September 24, 2018 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 24.09.2018, 18:53

OFFSHORE BILL — The Romanian Senate on Monday passed the offshore bill, regulating the exploitation of natural gas in the Black Sea. The specialized committees of the Romanian Senate earlier that day relaxed conditions for investment depreciations for companies exploiting natural gas in the Black Sea. According to the bill, the taxation system and rules will remain unchanged throughout the entire period of the contract, thus ensuring predictability and stability. Another amendment forces companies to sell on the Romanian market some 50% of exploited gas every year. Liberal Senator Florin Catu from the opposition claims none of the president’s demands in the reexamination request has been met. The Chamber of Deputies passed the law on July 9. On August 2nd, president Klaus Iohannis sent back to Parliament for reexamination the offshore bill, saying that it had to be reviewed in terms of long-term stability and predictability of the legal framework applicable to this sector and in order to avoid any potential negative effects.

UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY – 130 heads of state and government are attending in New York the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. Romania is represented by president Klaus Iohannis. On Wednesday, in the speech he will give during the assembly’s general debates, the Romanian head of state will stress the importance of an effective response to the main challenges to international peace and security, alongside with identifying the causes of this crisis-generating conflict. Also, the Romanian president will participate alongside the other world leaders in the opening of the top level debate segment, themed ‘Making the United Nations Relevant to All People: Global Leadership and Shared Responsibilities for Peaceful, Equitable and Sustainable Societies’. At the end of the debates the participants will adopt a resolution.

VISIT – Over September 24-28, the Romanian Defense Minister Mihai Fifor will pay a formal visit to the US, where he will meet at the Pentagon his American counterpart James Mattis. The agenda of talks includes subjects concerning defense cooperation, both bilateral and within the North Atlantic Alliance. On Monday, Mihai Fifor is participating in a forum organized by the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), based in Washington. Established in 2005, CEPA is an American non-profit, public policy research institute, whose activity is focused on the study of European states and societies. The visit to the US also includes meetings with the governor of the State of Alabama, Kay Ivey, and representatives of the US Congress, on which occasion the officials will tackle priority issues on the defense agenda.

MISSIONS — The Romanian frigate King Ferdinand is taking part in two international missions in the Mediterranean Sea over September 27 — October 24, as per Romania’s commitments to NATO. According to a Romanian Navy Forces release, the frigate will first take part in the Mavi Balina anti-submarine multinational exercise hosted by Turkey over September 24 — October 4. The exercise is aimed at consolidating cooperation and increase interoperability with NATO structures in the field of anti-submarine warfare. Attending will be scores of battleships and aircraft, submarines and troops with the Special Operations Forces in Azerbaijan, Greece, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Romania, Spain, the United States and Turkey. The second mission will unfold over October 5-24 and will entail the participation of the Romanian frigate in the 2018 Sea Guardian, a maritime security operation in the Mediterranean Sea.

KIDNAPPING – The Romanian Foreign Ministry has confirmed the kidnapping of a Romanian sailor in the attack on a ship under Swiss flag, which occurred on the 22nd of September, in the Nigerian waters. The crisis cell activated at the ministry was activated upon order by the Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu. The diplomatic representatives of Romania in Bern and Abuja have already acted together with the local uathorities.12 of the 19 crew members were kidnapped in the attack.

MOLDOVA – The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova, the former Soviet republic with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population, has decided to temporarily suspend the prerogatives of the pro-Russian president Igor Dodon, after the latter refused to sign the decrees for the appointment of two new ministers in the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Pavel Filip. According to the Court’s ruling, Parliament President Andrian Candu or the prime-minister will sign the decrees appointing the new ministers of agriculture and health. Dodon has twice refused to sign the decrees, in breach of the constitution. This is the fourth time that president Dodon has been suspended.

TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, no.1 in the WTA rankings, as of Tuesday takes part in the Wuhan tournament in China, with 2,750,000 dollars in prize money. Qualified straight to the second round, Halep will first face the Slovak Dominika Cibulkova. In the first round, Cibulkova defeated 2-nil another Romanian player, Monica Niculescu.

(Translated by M. Ignatescu & V. Palcu)