September 17, 2014 UPDATE
A look at some of the main stories in Romania today
România Internațional, 17.09.2014, 12:05
Romania’s prime minister and the leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party Victor Ponta was the first to register officially on Wednesday as a candidate for the presidential elections. He said he wished to put an end to Romania’s 25-year-long transition following the anti-communist revolution of December 1989. He also promised that as president, he would act as a mediator on the social and political scene. Ponta said he would be happy to be able to take part, as president, in two important events in Romanian history: the anniversary of 100 years since the union of all Romanian historical provinces in 2018 and Romania’s taking over the EU rotating presidency in 2019.
A motion of no-confidence against the centre-left government in Bucharest initiated by the centre-right Christian Liberal Alliance in opposition was read on Wednesday in Parliament before being debated and voted on next week. The Liberal Democrat and Liberal MPs who signed the motion say the government plans to rig the presidential elections in November by passing an order allowing mayors to switch parties without losing their seats, as the law stipulated until now. The order in question on Wednesday failed to pass in the Chamber of Deputies, but is also to be voted on in the Senate. Also on Wednesday, MPs rejected a previous motion introduced by the opposition criticising the government’s financial performance and its lack of economic vision.
The price of bread and bakery products in Romania went down by 10.25% between September 2013 and July 2014, while tax evasion dropped by 68 million euros following the introduction of a 9% VAT rate for bread and bakery products, said the minister of agriculture and rural development, Daniel Constantin. He emphasised the measure has generated a healthier business environment, saying no cases of insolvency or bankruptcy have been reported in the field as a result. On Wednesday, the Romanian government presented the economic benefits of the VAT cut for bread and bakery products introduced a year ago, such as the reduction of tax evasion by 20% and consumer savings of 136 million euros.
Romania’s energy minister Razvan Nicolescu has had talks in Rome with representatives of the electricity company ENEL on the sale of the latter’s operations in Romania. The Italian electricity production and supply company has recently announced a plan providing among other things for the sale of its distribution assets in Romania. Bucharest considers energy distribution as a strategic activity and plans to purchase some of ENEL’s assets. In another development, the Romanian government has launched a public debate on the draft resolution suspending the liberalisation of the Romanian gas market. Under an agreement signed in 2012 with the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, the gas of price paid by the population was to grow by 3% as of October 1st.
As of Wednesday, 1,300 Romanian military and 150 American infantry troops are taking part in a joint drill in the counties of Sibiu and Brasov, in central Romania. The drill is aimed at developing the response and cooperation capabilities in times of crisis or war. The American soldiers are part of the Marine Corps Infantry deployed in the Black Sea, the Balkans and the Caucasus area. In recent years, Romania and the USA have consolidated their military cooperation, with the former scheduled to host parts of the US defence shield at a military base in the south of the country.
Romania’s new European commissioner responsible for regional policy, Corina Cretu, will be interviewed on the 1st of October by the European Parliament’s specialist committee, according to EurActiv. Britain’s Jonathan Hill, Hungary’s Tibor Navracsics, Belgium’s Marianne Thyssen, the Czech Republic’s Věra Jourová and Spain’s Miguel Arias Canete will also be interviewed on the same day. These interviews are meant to assess the competence of each candidate in the field in which they were nominated by the Commission president, Jean Claude Juncker, on the 10th of September.
The Chamber of Deputies has approved an amendment banning the placement of children under the age of three in the care of an institution. The amendment was also passed by the Senate in June. This gives another 700 Romanian children the chance of being raised in an extended family, substitute family or foster family.
The Romanian foreign ministry warns Romanian citizens travelling to neighbouring Serbia that, as a result of heavy rain, the situation has further deteriorated in Kladovo, Negotin, Tekija, Grabovica and Donji Milanovac. Apart from flooding, the Serbian authorities are also faced with landslides. The roads in the Kladovo municipality are still in a bad state because of landslides, while many sections of the road to Belgrade are still inaccessible.
Between September 20th and 27th, Radio Romania plays host to the second RadiRo Festival, the only one in Europe dedicated exclusively to radio orchestras. The festival features five radio orchestras and world famous musicians and conductors from Finland, the Czech Republic, Germany, France and Romania. The programme includes many works by the German composer Richard Strauss, whose 150th birth anniversary is celebrated this year.
