February 25, 2014 UPDATE

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România Internațional, 25.02.2014, 12:05

THE ROMANIAN POLITICAL SCENE– In Bucharest, the leaders of the National Liberal Party, the second largest party in the ruling coalition, on Tuesday decided to step out of the government, a resolution adopted by the permanent delegation of the party shows. The President of the National Liberal Party, Crin Antonescu, said the party’s decision to step out of the government was not easy to make, it was not a desired solution, but it was made by an overwhelming majority. Social Democrat Victor Ponta announced that all Liberal ministers, state secretaries and heads of agencies will tender their resignations on Wednesday. According to Antonescu, the Social Liberal Union no longer exists. The Liberals’ meeting was convened after the government reshuffling negotiations with the Social Democratic Party failed. Ahead of the Liberals’ meeting, the Social Democrat Prime Minister Victor Ponta launched a new appeal to the Liberals to save the political project called “the Social Liberal Union” and to remain in the government. The divergences between the two parties started early this month, when the Liberals nominated the Mayor of Sibiu, Klaus Iohannis, for the vice-premier and interior minister positions, and the Social Democratic Party set up, together with the junior ruling partners, the Conservatives and the National Union for the Progress of Romania, a Social-Democratic Union within the ruling coalition.

ARREST/CORRUPTION FILE– The President of the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority, Dan Radu Rusanu, has been taken into custody for 24 hours, in a corruption file, in which he is investigated for constituting an organised criminal group and for complicity to abuse of office. According to the anti-corruption prosecutors, Rusanu is accused of having allegedly exerted pressure on several insurance companies and of having made demarches for the adoption of an emergency ordinance by the government, meant to favour his personal and group interests. Also on Tuesday, in the same file regarding the Financial Supervisory Authority, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate asked for the approval of the Chamber of Deputies to start criminal prosecution against former finance minister, Liberal Daniel Chiţoiu, for abuse of office and constituting a criminal group during his term in office. Chitoiu has recently tendered his resignation. Several business people and Daniel Chitoiu’s wife, a director with the Financial Supervisory Authority, are prosecuted in the same file.

ROMANIA-UKRAINE– Romania’s President, Traian Basescu, on Tuesday signed the book of condolences opened at Ukraine’s embassy in Bucharest. On this occasion, the Romanian President said Ukraine would only manage to stay united if ethnic minorities are given due respect by the central authorities. The statement was made after the Parliament of Ukraine abrogated legislation that recognised the languages of national minorities, including Romanian, as regional languages.

UKRAINE– The Ukrainian Parliament on Tuesday voted to send the fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych to the Hague, to be tried for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. In another move, also on Tuesday, Ukrainian interim president, Oleksandr Turcinov warned against the danger of separatism in that former Soviet republic, after president Yanukovych was removed from power. The formation of a transition government in Ukraine was deferred to Thursday. Turchinov underlined a government is particularly needed, given that the country is on the verge of bankruptcy, and Moscow threatens to suspend financial aid. Russia questions the legitimacy of the transition authorities in Kiev, shortly after they requested immediate financial support from the West and placed the fugitive ex-president Viktor Yanukovych on a wanted list for mass murder. On Tuesday in Moscow, the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov voiced opposition to the organisation of early presidential election on May 25th.

EUROBAROMETER-50% of the Romanians believe the EU is going in the right direction to overcome the economic crisis and it will be able to cope with new challenges, the latest Eurobarometer released by the European Commission in Romania on Tuesday shows. Conducted in November 2013, the poll shows that the most optimistic EU member states are Sweden, Finland and Denmark, whereas the Mediterranean states are the most pessimistic: Italy, Greece and Portugal. The future of the EU is regarded with optimism by 63% of the Romanians and 43% of the respondents said they have a positive image of the EU. In another move, 56% of the Romanians feel they belong to the European Union.

NEW LEGISLATION-The European Parliament on Tuesday adopted the report drafted by the Romanian MEP Monica Macovei for a Directive on the freezing and confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds of crime in the European Union. In addition, third party confiscation will be possible in cases of goods transferred for free or below the market price and when the third party knew or should have known that the purpose of the transfer or acquisition was to avoid confiscation. Confiscation measures were extended to cases of flight or illness of the suspected or accused person. The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström, considers the new directive eliminates significant lacks in the legislation which are being used by criminals, on the other hand, and makes it easier for national authorities to trace, freeze, manage and confiscate criminal assets across the EU.

MOTION-The Chamber of Deputies in Romania on Tuesday rejected a simple motion tabled by the Liberal Democratic Party and the Party of the People, in opposition, regarding the management of snow clearing operations this winter. Discussed on Monday, the motion claims that in December and January, the National Road and Motorway Corporation allegedly signed contracts worth around 22 million euros through non-transparent procedures, favouring companies close to leading members of the ruling Social Liberal Union. The initiators want the government to check the awarding of these snow-clearing contracts.

ECONOMY-The Romanian economy is expected to register a growth rate of 2.3% this year and of 2.5% in 2015, winter economic forecasts released by the European Commission on Tuesday show. The European Commission has lsightly improved the estimated it made in autumn as regards Romania’s economic growth rate in 2014 and 2015, when it stood at 2.1% and 2.4% of the GDP, respectively. The EC estimates that the average annual inflation rate in Romania will go down to 2.4% in 2014, whereas the unemployment rate will stay at the same level registered last year, 7.2%. This year, Romania’s budget deficit is expected to stand at 2.2% of the GDP. The Romanian government and the IMF estimate the growth rate will range between of 2.2% and 2.5% in 2014.

ROME– The new head of the government of Italy, Matteo Renzi, Monday night secured Parliament’s vote of confidence on his government programme, aimed at immediate and radical change. Matteo Renzi undertook to govern in citizens’ service, by reducing fiscal pressures, creating new jobs, attracting investments and making education one of the immediate priorities of his cabinet. Once sworn in, Matteo Renzi, aged 39, will be the youngest prime minister in the European Union.

REYKJAVIK– Thousands of people took part in a rally in Iceland’s capital city Reykjavik on Monday, demanding a referendum on the country’s EU accession. On Friday, the two Euro-sceptical parties in power in the country decided to withdraw the country’s EU candidacy. Accession talks have been stuck for years, because of the fisheries quota issue. Polls indicate the majority of Iceland’s voters are against the EU accession, while its supporters argue that the main gain would be the adoption of the euro, which would contribute to the stability of the country’s economy.