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RADOR: News from Romania, 00-05-10
May 10, 2000
CONTENTS
[01] Senate Proceedings;
[02] House of Deputies Proceedings;
[03] Permanent Bureaux in Parliament Are Favouring the Independent Deputy
Adrian Severin's Candidacy as President of the OSCE Parliamenttary
Assembly;
[04] May 9 - Romania's Independence Day, Victory Day and Europe Day;
[05] Dismissal at MAE;
[06] Communique of the National Commission for Statistics;
[07] Romanian - Macedonian Diplomatic Contacts;
[08] Seminar on Defence Issues;
[09] "Co-operative Nugget 2000" Military Training Exercise.
[01] Senate proceedings
With a majority of votes, the Senate adopted yesterday the draft law on
fighting the illegal drug traffiking and consumption. The document includes
regulations designed to prevent drug production and illegal traffiking
along with a series of articles concerning the penalties for criminals,
testimonies and other procedures to prevent such crimes. The draft law also
includes measures aimed at preventing the drug abuse. The senators
expressed the hope that the EU would welcome the new law as a positive step
for Romania's attempt to fight this sort of crime. RADOR
[02] House of Deputies proceedings
At their session on Tuesday, the deputies adopted the draft law on the
status of military priests. According to the draft law, the military
priests are similar to senior officers though unarmed and not being
involved in any armed conflict. The military priests should comply with the
orders of their commanders and obey military training regulations.
According to the document, the religious assistance obey ordinary church
rules in compliance with the freedom of belief of the military. Any attempt
of proselytism is prohibited. RADOR
[03] Permanent Bureaux in Parliament are favouring independent deputy
Adrian Severin's candidacy as president of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
The Permanent Bureaux of the two Chambres in Parliament unanimously decided
on Tuesday to support the candidacy of Adrian Severin, an independent
deputy, as president of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The Christian Democrat
National Peasant Party (PNTCD) gave up one of its seats in the OSCE
Romanian delegation to allow Adrian Severin stand for the job. PNTCD's
Cornel Sturza Popovici became one the delegation's substitutes. The
decision of the Permanent Bureaux is to be approved at the joint plenum of
the two Chambers today. Today's joint session was also expected to focus on
debates about the regulations of the National Council designated to examine
the archives of the former Securitate. RADOR
[04] May 9 - Romania's Independence Day, Victory Day and Europe Day
A wreath-laying ceremony was organised at the Unknown Soldier's Memorial in
King Charles Park on Tuesday on the occasion of the three events Romania is
celebrating on May 9. Participants included Romanian President Emil
Constantinescu, Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu, MPs, representatives of
state institutions, ambassadors. War veterans, representatives of
revolutionary associations and leading members of political parties also
attended the ceremony. President Constantinescu made a statement to the
press on the occasion. Presidential counsellors, state secretaries and
counsellors were expected to attend other wreath-laying ceremonies in a
number of cemeteries in Bucharest and across the country on the behalf of
the Romanian Presidency. RADOR
[05] Dismissal at MAE
Romanian Foreign Minister Petre Roman ordered the dismissal of the head of
the MAE Consulary Department who was to be immediately replaced by
Alexandru Mugurel Euje, Romania's consul general to Milan. A MAE communique
says that, on January 12, 2000, the Romanian foreign minister asked for a
review of all diplomatic passports, but the Consulary Department submitted
an inaccurate report on the matter. And more, the names of Adrian and
Valentina Costea, owners of diplomatic passports since 1996 who were now
under investigation, were not mentioned in the report. Minister Petre Roman
asked Petre Catrinciuc, the head of the Consulary Department, for
clarification, and find out he was absent without leave. The foreign
minister ordered the immediate annulment of the passports, and asked the
new head of the department for further action to solve the problem. RADOR
[06] Communique of the National Commission for Statistics
In April, the inflation rate raised to 4.8%, 3% higher than the inflation
in March. The inflation rate in the first four months of the year raised to
13.7% given the higher tariffs for services and goods. According to a
National Commission for Statistics's communique, the tariffs for services
raised by 8.9% last month while the prices of goods raised by 5.3%. Food
prices raised by 2.3 while the prices for phone, radio and TV subscription
and water supplies raised by 20%. The tariffs for energy, heating and gas
supplies went up by 19% following the VAT duties while fuel prices raised
by 5%. RADOR
[07] Romanian - Macedonian diplomatic contacts
A round of talks started in Bucharest yesterday morning between Mihai
Razvan Ungureanu, State Secretary with Romania's Foreign Affairs Ministry
(MAE) and his Macedonian counterpart Tikhomir Ilievski. The two officials
concentrated on issues concerning the agenda of the talks the Macedonian
Prime Minister Liubko Gheorghievski was expected to have in Bucharest with
his Romanian counterpart Mugur Isarescu. They also discussed the recent
developments in the Kosovo province. The Macedonian state secretary said
the Kosovo crisis was a priority for the foreign policies of both countries
as they were trying to support the international community in its attempt
to solve it, and provide the conditions aimed at getting the situation back
to normal and prevent further tensions in the region. Tikhomir Ilievski
added that both countries expressed their support for the Stability Pact in
South-East Europe. The Macedonian official expressed the hope that FYROM
and Romania would improve their political and economic co-operation as
their two prime ministers were going to agree in the very next future.
Ilievski indicated that the presidents of the two countries were also
expected to meet. RADOR
[08] Seminar on defence issues
An international seminar on "Defence Management in South-East Europe"
opened at the National Military Circus in Bucharest on Tuesday, organised
by Denmark's Defence Ministry in co-operation with the Romanian National
Defence Ministry (MApN). Participants include delegates from NATO Member
and Partner States in south-eastern Europe. The Romanian State Secretary
for defence policies, Ion Mircea Plangu, said the meeting would help the
countries in the region and improve defence structures. In his turn, Anders
Trolborg, Danish State Permanent Secretary with Denmark's Defence Ministry,
pointed out that the seminar would help Romania in the restructuring
process of its armed forces. RADOR
[09] "Co-operative Nugget 2000" military training exercise
The "Co-operative Nugget 2000" military training exercise is taking place
in the US and Romania between May 1-13, organised by NATO's Atlantic
Command. The computerised exercise includes two centres of command in two
phases for three departments: NATO command, brigade command and infantry
units as answering cells. The training is expected to improve the
interoperational skills of the forces involved and help the officers to
comply with the Staff procedures as part of a script for peacekeeping
operations. RADOR
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