August 5, 2014
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 05.08.2014, 13:42
The European Commission has endorsed the 2014-2020 Partnership Agreement with Romania, reads a communiqué issued today by the Ministry of European Funds. The document details the way in which structural and investment funds are to be used in the coming programming period. Romania started negotiations on this document as early as the spring of 2013, through informal talks. For the 2014-2020 programming period Romania benefits from approximately 43 billion Euros, of which 22 billion for the cohesion policy.
The National Bank of Romania has today lowered the monetary policy interest rate from 3.5% to 3.25% per year. Also, the board of the Central Bank has decided to maintain the reserve requirements for national and foreign currency liabilities at 12% and 16% respectively. The Bank recommends commercial banks to maintain the rates for deposits and to resume lending. In June this year, the annual rate of inflation dropped to 0.66%, as compared to 0.94% in May.
Washington has voiced worries regarding the military exercises conducted by the Russian air force, saying the are a provocation and could lead to an escalation of the situation. We recall that the Russian Defense Ministry on Monday announced the start of unprecedented maneuvers by the Russian air forces, some of them on the border with Ukraine. In another move, Ukrainian officials have stated that some 33 thousand Russian military, supported by 160 tanks, have been amassed near the border with Ukraine. Kiev is worried that an invasion is being planned, but Moscow says that the maneuvers have nothing to do with the situation in Ukraine.
Moscow has today accused the Republic of Moldova, the former Soviet republic with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population of breaking the restrictions on fruit and vegetable exports to Russia by delivering products accompanied by forged documents. According to Russian authorities, early this month Chisinau delivered vegetables and fruits accompanied by documents signed before July 21st, when Russia banned the imports. On July 2nd, Moscow had also imposed restrictions on imports of processed meat from Moldova, on the very day when the Moldovan Parliament ratified the Association Agreement with the EU. The difficult situation created by these restrictions urged the Chisinau authorities to find alternative solutions and new markets, especially in the EU.
Israel has pulled out all its troops from Gaza, after the coming into force this morning of a 72 hour cease-fire agreement, agreed upon with Hamas, under Egypt’s mediation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated last night that the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip depends on its demilitarization. Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which started on July 8th, focused on the annihilation of Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure. Israeli soldiers have destroyed hundreds of tunnels on the border with Gaza, which were used to smuggle goods and weapons. The clashes claimed over one thousand eight hundred Palestinian lives, mostly civilians. Israel lost 64 soldiers and 3 civilians. Tomorrow, the UN General Assembly will hold an informal meeting to examine the situation in Gaza, at the request of the Arab countries members of the organization, France Presse reports.
The World Bank has announced an emergency financing of up to 200 million dollars to help three west-African countries faced with an Ebola epidemics. The announcement was made in Washington, which is currently hosting an Africa — US Summit. The money will go to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the countries most affected by the virus, to help them improve their public health systems and to reduce the economic impact of the crisis. According to the latest report issued by the World Health Organization, 887 people have died of hemorrhagic fever since the start of the year. Doctors say there is no vaccine and no cure for the disease. Some 2000 people have died since 1976 when Ebola first broke out.
