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| The Week in Review |
| (2011-08-26) |
| Last updated: 2011-08-29 14:01 EET |
Romanian President Traian Basescu pleads for the United States of Europe project
The decision to create the United States of Europe should be taken within three years at the most, said the Romanian head of state in an interview on the Romanian Public Radio Station. According to Traian Basescu, the solution for Europe to remain a top actor on the world stage is given by unitary economic and military policies.
Traian Basescu:“Unless this decision is made and the unification process is implemented within three years, not only from a monetary, but also from a fiscal point of view, it could be too late, because such a process needs time. It’s true that knowing the VAT is set not by the Romanian government, but in Brussels, does not sound very comforting, just like knowing that the rate will be 20%, not 16 or 8%. It sounds rather worrying for anybody in Romania. Still, we will have to swallow this bitter pill if we want to have a viable Europe.”
Romania’s gold reserve must grow, against the current international background, says President Basescu.
Romanian President Traian Basescu has announced this week that Romania will open two new gold mines, as the Central Bank’s gold reserve must, according to the head of state, grow to 200 tons in the coming years, as compared to 103 tons as it is today.
He has also pleaded for the implementation of the controversial gold exploitation project in Rosia Montana, central – western Romania. The statements made by the head of state have stirred many reactions. 30 environmental NGOs have called on the president to take back his statements, saying that an open support for the controversial projects is unacceptable.
Ecologists blame the project for the exploitation technologies it would use, based on cyanides, which could have devastating effects on the environment. Also, the project would destroy ancient vestiges in the area, dating back to the Roman Empire.
The Rosia Montana miners’ trade union claims though that the project will lead to the resumption of activities in the area, will curb unemployment, will boost economic growth and will improve the condition of the environment, seriously damaged by the rudimentary exploitation techniques used in the past centuries.
Romanian PM Emil Boc talks about holding local and parliamentary elections at the same time in 2012
Talks regarding joint local and parliamentary election to be held in 2012 were launched by the Romanian PM Emil Boc soon after the publication of the results of the partial legislative elections held in two counties in Romania, used as barometers for next year’s elections. The idea seems to be supported by both ruling and opposition parties. The main arguments set forth by the governmental coalition, made up of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the Union for Romania are savings to the budget, shorter election campaigns and a better turnout.
The opposition Social Liberal Union agrees with the idea, provided elections are held next year, to capitalize on the head start it has in polls. This is only a theoretical step forward, considering the clear victory, which the Liberal Democrats have one in one of the districts disputed last week. Still to be solved, however, are the technical, legislative problems. Running alongside each other local and parliament elections means changing at least two organic laws.
The four-year term of mayors, which runs out in 2012 in summer, can be prolonged, according to current legislation, only in exceptional situations, such as natural calamities and wars. At the same time, the term of senators and deputies in the two chambers of Parliament can only be shortened by certain constitutional conditions. In order to run the two elections concomitantly would take a new law with provisions for both local and legislative elections.
The government in Bucharest sells off some of its participation in the national airline Tarom.
The Romanian government has approved selling 20% of its participation in the national airline Tarom. The decision came after measures agreed with the IMF and the European Commission to reduce public deficit. The Ministry of Transportation owns almost 97% of the airline. Tarom operates mainly in Europe, which accounts for 64% of its activity. In 2010, the Romanian company flew 2.1 million passengers, slightly more than before.
Economic analysts believe that before selling this share package, the company, which incurs losses at the present, would have to be streamlined, and only after that have its shares sold. Otherwise, experts warn, there is a risk of failing to have the sale go through, which happened with the 10% of state participation in the oil company Petrom. In order to avoid such an occurrence, the government would have to carefully plan the moment it goes through with the transaction.
Three of the five Romanian football teams in the Europa League have qualified in the competition groups.
Three of the five Romanian football teams in the Europa League have qualified in the competition groups. In the play-offs, Steaua Bucharest eliminated the Bulgarian team TSKA Sofia, FC Vaslui eliminated Czech team Sparta Prague, and Rapid Bucharest eliminated Polish team Slavsk Wroclaw.
However, Dinamo Bucharest was eliminated by Ukrainian team Vorskla Poltava, and Gaz Metan Medias was eliminated by Austria Vienna. The Europa League finals will be played in Bucharest on May 9, 2012. in the Champions League Romania is represented by Otelul Galati, which automatically qualified for Group C, where it joins Manchester United of England, Benfica Lisbon of Portugal and FC Basel of Switzerland.
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