May 20, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 20.05.2015, 12:15
On Wednesday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis signed the decree for the appointment of Mrs. Sevil Shhaideh as Minister of Regional Development and Public Administration. The new minister was proposed by the ruling Social Democratic Party, after her predecessor, Liviu Dragnea, resigned. Dragnea was given a suspended one-year jail sentence for his involvement in a case regarding frauds that occurred at the 2012 referendum on the impeachment of the former president of Romania, Traian Basescu.
A technical mission of the IMF and the European Commission is currently in Bucharest, as Romania wants to end the current financial program agreed upon with the Fund in September. Until May the 26th, talks will focus on the Fiscal Code and the stage of implementing the measures included in the program with the IMF and the EC. Pundits say the talks will not be easy and the result is difficult to estimate, in the context in which the government insists that Romania needs fiscal relaxation. Finance minister Eugen Teodorovici has said he would like to see a successful termination of the current agreement, adding that a decision whether to go ahead with the partnership with the IMF is to be made later. The current agreement, the third one since the onset of the economic crisis in 2009, is a stand-by loan agreement and is due to end in autumn. It was agreed upon in September 2013, for a two-year period and is worth some 2 billion Euros.
Romanian MPS on Wednesday endorsed the draft law regarding the insolvency of natural persons that have a permanent domicile, goods and incomes in Romania. The law is aimed at supporting good loaners who are suffocated by debts. In this way priority is granted to debt reimbursement plans for a period of up to five years, not to liquidations and seizures. In another move, also on Wednesday, the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making forum, rejected the request for re-examination of the Forest Code requested by President Klaus Iohannis and passed the law in its initial form. The head of state had asked for the re-examination of the document, which, in his opinion, includes provisions that are aimed at limiting the activity of certain companies and fosters discrimination.
The Romanian Foreign Ministrys crisis cell has called for the support of international partners to manage the crisis triggered by the kidnapping of a Romanian national in Burkina Faso, one and a half month ago, a press release issued by the ministry reads. The Romanian Foreign Ministry also underlines that the crisis cell continues to check the authenticity of the information and of the audio footage send by the Jihad group which claims responsibility for the kidnapping. The leader of the group has recently announced the affiliation to the Islamic State terrorist movement, which bears responsibility for the bloodiest attacks in recent times. The Romanian citizen was part of a patrol team in charge with security on the perimeter of a mining site. The authorities in Burkina Faso have deployed a large military contingent to the area, with a view to identifying the kidnappers.
Over 1,100 soldiers and 14 vessels from Bulgaria, Romania and the US will participate, starting Friday until May 28th, in the first major exercise organized in the Black Sea by the Romanian Naval Forces this year. The exercise called “Romanian Trident Poseidon 2015 will be carried out in the Romanian territorial waters of the Black Sea. Its goal is to raise the Romanian navy soldiers training level. In another development, by the end of June, Romanian MIG 21 Lancer planes, alongside 4 Portuguese fighters are carrying out patrol missions in the Romanian air space, including above the Black Sea. These missions, coordinated by the NATO Air Command, based in Ramstein, Germany, are part of the measures taken by NATO to guarantee the security of the countries that make up the eastern flank of the Alliance.
On Thursday, Romanian orthodox believers celebrate the Ascension of Jesus. The resurrected Jesus was taken up to Heaven in his resurrected body, in the presence of eleven of his apostles, occurring 40 days after the resurrection. On this day the Romanian Orthodox Church also pays homage to the countrys heroes, soldiers and other Romanians who gave their lives on the battle field, in camps and prisons to defend and protect the freedom and dignity of Romania and its people. Also on Thursday, both Catholic and Orthodox believers celebrate the Saints Constantine and Helena.
Romanias representative in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, the band Voltaj, on Tuesday qualified for the Grand Final of the contest held in Vienna. Alongside Voltaj, the representatives of Albania, Armenia, Russia, Hungary, Serbia, Belgium, Estonia, Greece and Georgia have qualified for the Grand Final. The final classification was established in equal parts by the publics vote and the specialized jurys vote. The second semi-finals of the EUROVISION Song Contest is due on Thursday, and the Grand Final is scheduled for Saturday.
