April 21st, 2015
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Ştefan Stoica, 21.04.2015, 12:00
Romania’ s’ budget deficit in 2014 stood at 1.5% of the GDP, 2.2% lower than in 2013 and 2.9% lower than in 2012, according to early data the European Statistics Institute has made public today. The EU’s budget deficit in 2014 stood at 2.9% of the GDP, as in 2013 the deficit the budget deficit stood at 3.2 % of the GDP. In the Eurozone, the budget deficit stood at a lower level as compared to the budget deficit across the EU in recent years, with a slight downturn of 2.4 % of the GDP in 2014 , from 2.9 % in 2013. In 2014, the lowest budget deficit was reported for Lithuania, Latvia and Romania, while a budget surplus was reported for Denmark, Germany, Estonia and Luxembourg. 12 EU member states in 2014 reported a budget deficit accounting for more than 3% of the GDP, among which Spain, Great Britain, France and Greece.
Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors applied to Parliament to approve the preliminary arrest of MP Ion Ochi for bribe-taking and aggravated abuse of office. He is under suspicion that in 2011, when he was vice-chairman of Brasov County Council, he granted preferential public acquisition contracts. In addition, the funds he obtained illegally helped get him elected to Parliament in 2012.
Romania’s joining the Eurozone, scheduled for January 1st 2019 is a very ambitious objective and authorities must think twice if they want to maintain this target, Central Bank governor Mugur Isarescu has today said. The National Bank official went on to say that one of the problems Romania has been facing is the absence of structural reforms. According to Isarescu, Bucharest has already met all accession criteria but these are not enough; what Romania actually needs is real convergence. Prime Minister Ponta has also noted that Romania has met all the nominal criteria for Eurozone accession, but the country needs to meet the ’real criteria’, which include economy competitiveness and the agreement of the countries in the region.
Romanian president Klaus Johannis has given his positive assessment of the legislation on election and the financing of political parties, stating the bill has had a satisfactory progress in Parliament. However, Johannis went on to say the bill on the Diaspora vote was still lagging behind. In a message posted on a Facebook page, in the wake of this past Monday’s consultations with parliamentary party leaders, Johannis reminded everyone that around four million Romanians lived abroad, and quite of few of them had to line up for hours on end to cast their vote during the presidential ballot in November 2014. Klaus Johannis has made public the fact he was closely watching the progress of the election legislation, also stating he expected political parties to comply with the commitments they made to that effect.
Romanian Defence Minister Mircea Dusa in Bucharest is today holding talks with the Deputy Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe, General Adrian Bradshaw, who is on an official visit to Romania until Wednesday. Talks will mainly be focusing on security in the Black Sea, Romanian military participation in NATO missions in Afghanistan, as well as the Alliance’s two command centres that will be operational in Bucharest. Also today, the two high-ranking officials will focus on the military bases in Galati and Constanta, in the southeast, where until April 30 the Wind Spring exercise unfolds, with more than 2,200 soldiers and combat assets being deployed, of the armies of Great Britain, Republic of Moldova Romania and the USA. The exercise is part of the joint training activities series scheduled to be held on Romanian territory as well as outside Romania’s’ borders, as part of the Atlantic Resolve operation, by means of which NATO and the USA prove their support for the stability and security in the region.
Romania’s team has come in third in the medals’ rankings of the fourth edition of the European Girls Mathematics Olympiad held in Minsk. Taking part in the competition were 23 European countries and 7 guest countries. Romania’s lineup was made of four pupils, who walked home with four medals: two gold, one silver and one bronze. The European Girl’s Mathematics Olympiad is an international competition enjoying the status of the International Mathematics Olympiad. In the previous editions, Romanian pupils each time walked away with four medals.
Romania’s Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu has stated an appropriate joint European response was needed, as regards the situation created by the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean. To that effect, Aurescu mentioned Romania’s significant contribution to the European Agency’s operations. Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister in Luxembourg took part in the emergency meeting of EU member states’ Interior and Foreign Ministers, held after a ship sank in the Mediterranean Sea this past Sunday. The fatality claimed the lives of 800 people, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. During the meeting, the European Commission presented a plan to prevent new fatalities from occurring in the Mediterranean Sea. The plan was green-lighted by the European Ministers and on Thursday it will be examined by the presidents and Prime Ministers of the European Union’s 28 member states. Yesterday, thousands of people from several European countries staged protest rallies, calling on their governments to get involved in the support of migrants who risk their lives in the Mediterranean sea in the hopes of a better life in Europe.
The Romanian Adrian Ungur has conceded defeat in the game against Russia’s Mikhail Yuzhny, counting towards the first round of the BRD Tiriac NAstase Trophy ATP tennis tournament in Bucharest, with around 439 thousand Euro prize money at stake. Also in the first round, the Romanian/Swiss pair made of Simona Halep and Belinda Bencic on Monday conceded defeat in the game against Taiwanese/Chinese couple made of Chin Wei Chan and Chen Liang, in the double’s event of the WTA tournament in Stuttgart, with 731,000 prize money up for grabs. In the women’s singles, the world’s number three tennis player and favourite number two to winning the tournament Simona Halep will play straight into the eighth finals, against the winner of the game pitting Spain’s Garbine Muguruza and Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova of the Czech Republic.
