September 21, 2015

A roundup of local and international news

Newsroom, 21.09.2015, 12:00

The National Liberal Party, the
main opposition party in Romania, will today submit a no-confidence motion on
the government’s lack of credibility as a result of prime minister Victor
Ponta’s legal problems. A member of the ruling Social Democratic Party, Victor
Ponta was officially indicted last Thursday for some of his activities as a
layer, before becoming prime minister. He was charged with tax evasion, money laundering and forgery as part of a
corruption scandal involving the energy companies in Turceni and Rovinari, in
the south. The prime minister repeatedly denied the allegations. His situation
will be discussed today by his party’s Executive Committee. The Social
Democrats’ interim leader, Liviu Dragnea, said Victor Ponta could count on the
support of his party, but talks within the ruling coalition were also needed.
The Supreme Court today holds the first hearing in Ponta’s trial. Four other
persons were also indicted as part of the same case, including the
Social-Democrat senator Dan Sova.

The foreign ministers of the
Visegrad Group, which includes Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and
Hungary, today meet in Prague together with their counterpart in Luxembourg,
the country currently holding the EU rotating presidency, to discuss the
migration crisis. The Visegrad Group is opposed to the migrant distribution
system proposed by Brussels. Poland said it would only accept a symbolic
number of refugees. The Rözske border crossing point between Hungary and Serbia was reopened on
Sunday after five days. EU interior ministers are to meet on Tuesday to discuss
the situation. The president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz said he
was expecting an agreement on a voluntary relocation scheme for 160,000
refugees. German chancellor Angela Merkel called on EU leaders to share in the
responsibility for the most serious migration crisis since the Second World
War.

The Romanian authorities are making preparations for the possible
arrival of refugees in Romania. According to the interior ministry, an exercise
is carried out in the western county of Timis, near the border with Serbia,
related to the creation of temporary refugee camps. These military-type
shelters are guarded by security forces and may accommodate hundreds of
persons.

Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will today receive the
new US ambassador to Bucharest Hans Klemm. The latter said that during his term
he would focus on developing Romanian-American economic ties and providing
assistance to Romania in the fight against corruption. Mark Gittenstein was the
latest US ambassador to serve in Romania, his term ending in December 2012.
Since then, the US embassy in Bucharest has been run by a charge d’affaires.

Alexis Tsipras’ left-wing Syriza
party won Sunday’s early elections in Greece. With 90% of the votes counted,
Syriza won 145 out of the 300 seats in Parliament, according to France Presse
news agency. The Conservative leader Vangelis Meimarakis, Tsipras’ main rival,
whose party holds 75 seats in Parliament, has conceded defeat. Alexis Tsipras
said he would try to form a new ruling coalition together with the small
right-wing Independent Greeks Party in order to implement Greece’s third
bailout agreed in July in exchange for 86 billion euros.

The
Amsterdam Royal Concert Orchestra on Sunday evening brought the 22nd George
Enescu Festival to a close. For three weeks, Bucharest was the Romanian capital
of classical music, with 2,500 foreign and 500 Romanian musicians taking part
this year. Organisers say they have already finalised 80% of the programme of
the next festival, due in 2017.