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RADOR: News from Romania, 98-07-08
July 8, 1998
CONTENTS
[01] No Links of Romania's President and Prime Minister with Former
Securitate
[02] Senate Proceedings;
[03] House of Deputies Proceedings;
[04] Appeal Against PD Proposal for TVR Administration Council;
[05] PDSR Warning;
[06] PL Leadership in Support of Amendments to Constitution;
[07] ROMTHNICA Director Dismissed;
[08] Former Romanian Sovereign on a Visit to Constantza County;
[09] Extraordinary Session of School-Leaving Exams;
[10] Energy Price Cuts;
[11] Senate Speaker Petre Roman on a Visit to Finland;
[12] Prime Minister Radu Vasile on a Visit to Italy;
[13] Romanian Delegation at OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Annual Meeting;
[14] Portuguese Support of Romania's Efforts to Join NATO and the EU;
[15] Romanian-Slovak Agreement on Education Affairs;
[16] Mexican Ambassador on a Visit to Timisoara;
[17] Round Table on "Romania on the Verge of an Information Society".
[01] No links of Romania's president and prime minister with former
Securitate
President Emil Constantinescu of Romania has announced on television that
an investigation has cleared him, the prime minister and senior officials
of links with the former communist secret police, the Securitate. It
follows newspaper allegations which led last month to the health minister's
resigning after being named as Securitate informant. President
Constantinescu said the investigation into his anticommunist Administration
has cleared all the ten members of his Spreme Defence Council of links with
the Securitate either as agents or collaborators. Meanwhile, Romania's
Prime Minister Radu Vasile has also announced that neither of his Cabinet
ministers had links with the former Securitate. RADOR
[02] Senate proceedings
During the second day of their extraordinary session on Tuesday, the
senators have adopted the draft law amending and completing the Law 53/1991
on allowances and other payrights for senators and deputies. According to
the law, the deputies are to be paid for their offices in the
constituencies a forfeit sum equal to their monthly wage (around 10 million
lei) while spendings for senatorial offices in the constituencies are to be
covered, as usual, by the Senate's General Secretariat. The senators have
rejected the proposal allowing them payrights similar to those the deputies
were allowed to get. The Tuesday's session coordinator, Cristian Dumitrescu,
has asked the Senate's special commissions to complete their reports by
Thursday, when the draft law on public property rights and their legal
framework could be subject to debates. RADOR
[03] House of Deputies proceedings
The deputies have issued their final vote over the draft law establishing
the basic wages for workers in budget-financed institutions and allowances
for senior public workers. The draft laws on concession regime, the setting
up of the National Housing Agency and local public financing were also
adopted. With 172 votes for and 87 against, Constantin Boldur was appointed
to replace Dan Victor Zlatescu as judge in the Constitutional Court. The
two Chambres are to meet in a joint session on Wednesday when the
Administration Council of the Romanian Television (TVR) is expected to be
validated. RADOR
[04] Appeal against PD proposal for TVR Administration Council
A deputy representing the ruling Christian Democrat National Peasant Party
(PNTCD) in the House of Deputies' Commission for cultural, art and media
affairs, Alexandru Badea, has expressed his protests against the PD
appointment of TV editor Irina Badea as member in the TVR Administration
Council. The deputy claims that the only list was submitted to the
commission last week and included 13 candidates for full positions in TVR's
Administration Council. In case the Permanent Bureaux in the two Chambres
are to extend the list, then, according to law, they have to propose a new
list which should include only 12 candidates, with Mrs Irina Radu topping
the thirteenth. "The Commissions for cultural affairs in the two Chambres
are not entitled to amend the list unless these conditions are met. It
would be an illegal decision", Mr Badea insisted. He said the decision
could only affect the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania
(UDMR) and the MP group representing other minorities. The PNTCD
commissioner pointed out that his party and the opposition Party of Social
Democracy in Romania (PDSR) had more than 120 MPs in parliament and each of
them had two representatives in the TVR Administration Council while the
PDs, only a half of that figure, appointed a similar number of candidates
to run for the Council. RADOR
[05] PDSR warning
PDSR first vicepresident Adrian Nastase has warned that the 500 million
fund for the commission evaluating the existing opportunities for the
setting up of a Hungarian language teaching state university in Romania was
higher than funds provided to cover some of the flood damages. At a press
conference on Tuesday, PDSR senator Liviu Maior has announced that his
party would answer the National Education Ministry's request of an
extraordinary session of school-leaving exams. He has however warned that
mark exicencies would be different from session to session and,
consequently, the graduates in the first session might be disfavoured as
the higher education institutions had to consider the score in school-
leaving exams. The PDSR press conference also focused on recent moves by
the National Liberal Party (PNL) which, according to the PDSR first
vicepresident, were designed to determine a change in the balance of forces
within the Democratic Convention in Romania (CDR). Among other things, Mr
Nastase blamed the Romanian Government's decision to allow a 1.4 billion
dollar foreign loan for purchasing 96 American helicopters produced by Bell
Helicopters, Inc. RADOR
[06] PL leadership in support of amendments to Constitution
At his weekly press conference on Tuesday, the leader of the Liberal Party
(PL), Horia Rusu, has announced that negotiations were expected to start
this week for a merger between PL and the PNL in the very next future. The
PL leadership said it shared the recent proposal made by the PNL National
Council designed to determine amendments to the Constitution as some texts
in the document, and mainly the text referring to private property rights,
needed such amendments. RADOR
[07] ROMTHNICA director dismissed
Romanian Defence Minister Victor Babiuc has announced on Tuesday that he
dismissed colonel Nicolae Ion, the chief executive of ROMTEHNICA Autonomous
Utility. The minister said it was absolutely intolerable that ROMTEHNICA
could have left an ammunition transport in a port for one year withought
doing anything to solve the situation. The ammunition export of ROMTEHNICA
remained anchored in the Greek port of Pyreus since the Romanian ship
belonging to NAVROM Company was arrested last year. The "Sebes" ship and
its cargo were to be sold through public bid. Major Marin Eugen was
appointed as acting director of ROMTEHNICA until a new contest would be
organised for the job. RADOR
[08] Former Romanian sovereign on a visit to Constantza county
Former Romanian sovereign, King Michael I, and his wife, Qeen Ana, have
continued their tour around the Dobrougean county of Constantza. Their
agenda included a visit to the National Museum of History and Archeology in
Constantza and a meeting with citizens in the Prefecture Plaza. RADOR
[09] Extraordinary session of school-leaving exams
The Romanian Government has asdopted the draft law allowing the MEN to
organise an extraordinary session of school-leaving exams between August 18-
25. Participants will include school-leavers of the 12-th and 13-th form in
1998 who did not attend the previous session this year along with school-
leavers who did not pass the exams during other sessions in the past years.
