January 6 – 12
A roundup of the week's main stories
România Internațional, 10.01.2014, 16:05
Former Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase back to prison
10 months after he was released from prison, where he served time for his involvement in a case of corruption, the former Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase between 2000 and 2004 is again behind bars. On Monday, the High Court of Cassation and Justice sentenced him to 4 years in prison for bribe taking and blackmail. His wife, Dana Nastase, got a suspended sentence in the same case. Also, the court ruled that the two must pay 400,000 euros worth of damages. According to prosecutors from the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Adrian Nastase demanded and received, through his wife, undue benefits estimated at 630,000 euros. Adrian Nastase claims his case is political order and described his sentence as an “extremely unfair and dirty act of revenge”. The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Prime Minister Victor Ponta, has taken a similar stand, saying that ever since 2005 Nastase has been the main target of his political rival, President Traian Basescu.
A Romanian MP is arrested for corruption
MP Gheorghe Coman, a member of the Conservative Party, in power, is now in temporary custody, in a case in which he is accused by prosecutors of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate of having used his office to receive undue benefits. In another move, the former Minister of Agriculture Stelian Fuia, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party in opposition, is being prosecuted for abuse of office. Anti-corruption prosecutors have accused him of the sale, in 2005, of heritage buildings belonging to the research institute he was heading to benefit his sister and brother-in-law.
More reactions on the liberalisation of the labour market for Romanians and Bulgarians
The European Commission has announced that so far it has received no information from Member States like Great Britain and Germany regarding a so-called “invasion” of Romanians and Bulgarians following the liberalisation of the labour market on January 1st. The media, politicians in power and in opposition, as well as ordinary citizens in some Member States have repeatedly voiced worries that Romanian and Bulgarian citizens may take advantage of their welfare systems. The British government has already taken measures to restrict immigrants’ access to social benefits. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet is also considering similar measures to avoid any abuse of social security rights.
The priorities of the Greek presidency of the EU
Greece has officially taken over the 6-month presidency of the European Union and has presented its priorities. The programme of the Greek presidency was launched in Bucharest on Wednesday in the presence of the Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean. Restoring citizens’ confidence in the European institutions and values, increasing cohesion and stability and strengthening the EU as a whole are some of the priorities of the Greek presidency, the Greek Ambassador in Bucharest Grigorios Vassilocostandakis said. Curbing illegal migration and improving border management are also on Greece’s agenda. The Romanian foreign minister Titus Corlatean assured Athens of Romania’s full support for its European agenda. He also said Romania would remain active until all political conditions for its entry into the Schengen area are fulfilled and recalled that Bucharest met all clear requirements for its Schengen entry. Several EU countries continue to oppose Romania’s Schengen entry on grounds of insufficient reforms in the field of justice.
The National Bank of Romania cuts the monetary policy interest rate and the mandatory minimum reserves for liabilities in lei and foreign currency
The National Bank of Romania on Wednesday reduced the key interest rate for the 5th consecutive time in a bid to boost lending. The monetary policy interest rate thus reached a new all-time low of 3.75%, down from 4%. The mandatory minimum reserves for liabilities in lei have also been cut from 15 to 12% while those in foreign currency went down from 20 to 18%. These are the minimum amounts that banks must keep at the Central Bank. Analysts say that the Central Bank’s decisions will finance the economy and leave commercial banks with more available liquidities. The results of this move, however, will be visible within the next 10-12 months. After a year when the domestic currency, the leu, did very well against the euro among all the other European currencies, it seens to have started 2014 on the wrong foot. The Romanian leu has continued to depreciate ever since the start of the year and exceeded the psychological threshold of 4.5 lei for one euro, reaching its lowest level in the last 6 months.
