September 16, 2014

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Ştefan Stoica, 16.09.2014, 12:14

Romanian hydrologists have kept in place until Wednesday afternoon the orange code warning for several rivers in Timis and Caras Severin (in the west and south-west, respectively) two counties that have already been affected by flooding. The yellow code warning has also been kept in place for tributaries and upstream basins of a couple of rivers in the counties of Caras Severin, Timis, Mehedinti. Recently the three counties have already been affected by flooding and landslides. Victims and important damages have been reported for the affected regions. Weather in Romania is generally overcast and cold in the southwest, where rainfalls have been reported for extended areas. Elsewhere across the country, the sky is temporarily cloudy, with quick showers being reported for isolated areas. The highs of the day range from 19 to 26 degrees Celsius.

The United States have intensified their air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq. For the first time ever, the American forces have been targeting objectives nearby capital city Baghdad. The strikes have occurred in support of the Iraqi troops and are part of the new campaign made public by US President Barack Obama. NATO, through its Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has also voiced its support for military action to be taken against Islamic terrorism. Rasmussen has also warned that the Islamic State poses the serious threat of using every opportunity to jeopardize values of free societies, thus imposing its back ward outlook on the whole world. Recently in Paris, 30 countries, ten of which are part of the Arab world, vowed they would join a US-led coalition against the Islamic State.

Representatives of the Government and Romania’s Central Bank in Brussels as of today have initiated technical consultations with the IMF, European Commission and World bank experts. The parties will be having a closer look at recent economic trends as well as at the stage of the implementations in the case of the commitment agreed upon with international financial organizations. According to the Romanian Finance Minister Ioana Petrescu, emphasis will be laid on the second budget rectification, on structural reforms and an assessment of the present economic situation. The IMF”S forthcoming mission to Romania will begin after the presidential elections due in November.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko today has submitted to Parliament a draft law guaranteeing greater autonomy for separatist regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in the country’s Russian-speaking eastern areas. The document is part of the ceasefire agreement signed on September 5 in Kiev by the Ukrainian authorities and pro-Russian rebels who in exchange have claimed for independence. Despite the ceasefire agreement in Donetsk new bombings claimed the lives of the people yesterday. According to a military spokesperson, rebels have been targeting army positions nearby the airport, currently under Ukrainian control.

The Rumanian minister delegate for energy Razvan Nicolescu today has announced gas deliveries from Russia have returned to normal, but only until Thursday. The Romanian minister has made the statement right after Russian conglomerate Gazprom announced they decided to operate a 10 per cent cut for gas deliveries to Romania, starting today and until Sunday. The cut occurred in the wake of another test cut, standing at 5 per cent, operated late last week. The Romanian energy minister promised the cut would not have any influence on the population whatsoever, not even in the case of a very harsh winter. In another development, Nicolescu said the Government would indefinitely suspend the liberalization of the price for natural gas from Romania tailored for domestic consumption and would also secure at least two-and-a-half year extension period for the deregulation of the natural gas market for companies. More on that after the news.

The Romanian Simona Halep, who is the world’s 2nd-seed tennis player, is the third tennis player who has made headway into the Champions’ Tournament in Singapore, to be held over October 20 and 26 this year. Simona Halep has played the first Grand Slam final of her career in Roland Garros, and will thus be joining the American Serena Williams and Russian Maria Sharapova, who had previously qualified for the tournament. In 2014, Simona Halep has registered her best run so far in Grand Slam tournaments. Halep qualified for the Australian Open’s quarterfinals, played the Roland Garros finals and the Wimbledon semifinals and boasts no less than eight WTA titles in her career.

Only two days ahead of this coming Thursday’s historic referendum held for Scottish independence, the for and against sides have doubled their efforts to convinces the last of the undecided ones. Leaders of the three main British parties promised to grant enhanced powers to the Parliament in Edinburgh, if citizens cast their vote against independence. The conservative PM David Cameron yesterday was on a visit to Scotland, to defend the unity of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Queen Elisabeth the 2nd, who is officially neutral in the debate, expressed her concern over the matter. In Washington, the White House has said they wanted their first rate ally Great Britain to be a strong, robust and united partner. Surveys forecast a tight result, however pointing to a slight advance of the side supporting Scotland’s remaining a part of Great Britain.

Parliaments of Ukraine and the European Union today are to ratify the Association Agreement between the two parties. The document actually seals Kiev’s snapping out of Russia’s sphere of influence, according to the AFP. Overshadowing the event, however, is the delay in the implementation of the free trade agreement until the end of next year, the AFP also headlines. We recall that recently, in the wake of the three-way meeting in Brussels, including the European Union, Ukraine and Russia, the delay was decided for the agreement’s trade side to take effect. The Association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine was signed on June 27. Concurrently, the agreements were also signed, between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, respectively. We recall the Republic of Moldova is a former Soviet republic, with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population.

Pilots and co-pilots of Tarom airline today have committed to secure scheduled flights, so that passengers may not face difficult situations. We recall tis past Sunday pilots started a protests, since they were not happy with their salaries. Romanian Transport Minister Ioan Rus today has invited the management and union representatives of Tarom airline for a round of talks focusing on unblocking the situation that lead up to the serious delay or even the cancellation today of several domestic and international flights. In another move, protests continue, staged by the main pilots union of Air France. Their strike, mounted against the development project for the group’s low-cost branch, Transavia, also affected Air France flights on the Henri Coanda airport in Bucharest.