November 26, 2014 UPDATE
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România Internațional, 26.11.2014, 18:44
In Romania, a special parliamentary commission will analyse, as of Wednesday, 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 Tuesday 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 has congratulated, over the phone, the president elect of Romania Klaus Iohannis for winning the elections, and said the high turnout was proof of a strong and healthy democracy. The two also discussed about the importance of reforming the judicial system, both as a driving engine behind economic growth and for national security. In another development, Klaus Iohannis met on Wednesday, in Bucharest, with the mayor of Chisinau, Dorin Chirtoaca, the first vice-president of the Moldovan Liberal Party. Romania’s president elect has underlined that the relation between Romania and the Republic of Moldova is a special and unique one in Europe, being a priority for Romania.
The Romanian government on Wednesday passed a decision meant to facilitate the voting process for the Moldovan students who are studying in Romania, in the run up to Sunday’s parliamentary elections in the neighboring Republic of Moldova. Thus students will benefit for a free return train trip on the election day to be able to vote in one of the 11 polling stations set up on the Romanian territory. The result of Sunday’s parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova is crucial for the direction the country will follow. Competing in the electoral race are pro-European parties, which have a slight advantage in the voters’ preferences, according to polls, as well as parties that favor a rapprochement to Russia or the country’s re-orientation to the Eurasian Customs Union. This year the Republic of Moldova has signed the Association Agreement with the European Union.
In Bucharest preparations are being made for the December 1st military parade that will mark Romania’s national day. This year the parade will take place in the area of the Parliament Palace, the world’s second largest building after the Pentagon. As many as 2,500 soldiers with the defense and interior ministries, and with the Romanian Intelligence Service and the Protection and Guard Service, on Wednesday made a first rehearsal for the parade using more than 280 pieces of equipment. On the day of the parade 40 military planes will fly over Bucharest. Also participating in the parade will be 5 military detachments from Poland, the US, Turkey, France and the Republic of Moldova.
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.
