|
RRI newsletter subcription
(e-mail address):
|
 |
Archives:
|
|
| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 16-22/11/2009 |
| (2009-11-20) |
| Last updated: 2009-11-23 18:02 EET |
On the 22nd of November, Romanian voters are expected at the polls to elect their president for the next 5 years. A referendum is held on the same day on the introduction of a single chamber parliament and the reduction of the number of parliamentarians from 471 to 300. There are 12 candidates in the presidential race, 4 of whom represent political parties in parliament, 5 come from extra-parliamentary parties and 3 are independent. The Central Electoral Bureau says Romanians can vote both for president and in the referendum or for just one of them. The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has organised 294 polling stations outside Romania, mostly in Spain, the Republic of Moldova and the United States, the states with the largest Romanian communities.
Following talks with representatives of the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the World Bank, the 5 biggest foreign banks in Romania renewed their commitment to maintain their exposure on the local market, which has dropped under the established level. The banks promised to make up for the difference, but emphasised they need adequate instruments for investments in the market. At the beginning of the week, the National Bank of Romania reduced by 5%, from 30 to 25%, the level of the minimum obligatory reserve rate for banks in the case of liabilities in hard currency of under 2 years. This measure is aimed at maintaining macroeconomic balance and supporting the financing of the governmental sector from the local market, given that the International Monetary Fund and the European Union have postponed a payment from the foreign loan granted to Romania amounting to 20 billion Euros.
The secretary of state for strategic affairs with the Romanian foreign ministry Bogdan Aurescu has made a visit to the United States and Canada this week. In Washington, Aurescu held talks with American officials about the development of the strategic partnership between the two countries and the elimination of visas for the Romanian citizens who wish to travel to the US. This issue was also tackled in Canada. An agreement in the area of social security was signed between the two countries in Ottawa. The possibility for Canada to participate in the building of two nuclear reactors in Romania, in Cernavoda, was also discussed.
This year, Romania occupies the last position in the European Union, together with Bulgaria and Greece, in a Transparency International survey of corruption perceptions. The poll speaks about Romania’s stagnation and how, for the first time since 2002, people feel no progress has been made from one year to another in the fight against corruption:
“The crisis in the legal system, a phenomenon that reduces the capacity to fight corruption and affects the trust of the economic environment and the country analysts interviewed in the effectiveness of the public system to combat corruption. Other factors include the undermining of people’s trust in the integrity of those who manage public spending and the excessive politicising of the public administration.”
Romania unreservedly supports NATo’s expansion to the Western Balkans, with special emphasis on Montenegro, Bosnia Hertegovina and, specially, Serbia, which Bucharest views as the key to peace in this region. This statement was made by president Traian Basescu in Brussels on Thursday after talks with the NATO secretary general Anders Gogh Rasmussen. The two officials also tackled the situation in Afghanistan, where Romania has committed 1,044 military as part of international missions. Basescu gave assurances that Bucharest will stand by the commitments it has made:
“We are very well aware that, unless the Taliban forces are defeated in Afghanistan, they will expand to the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. We are therefore open to consider increasing our participation in Afghanistan, mainly in terms of the staff necessary to train the Afghan army, as well as combat troops.”
Also on Thursday, the Romanian president attended, in Brussels, the summit of EU heads of state and government who chose Herman van Rompuy, Belgium’s prime minister for the newly created position of EU president. Catherine Ashton from Britain, currently the European commissioner for trade in the European Commission, was appointed the EU’s foreign policy and common security minister. In the opinion of the Romanian president, the two appointments, one from the People’s Party and the other from the Socialists, settles the balance of forces inside the European Council.
|
|
| |
WMA |
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
MP3 |
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
AAC+ |
|
|
48kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
 Historical mascot of
RRI |
2025-04-03
Print
Listen again