The Week in Review: September 25-October 1, 2016

A look at the main events in Romania this week.

Corina Cristea, 01.10.2016, 11:59

The co-president of the National Liberal Party Vasile
Blaga resigns his position over a corruption investigation

Under
investigation for corruption, the co-president of the National Liberal Party
Vasile Blaga has resigned from this position and that of campaign coordinator.
He also said he would no longer run in the parliamentary elections in December.
According to anticorruption prosecutors, Blaga allegedly used his influence to
award public procurement contracts in a preferential way while serving as an
interior minister and later as Senate speaker. In exchange, he is believed to
have received a 10% commission amounting to 700,000 euros. The money was used for
personal purposes and for funding his party, which was in power. The party in
question is the Liberal Democratic Party and Blaga was its secretary general at
the time. The party has since split, with Blaga and most of its members joining
the Liberals, while the other faction joined the former president Traian
Basescu and his new People’s Movement Party. The latest scandal surrounding the
National Liberal Party, which comes less than three months ahead of the
legislative elections, is seen as an earthquake in this second largest party in
Parliament.

Government in Bucharest takes measures to create more jobs

This week, the
government in Bucharest has approved a series of incentives and measures
intended to create more jobs. The measures will come into effect on the 1st
of December and target the vulnerable categories, in particular the unemployed
who need to move their residence in order to find jobs and the Romanians
working abroad who wish to return to their home country. According to Prime
Minister Dacian Ciolos, it is for the first time that European funds and state
budget funds are channelled in a coherent manner to have a real impact on the
market and people’s lives. For example, people who are currently unemployed and
wish to move their residence in order to find employment will receive a
relocation allowance of around 2,800 euros. Unemployed people travelling more
than 15 km for work will receive a subsidy to cover their travel expenses.

First F-16 fighter jets reach Romania

The first batch of six
F-16 fighter jets bearing the colours of the Romanian Air Force on Thursday
landed at the military airbase in Fetesti, southern Romania. The jets were
bought from the Portuguese Air Force, after undergoing a series of upgrades, so
that they may be able to operate on an equal footing with NATO’s other
multirole aircraft. For two years, Portuguese experts trained 9 pilots and 80
technicians on the operation of the aircraft. Another three jets are to be
delivered by the end of the year, and three more will arrive in 2017. Experts
say Romania needs at least 36 fighter jets, while the authorities are already
looking for options to buy a second squadron. F-16 is the world’s most
successful multirole aircraft, being constantly used in military operations
around the globe. Also this week, the National Supreme Defence Council decided
to turn the Rovine 2nd Infantry Brigade, based in Craiova, southern
Romania, into a NATO Multinational Brigade. Bulgaria and Poland also announced
they would contribute to the set-up of the Brigade.

President Klaus Iohannis and Senate Speaker Calin Popescu
Tariceanu attended the funeral of the former Israeli Prime Minister and
President Shimon Peres

Romania’s
President Klaus Iohannis and Senate Speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu on Friday
attended the funeral of the former Israeli Prime Minister and President Shimon
Peres, who passed away on Wednesday in Tel Aviv at the age of 93. In a message
of condolence to his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin, President Klaus Iohannis
said Shimon Peres was a visionary leader who tirelessly fought for a
long-lasting solution to the Middle East peace process. The Romanian people,
president Iohannis also said, will always remember the sincere and profound
friendship of Shimon Peres, the first Israeli president to visit Romania in
2010. In a letter of condolence to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu,
the Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos spoke about the emblematic
personality of Shimon Peres, a promoter of peace who received international
recognition for his efforts in the form of a Nobel Prize for Peace.

The RadiRo Festival comes to an end

Six different
symphony orchestras from Europe and Asia and some of the world’s top conductors
and musicians came to Bucharest this year for the RadiRo Festival organised by
Radio Romania, the only large-scale event in Europe dedicated exclusively to
radio orchestras. Taking part in the event for the first time, the Shenzen
Symphony Orchestra from China opened the festival with George Enescu’s Romanian
Rhapsody. The festival also featured performances from the Norwegian Radio
Orchestra, the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, the ORF Vienna Radio
Symphony Orchestra, the Romanian National Radio Orchestra together with the
Academic Choir and the Children’s Choir conducted by Cristian Macelaru, before
the closing performance of the BBC Concert Orchestra on the 1st of
October, on International Music Day.