October 20, 2014
News and Current Affairs from Romania
Ştefan Stoica, 20.10.2014, 11:59
Today in Bucharest, the Chamber of Deputies debates the request filed by anti-corruption prosecutors to have immunity lifted for Conservative Party deputy Ion Dinita, allowing him to be detained for investigation in a corruption case. The same case placed under investigation the head of Brasov County Council. According to the Anti-Corruption Directorate, Dinita stands accused of bribe giving and conspiracy to commit abuse of office. At the same time, the judicial committee of the Chamber will analyze and issue within three days a report on the request by prosecutors to detain Chamber members Ioan Adam and Viorel Hrebenciuc, both from the Social Democratic Party, which dominates the ruling government coalition. They are under investigation, alongside Senator Ilie Sarbu from the same party, and the head of the National Forestry Administration, in the wider case prosecuting the illegal retrocession of tens of thousands of hectares of forest. The head of the ACD alleges the state lost over 300 million Euro as a result.
Bucharest hosts for two days an EU conference dedicated to South East Europe, organized by British magazine The Economist. Taking part are business leaders, as well as officials from Romania, Albania, Greece, Italy, Moldova and Croatia. Today’s topic are predictions made by experts with the Economist Intelligence Unit on the evolution of the area politically, administratively and legislatively, followed by debates on stability and sustainable growth in the area. The second day of the summit is dedicated to economic issues, such as energy, infrastructure, banking, as well as opportunities opened by telecom and IT.
Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean joins in Luxembourg his EU counterparts in the External Affairs Council meeting. The agenda is dominated by the Ebola epidemic, as well as the developments in Iraq and Syria caused by the Islamic State jihadist organization, alongside the Ukraine situation and the peace process in the Middle East. As part of the meeting, Corlatean will attend the official dinner dedicated by the Italian presidency of the European Council to Catherine Ashton, who ends her term as commissioner for external affairs of the governing body.
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number 4 in the world, starts today her run in the tournament in Singapore by playing against Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, ranked 7th. In the same group, WTA leader Serena Williams meets Serbian player Ana Ivanovich. On Tuesday, the first games in the other group of the tournament are played, pitting Maria Sharapova against Caroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova against Agnieszka Radwanska. This tournament in Singapore concludes the women’s season this year, and has prizes totaling 6.5 million dollars. Halep is the third Romanian in this competition after Virginia Ruzici and Irina Spirlea — the only other Romanian players to ever be in the WTA top 10 ranks.
Two US ships, guided missile destroyer USS Cole and the USS Mount Whitney, are until Thursday in Constanta, the main Romanian port on the Black Sea. They are here to enhance peace and stability in the area, according to the Romanian Defense Ministry. The two ships will join the Romanian navy in the exercise Black Sea Resolve, hosted by Romania in its territorial waters this week. It is meant to provide joint training for American and Romanian sailors in maritime interdiction, submarine prosecution, as well as air target identification and tracking. This exercise continues a series of joint actions by the two countries meant to bolster security in the Black Sea area.
