The Week in Review, October 6- 12
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România Internațional, 11.10.2014, 14:09
Final sentence in Rompetrom case
Eight individuals, including a Senator and an ex-Minister of Communications, were sent to prison by the Bucharest Court of Appeals, in one of the most resounding investigations in post-communist Romania. Senator Sorin Rosca Stanescu, known for his journalistic work, was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months behind bars, for using privileged information and establishing a crime group, while the ex-Minister Sorin Pantis, already imprisoned over his involvement in another corruption case, received another prison sentence for complicity in manipulating the capital market and establishing a crime group. Four other persons received suspended sentences. The star of the investigation, the controversial tycoon Dinu Patriciu, for whom prosecutors had requested for a 20-year prison sentence, died in August in London. He was accused of having appropriated 85 million US dollars between 1999 and 2001 and of having manipulated the trading of shares at the Bucharest Stock Exchange in 2004. The final ruling in the Rompetrol case, as it is known to the general public, comes 8 years after the start of the trial.
Military base in Deveselu, under US command
The US Army Friday took over the command of the military base in Deveselu, southern Romania, where NATO anti-missile defense elements will be placed. The base will host a last-generation AEGIS radar and nearly 25 interceptors, scheduled to become operational in 2015. In the past 2 years the USA allotted some 100 million US dollars for the upgrade of the Deveselu base. Romania agreed to host these elements of the American missile defense system in Europe in September 2011. The system is designed to counter attacks from what the US sees as rogue states, such as Iran.
Preparations against Ebola infection
Romania is prepared for possible Ebola infection cases, even though the risk is very low, Raed Arafat, State Secretary with the Interior Ministry, has announced. The government has already earmarked close to 6 million euros for prevention measures. In case of Ebola suspicions, the testing will be conducted in labs in Germany. According to the Romanian authorities, prospective patients will be taken to a fully equipped field military hospital to be mounted near Bucharest. The measures were taken against the backdrop of growing fears concerning the spread of Ebola in Europe.
Romania Fights Unemployment
Romanian Labour Minister Rovana Plumb attended in Milan the conference on employment in Europe, organized by the Italian presidency of the EU Council. There she spoke about concrete measures that the leftist Government in Romania promoted in order to fight unemployment.
Rovana Plumb: ”First of all, the national minimum wage went up, reinvested profits are no longer taxed, and, starting November this year, employers will pay lower contributions to the social security fund, which will have positive effects on employment.”
Attending the meeting in Milan were, among others, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoi and the Premier of the host country, Matteo Renzi. The participants mainly discussed the allocation, at European level, of some 20 billion Euros and the simplification of procedures on the basis of which this money will be used in the fight against unemployment, which, in countries such as Spain and Greece, has become a grave social issue. In Romania, the rate of unemployment has for years been standing at around 7%, but, youth unemployment has exceeded 25%, which worries authorities the most.
Romanian Government Takes Measures that Benefit the Romanian Diaspora
The Romanian Government has approved the “First House” Program for the Romanians who legally live and work abroad. They can access a loan to buy an apartment in a building or to build their own house. The government says that along with the extension of the “First House” and “First Car” programs for the Romanians in the Diaspora, they will be stimulated to come back home. In another move, the executive has decided that consular fees for issuing birth certificates for the children born abroad from Romanian parents, are no longer an obligation, if those documents are drawn up within six months since birth. Also, travel documents for children under 6 shall be issued for free.
A Romanian-born Researcher Wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Romanian-born German researcher Stefan Hell is the latest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Alongside two American scientists he got the award for outstanding achievements in the development of fluorescent microscopy. Stefan Hell got his PhD Degree at Heidelberg University and he is also the Director of the “Max Planck” Chemistry and Biophysics Institute. In 2012 he got the title of Doctor Honoris Causa granted by the “Vasile Goldis” University in Arad, western Romania, his native city.
