August 25, 2014 UPDATE

For a roundup of domestic and international news, click here.

Ştefan Stoica, 25.08.2014, 12:05

UKRAINE – Romania agrees with the decisions made at EU level and at the level of the trans-Atlantic partnership regarding the Ukrainian crisis and totally and unconditionally supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the former Soviet Republic, said Monday the Romanian PM Victor Ponta. He added that Bucharest, alongside the whole international community, supports the sanctions passed against Moscow, and calls on Russia to stop its support and intervention on the side of the separatists in the east of Ukraine, so that Ukraine could decide, freely and democratically, on its democratic and European path. Fighting between the Ukrainian army and the rebels continues in the east of Ukraine. Kiev on Monday announced that Moscow intended on opening a new frontline in eastern Ukraine, after a convoy of armored trucks crossed the Russian border and engaged Government forces. In another move, Russia informed Ukraine of its intention to send a new humanitarian aid convoy to Ukraine. This was announced after Kiev and the West criticized Moscow for sending a first convoy, last week, without any authorization from the Ukrainian authorities and Red Cross escort.

PRISON SENTENCE – Romanian businessman George Copos, a former deputy prime minister, was sentenced Monday to 4 years in prison for tax evasion following the verdict of the Bucharest Court. The court rejected the appeal and maintained the verdict initially given in January 2013. Copos, a former minister in the cabinet headed by Liberal Calin Popescu Tariceanu, caused a damage to the Romanian state worth more than 1 million euros following transactions made with the Romanian Lottery National Company. George Copos has been detained since March, when he was definitively sentenced to 3 years and 8 months in prison, as owner of the Rapid Bucharest football team, for involvement in illegal football transfers that also involved other club owners, financiers and agents.

SOCIAL SECURITY — The Senate in Bucharest met on an emergency session on Monday to reanalyse the draft law on the 5% slash of social security contributions for employers as of October the first and decided to vote against it. The law will be debated in the Chamber of Deputies, after being sent back to Parliament by President Traian Basescu, who said the law did not specify the sources from which to cover the sums of money that can no longer be collected from the budget. If Parliament votes the law once again without any modifications, the president cannot reject it but can notify the Constitutional Court.

TENNIS — The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, seed no. 2, will take on American Danielle Collins in the first round of the US Open tournament, the last Grand Slam of the year, which starts today in Flushing Meadow in New York. In the 2014 Grand Slam competitions Simona Halep played in the Roland Garros final, in the Wimbledon semi-finals, and in the Australian Open quarterfinals. Participating in the US Open are also another 4 Romanian players: Monica Niculescu will play against Iaroslava Svedova from Kazakhstan, Sorana Carstea will take on Heather Watson from Great Britain, Irina Begu will be up against Silvia Soler-Espinosa from Spain, and Alexandra Dulgheru will meet the Czech player Kristynai Pliskova. No Romanian tennis player has signed up for the male competition.

IRAQ — The UN High Representative for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Monday accused Islamic State insurgents of “ethnic and religious cleansing”. Apart from ethnic cleansing, Navi Pillay has condemned the crimes, forced conversions, kidnapping, sexual abuse, acts of slavery, the destruction of places of worship of major cultural landmarks and the overall assault on an entire community on ethnic, religious or sectarian grounds. Navi Pillay has called on the international community to make sure the perpetrators of these atrocious crimes do not go unpunished. Also on Monday, Syria announced its readiness to join regional and international efforts to fight Islamic State terrorists. This group has taken control of large areas in Syria and Iraq. The United States and the European Union have labelled the Islamic State one of the biggest threats currently facing the international community.

EBOLA — The WHO has announced it would conduct its own testing to establish the source of the hemorrhagic fever caused by the Ebola virus in Congo. WHO experts want to verify the declarations of specialists in this country, currently claiming the virus strain may have originated elsewhere than northern Africa. The WHO has warned the infection spreads at dangerous speeds. The organization said several months of sustained effort are needed to stop the epidemic from spreading. So far Ebola has killed 1,400 people.

RESIGNATION — The French PM Manuel Valls on Monday presented the resignation of his government, the French President Francois Hollande announced Monday. The president asked the PM to form a new government, and its membership is to be announced on Tuesday, the French president pointed out. Appointed in April, Manuel Valls was accused of causing the economy to drop. The French government submitted its resignation after, late last week, the economy minister Arnaud Montebourg and the education minister Benoit Hamon publicly criticized the French government’s policy. The two asked President Hollande to modify the economic policy in the sense of reactivating the demand to the detriment of the policy of reducing expenditures and to stop the German chancellor Angela Merkel’s action to set the European economic policy.

GAZA — The military operations from Gaza could be extended after September 1st, said the Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu. He pointed out that Israel would carry on the attacks against Hamas until security in the area is established. The Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, and the economy minister Naftali Bennett, say the Gaza Strip needs to be occupied for a period of several months so as to annihilate the Hamas infrastructure. Many missiles were launched at the weekend from the Gaza Strip to the south of Israel, and the Israeli military planes bombarded buildings in the towns of Rafah and Gaza. Started on July 8th, the offensive on the Gaza Strip, has killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and tens of Israelis, most of whom were soldiers.