s contribution to NATO actions and to the fight against the Islamic State and the support given to Ukraine.
Around 150 tanks and armoured vehicles of the US Army will be stationed in NATO member countries in Europe, including eastern European countries like Romania. According to the US Army Europe commander, Gen. Ben Hodges, the tanks will be used in the exercises held as part of Operation “Atlantic Resolve,” launched by NATO amid concerns expressed by Poland and the Baltic states with regard to moves by the Russian Federation, particularly in Ukraine. Since the end of the Cold War, the US has significantly reduced its presence in Europe, which currently stands at around 29 thousand troops. The US had pulled out all tanks from the continent, but after the start of the Ukrainian crisis it deployed a battalion of last-generation tanks and armoured vehicles in Germany, to be used by the troops sent by rotation for exercises.
The head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has announced in a European Parliament meeting today the main project of his term in office, a plan that would mobilise some 315 billion euros in the next 3 years, aimed at encouraging economic growth, France Presse reports. The European Investment Bank, the financial arm of the EU, will be in charge with implementing the 3-year plan. The Bank will manage a new “European strategic investment fund,” which should be up and running by mid-2015 and run projects with a higher risk rate than the ones it usually finances. The Commission expects the plan to add between 330 and 410 billion euros to the Union’s GDP and to create between 1 and 1.3 million jobs.
Unrest has been reported for a second night in the American town of Ferguson, after the policeman who killed a black teenager was cleared. Many protests were also held in other towns in the US, France Presse reports. On Tuesday night, in Ferguson, a small suburb of St. Louis, having around 21 thousand inhabitants, more than 2 thousand National Guard troops were deployed, three times more than on Monday, to prevent looting and arson. President Barack Obama called for calm and urged people to respect the court ruling.
