December 29, 2016
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Newsroom, 29.12.2016, 12:00
RESPONSE – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis is expected to make a decision regarding the second nomination made by the Social-Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, which hold the majority in Parliament, for the position of Prime Minister. The first nomination, Sevil Shhaideh, was turned down. Sorin Grindeanu is the second nomination. Aged 43, Grindeanu is currently the president of the Timis County Council and has been a member of the Social-Democratic Party for 20 years. He was Minister of Transports in the Government led by Victor Ponta. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, which has a cooperation protocol with the Social-Democrats and the Liberals and Democrats, has not yet expressed its support for the nomination. Opposition parties on the other hand say they will not vote for a Cabinet led by Sorin Grindeanu, although the nomination seems more reasonable than the first.
CURRENCY – Romanias national currency, the Leu, has hit the lowest value over the last three years against the top hard currencies. Specialists however say the tendency gives no reasons to worry, as Romanian economy is currently stable. They expect the Leu to go up, especially against the Euro, once the domestic political turmoil settles down, a new Government is sworn in and the budget for 2017 is adopted. In turn, the US dollar has gone up against the surging optimism in American society, which in a few weeks is due to have a new president and administration. This tendency might continue over the first months of 2017, experts say. In Romania, the Leu-dollar exchange rate has determined a hike not only in fuel prices, but also in the price for house appliances made in Asia, vegetable and fruit imports from Turkey, as well as raw materials imported from other continents.
TOURISM – The number of foreign tourists who visited Romania in 2016 stands at some 1.3 million, which marks a 20% increase as compared to the previous year. Most tourists came from Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain. Representatives of the travel industry say this good figure is the result of the favourable position Romania enjoys at European level, as our country was one of the safest countries in the region this year. 2016 was also the best year for the Romanian seacoast, where the number of tourists went up by as much as 15%. 11% more Romanians visited the seacoast this year, while the number of foreign tourists also increased by 10% as compared to 2015, standing at around 50,000 people. Ranking at the top of tourists preferences was the resort of Mamaia.
INVESTIGATION – Former Romanian deputy, Social-Democrat Sebastian Ghita, indicted in a corruption case and currently under judicial control, failed to report to the Police headquarters today, as the court had required him. Thus the former MP violated the legal restrictions he was subjected to pending trial. Police representatives said that, according to procedure, they will refer this matter to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, which is expected to issue a ruling. Sebastian Ghita is also being investigated for bribe-giving, influence peddling, money laundering and blackmail. Last Wednesday, Ghita was also subpoenaed by anti-corruption prosecutors in a case where he is charged with money laundering. Sebastian Ghita failed to show and a BOLO has been issued in his name at border-crossing checkpoints. Ghita won an MP seat for the Social-Democratic Party in 2012. This year he launched his candidacy for a new MP term for the United Romania Party, but the party did not meet the election threshold required to enter Parliament.
NATO – Dutch Minister of Defense Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert has announced the Netherlands will contribute two chiefs of general staff to the Multinational NATO Brigade in 2017, which will be rendered operational in Craiova, southern Romania, the Romanian Defense Ministry reports. At the same time, the Dutch Minister spoke of the possibility of Dutch troops taking part in other multi-purpose military drills which the brigade is to carry out. We recall that the Rovine 2nd Infantry Division, stationed in Craiova, southern Romania, will become a NATO Multinational Brigade, a decision taken as part of a series of measures adopted at the NATO Summit of Warsaw this summer. The announcement follows the commitments of other states to contribute to the NATO brigade. Germany will deploy chiefs of general staffs, Bulgaria will contribute 400 military, while Poland will deploy some 250 military. Romania will in turn deploy some 250 military to the brigade to be hosted by Poland. The brigade will also be cooperating with a military unit from the United States.
CRASH – The crash of the Russian military plane in the Black Sea was caused by a technical malfunction, the Russian Transport Minister Maxime Sokolov said today. Preliminary data decoded from the aircrafts two black boxes suggest the pilots lost control over the plane due to the faulty wing flaps, which put the plane at a critical angle. The 154 Tupolev aircraft was headed to Latakia, Syria and was carrying 92 people on board, of whom 83 were passengers, most of them members of the Russian Army Choir. They were scheduled to hold a holiday concert at the Syrian base in Khmeimim.
REACTION – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned and labeled as “biased the speech delivered by US Secretary of State John Kerry, whose mandate is coming to a close. In his speech, Kerry was advocating the Obama administrations decision to allow the UN Security Council last week to adopt a resolution whereby all Israeli colonies were declared illegal. John Kerry has warned that these Israeli settlements endanger the two-state peace solution. Netanyahu says Kerrys speech focused “obsessively on Israeli settlements, making reference to Palestinian violence very briefly. The Israeli Prime Minister said the Palestinians refusal to recognize Israels right to exist remains the crux of the problem.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