RADOR
[10] Energy price cuts
At his recent meeting with his economic ministers on Monday, Romanian Prime
Minister Radu Vasile has announced that a decision was made in order to
operate unchanged prices for heating energy and lower electric energy
prices for a period of 3 or 4 months. RADOR
[11] Senate speaker Petre Roman on a visit to Finland
Following an invitation by his Finnish counterpart, the speaker of the
Romanian Senate, Petre Roman, has started a four-day visit to Finland on
Tuesday. He is expected to meet the Finnish president, the prime minister,
banking representatives and other Finnish high ranking officials. RADOR
[12] Prime Minister Radu Vasile on a visit to Italy
Romanian Prime Minister Radu Vasile has left for Italy on Tuesday following
an invitation by his Italian counterpart Romano Prodi. The prime minister
is also expected to meet Pope John Paul II and present with a letter by
President Emil Constantinescu inviting him to visit Romania in May 1999.
The prime minister's agenda also includes meetings with Italian President
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Cardinal Soldano, the Prime Minister of the Vatican,
Prime Minister Romano Prodi and the speakers of the two Chambres in Italian
Parliament. The prime minister is also expected to meet representatives of
major Italian companies such as ENI, FIAT and the San Paolo di Torino
banking group.
After their talks on Tuesday, Romanian Prime Minister Radu Vasile and
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi have announced that their countries
shared similar interests and positions on many issues. Following the
Romanian-Italian Strategic Partnership signed last year, Italy tops first
among Romania's economic and trade parteners. It is the first such document
signed by Italy in Central and South-East Europe. Quoting Italian Prime
Minister Romano Prodi, the RRA informs that telecommunications, banking,
agriculture and cultural exchange are Italy's main cooperation interests in
Romania. The talks have also focused on other opportunities such as
resuming work on the Bucharest-Constantza motorway, the oil pipe linking
Constantza and the Italian city of Triest and other Romanian motorway
building projects. RADOR
[13] Romanian delegation at OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's annual meeting
The Romanian delegation attending the seventh session of the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly in Copenhagen includes PD deputy Adrian Severin as
head of the delegation, PNTCD deputy Cornel Sturdza-Popovici, PDSR deputy
Dan Martian, PNL deputy Titus Gheorghiov, deputy Vichentie Nicolaichuk
(representing Romania's national minorities) as well as PNTCD senator
Nistor Badiceanu and PDSR senator Dan Mircea Popescu. At the opening
session on Tuesday, the talks were expected to focus mainly on ways of
developing and consolidating the OSCE structures and institutions. Polish
Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek, the current president of the OSCE, is
expected to address the meeting following an opening speech by Ivar Hansen,
speaker of Danish Parliament, and the speech by Danish Prime Minister Poul
Nyrup Rasmussen. The OSCE session is also expected to include a seminar and
a round table where delegates of OSCE member countries are to present the
participants with reports and opinions on different issues. RADOR
[14] Portuguese support of Romania's efforts to join NATO and the EU
While in Bucharest on Tuesday, Portuguese Defence Minister Jose Veiga Simao
said the conflict in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo was a good motivation
for Romania's NATO membership. He indicated that the Alliance might use
Romania's experience in the region. The Portuguese minister said that
"Portugal would further support Romania's efforts to join NATO and the EU".
He sounded rather optimistic about Romania's chances to join NATO next year
and predicted that the "Washington summit in 1999 would have a great
announcement to make for Romania". At a joint press conference on Tuesday,
Romanian Defence Minister Victor Babiuc said that Portugal's arguments in
favour of Romania definitely improved since the NATO summit in Madrid last
year. RADOR
[15] Romanian-Slovak agreement on education affairs
While in Bratislava on Monday, Romanian National Education Minister Andrei
Marga and his Slovak counterpart Eva Slavskovska have signed an agreement
mutually validating diplomas, certificates and titles awarded by
educational institutions in the two countries. Under the agreement, all-
level education documents will be directly validated. RADOR
[16] Mexican ambassador on a visit to Timisoara
On Tuesday, the Mexican ambassador to Bucharest along with his wife and the
embassy's attache for cultural affairs went on a tour of administration and
cultural institutions in the western city of Timisoara. RADOR
[17] Round table on "Romania on the Verge of an Information Society"
On Tuesday, the Romanian Broadcasting Corporation (SRR)'s Press Centre
hosted a round table on "Romania on the Verge of an Information Society" .
Participants included MPs, representatives of political parties and IT
companies, journalists. A draft law by the National Information Commission
is expected under debate. This is the third such meeting hosted by the
"Businessmen's Cafe" broadcast. RADOR
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