NATO has officially declared that the first stage of the anti-ballistic shield in Europe is operational. The decision was made at the alliance summit in Chicago, believed to be the most important in the history of the organization. Romania was represented by the head of state, President Traian Basescu. He said that Romania would be under complete protection as of 2015, when the shield elements installed at the base in Deveselu will become operational. At the summit, NATO reiterated that the shield is not a threat to Russia, but that is meant against threats from the Middle East, such as Iran. The anti-ballistic shield is coordinated from a base in Germany and will consist of a state-of-the-art radar to be placed in Turkey, missiles placed on frigates in the Mediterranean and interceptors installed in Romania and Poland.

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta visits Afghanistan

The newly appointed Prime Minister of Romania, Victor Ponta, visited the Romanian troops stationed in Afghanistan. This is his first visit to a combat zone. He said that Romania would be pulling out of that country alongside its allies when the security situation permits. Ponta was accompanied by Romanian defense officials and by US ambassador to Bucharest, Mark Gitenstein. The delegation visited bases in the south and southwest of the country, considered the most dangerous, and where most of the Romanian troops operate. The prime minister thanked the troops for their peacekeeping efforts.

The Romanian president attends the European Council meeting in Brussels

Romania supports the European fiscal consolidation treaty and the measures to stimulate economic growth, but without this affecting structural funds, as President Traian Basescu said at the informal meeting of the European Council in Brussels. Also Romania’s President said that Bucharest supported the effort to find solutions for Greece to stay in the Euro zone, specifying that this is in the best interest of all EU states. European leaders decided to support Greece’s efforts to remain in the Eurozone, on condition that the country sees through its commitment to the aid plan convened with international lenders. The political instability in Athens caused concern on international markets and affected the exchange rate in the region, including the value of Romania’s currency. In fact, financial analysts believe that the Romanian currency, the leu, has depreciated to a worrying degree, reaching an exchange rate of 4.5 lei per one Euro.

European funds are still a problem in Romania

The Romanian Minister of European Affairs, Leonard Orban, said that the European government could once again suspend disbursing of European funds for human resource development in Romania. He said that this move of blocking funds for the sector operational program on human resources would be due to irregularities in project management. Orban said that Romania stands to lose 1.2 billion Euros, which are due for what remains of 2012 and 2013. Brussels blocked European fund distribution once before, in February, but resumed payments in April.

A new version of the uninominal vote is in place

The Romanian parliament passed a new bill on the uninominal voting system introducing majority voting in a single round, or pure uninominal, as it is known. In this new system, the candidates who come first in their constituencies will be the winners, irrespective of how many votes they receive. The new law eliminates the 5% threshold, and grants additional seats to minorities that represent more than 7% of a county’s population. Constituency borders will remain the same under the new law. The suggestion that Parliament should be reduced to 300 seats was rejected. The law has been criticized by several NGOs, which claim it does not provide proper representation. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania abstained from voting, warning that the new system may destroy the political and electoral system, because it leaves millions of citizens without representation in parliament. The Liberal Democrats, now in opposition, rejected the bill, which they will challenge at the Constitutional Court, because it does not reflect the wishes of citizens related to the reduction of the number of MPs.

The national football season comes to an end

Football team Dinamo Bucharest won Romania’s football trophy after defeating Rapid Bucharest 1-nil. This game, played on the National Arena in the capital, brought the main national football season competition to a close. The two teams, accompanied by Steaua Bucharest, will represent Romania in the next edition of the Europa League. Current champions CFR Cluj and vice-champion FC Vaslui will represent Romania in the most famous club competition in the world, the Champions League.

And bad weather creates unexpected problems in Romania

Romania has been affected by unexpected bad weather in the last week. The authorities have issued heavy rain and wind alerts for this period. Abundant rain has caused damage in several spots across the country, and has disrupted road traffic on several national motorways. A number of counties had to deal with the danger of flooding. On the brighter side, temperatures have kept within the expected limits during this period.