October 4, 2018

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 04.10.2018, 13:22

CORRUPTION – The Romanian police have today confirmed
that the former tourism minister Elena Udrea and the
former head of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism
(DIICOT), Alina Bica, have been detained in Costa Rica, following intelligence
sent from Bucharest. According to judicial sources, the two are to be heard in
court. They have applied for asylum in Costa Rica, and that is why judges might
postpone a decision regarding their extradition. Udrea and Bica were under
investigation, surveillance and monitoring by the Costa Rican authorities, as
they were wanted internationally by Interpol, following the sentences they had
received in Romania for corruption. For a long time seen as the most
influential character in the former president Traian Basescu’s entourage, Udrea
received from the High Court of Cassation and Justice a final 6-year prison sentence for bribe taking
and abuse of office. The same court sentenced Bica to 4 years in prison, in a
case in which she was accused of aiding and abetting a criminal.

REFERENDUM – The campaign for the
referendum on redefining family in the Romanian constitution, due on October
6-7 ends on Friday, 7 a.m. local time. Romanian citizens are called to the
polls to say whether they agree to see the definition in the Constitution,
which currently reads ‘the consented marriage between spouses’, changed into
‘the consented marriage between a man and a woman’, the definition proposed by
Parliament. The initiative to change the phrasing in the Constitution came from
the Coalition for Family, which comprises
several Christian organizations. The coalition gathered 3 million signatures to
support their initiative. The referendum has been criticized by associations
that protect the rights of sexual minorities. For the referendum to be valid,
at least 30% of the voters registered on electoral lists must take part, and
25% of the votes must be valid.

MONETARY POLICY – The Romanian Central Bank has
decided to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at 2.5% per year, and the
one for bank deposits at 1.5%. The interest rate for loans will stand at 3.5%.
These interest rates are used in the relations between commercial banks and the
Central Bank. The values of the current rates for minimum reserve requirements
applicable to liabilities in RON and in hard currencies have also been
maintained.

EU BUDGET – The EU has inadequately spent
some 3.3 billion Euros, which accounts for 2.4% of its 2017 budget, the
European Court of Auditors has announced today, quoted by news agencies. The
money has not been spent in keeping with the EU regulations, either because of
improper allocation or accounting errors. However, the ECA has stated that the
rate of improperly spent money follows a downward trend, after values such as
3.1% in 2016 and 3.8% in 2015. According to analysts, the report issued by the
Court of Auditors comes at a critical time for the EU, against worries in
Brussels that growing Euroscepticism might strengthen populist parties in next
year’s European elections.

NATO – The NATO defense minister’s meeting
continues in Brussels. On Wednesday, the participants analyzed the stage of
implementation of the decisions made by the allies at the July summit in Poland
and analyzed the progress made by Tbilisi in implementing the Substantial
NATO-Georgia Package. Also, the agenda includes talks with EU, Finish and
Swedish officials on issues of common
interest, such as military mobility or fighting hybrid and cyber attacks.
Romania is represented at the meeting by the Defense Minister Mihai Fifor, who
will also hold talks with his counterparts from Canada, Great Britain, Italy,
Spain and Turkey, as well as with the US General Curtis Scaparrotti, the
Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO Allied Command Operations.

CYBERCRIME – The Romanian Foreign Ministry expresses
its solidarity with Great Britain, following London’s denouncement of hostile
cyber actions. ‘Romania, in its capacity as EU and NATO member state, situated
in the proximity of regions marked by instability, is facing such challenges
too’ reads a communiqué issued this morning by the ministry. Bucharest has
reconfirmed its commitment to supporting the fight against cyber attacks and
has voiced interest in cooperating with Great Britain and the other allies in
implementing firm and concrete measures aimed at preventing and curbing such
phenomena. Previously, the British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt had accused
the Russian military intelligence services (GRU) of perpetrating cyber attacks
against companies and institutions across the world. Together with our allies,
we will expose and respond to the GRU’s attempts to undermine international
stability, Hunt said.

HANDBALL – Romania’s
men’s handball champions Dinamo Bucharest have scored their first victory away
from home in the current season of Champions League, by defeating 32-31 the
Finish of Riihimaen Cocks, in Group D. Dinamo now ranks second in the group
with 6 points, just like the Polish of Orlen Wisla Plock who rank first, with one
game less on their record sheet. The two teams are to meet in Bucharest on
October 14th. In another development, in women’s handball, Romania’s
champion CSM Bucharest plays on Friday against the Hungarians of FTC Rail Cargo
Budapest, in a match part of Group D of the Champions League, the first this
season.