March 23, 2015 UPDATE
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România Internațional, 23.03.2015, 12:15
The UK will assign troops to the two NATO commands in Romania, said Monday in Bucharest the British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon following the meeting with his Romanian counterpart, Mircea Dusa. He said that one of the newest destroyers of the Royal Navy would arrive in October in Constanta, Romania’s Black Sea port. Fallon said that the UK shared Romania’s concerns regarding Black Sea security, which he discussed at length with Dusa. The other major topic of concern was the situation in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea by Russia. The two also discussed about a joint military exercise on land in early April.
Romania has taken possession of the 12 Portuguese F-16s set to replace the aging MiG-21 Lancers of Soviet manufacture. Romanian fighter pilots have intensified their training on the US made fighter, purchased to bolster national security and to increase the level of NATO interoperability. The country pays 628 million dollars for the 12 fighters which Portugal had purchased second hand from the US in the first place. In related news, Romania will host at one of its military bases several aircraft alongside 300 US troops to run simulations of air attacks on armored vehicles.
The Romanian government met Monday in a special session for a last analysis of the draft fiscal and fiscal procedure codes, which have been under public debate for about a month. The drafts are to be approved on Wednesday by the government and forwarded to Parliament for debate and adoption. The two draft codes are meant to speed up economic growth by cutting down on taxation. According to PM Victor Ponta the new fiscal code will allow local authorities to decide on lowering or increasing taxes. As regards pensioners, they will be protected by a special provision according to which pensions will not be cut in the event of possible readjustments.
The authorities in Chisinau need to draft a new national security strategy that should meet the challenges posed by the situation in the region, the Moldovan Supreme Security Council decided on Monday. The meeting was convened by President Nicolae Timofti against the backdrop of tension in the east of neighboring Ukraine. Previously president Timofti had declared that, given the context, the Republic of Moldova had to get closer to NATO, since its security is in danger. The meeting in Chisinau took place after Sunday’s elections for the position of governor of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia, in the south of the republic, were won by the candidate supported by the pro-Russian Socialists, in opposition, and by Moscow. According to surveys, most of the more than 150 thousand inhabitants of Gagauzia, who are Turkish- speaking of Christian Orthodox religion, are in favour of closer relations with Russia and Turkey and only 5% want a rapprochement to the EU. The options of the people from Gagauzia differ radically from the pro-European orientation of the central government in Chisinau, that last year concluded association and free trade agreements with the EU, hoping that Moldova will join the EU in 2020.
4 Romanian tennis players, Simona Halep, Irina Begu, Monica Niculsecu and Sorana Cirstea are on the main table of the Miami tournament with prizes up for grabs worth 5.5 million dollars. Another 3 Romanian players, Alexandra Dulgheru, Andreea Mitu and Edina Gallovits-Hall will be playing in the qualifying matches, that started on Monday. Halep, 3rd seeded in Miami, last week won the Indian Wells tournament, the most important in her career. Thanks to her success Halep is a leader in the “Road to Singapore” classification for the Champions Tournament, which registers the best results in a calendar year.
The plenum of the Romanian Senate will debate and vote Wednesday the National Anti-Corruption Directorate’s request regarding the arrest and taking into temporary custody of the outgoing finance minister, Darius Valcov, and of the former transport minister, Dan Sova. Valcov is being investigated in a case regarding acts of corruption perpetrated between 2008- 2009 when he was mayor of the town of Slatina, in the south of Romania. According to prosecutors he received bribe worth 2 million euros in exchange for awarding contracts to certain preferred companies. In turn, Dan Sova is accused by being accessory to abuse of office in a case in which the National Anti-Corruption Directorate is investigating the activity of two state-owned energy companies.
