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Romania through international eyes

People in the News

June/July 2005

Former President Ion Iliescu was asked to give evidence at an inquest concerning the June 1990 miner’s riot in Bucharest, in which six people were killed, many were beaten and raped and property destroyed, and which forced the then prime minister, Petre Roman, to resign. Iliescu, who has parliamentary immunity and therefore cannot stand trial, called the inquest “trash.” In a separate ruling Miron Cozma, the imprisoned union leader who mobilised the miners in their onslaught on Bucharest, was released from jail. Dragos Neacsu, the deputy Finance Minister, said that Romania’s inclusion in the Paris Club of countries to whom Iraq is indebted, might mean that Iraq would only repay 20 per cent of the $1.7 billion it owes to Romania. In the wake of the failure of the French and Dutch to ratify the EU Constitution, Romania’s chief EU negotiator, Leonard Orban said: “It is possible that we will be scrutinised even more, but we will press ahead and I am confident that we will be ready by January 2007.” Romania’s government said that it would table a bill regarding restitution of property seized by communists, said to be worth between 5 billion and 8 billion euros, but the main opposition party, the PSD, said they would oppose it. President Traian Basescu said that he was considering holding a parliamentary election in autumn. He then went to Tokyo for a trade conference, where he met Emperor Akihito and the Japanese royal family, and had talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Corneliu Vadim Tudor was unanimously elected president of Romania’s second-largest opposition party, the ultranationalist Romania Mare. The three journalists held hostage in Iraq were returned safely to Bucharest after 55 days away. Yet many questions remained unanswered, and the trio stayed tight-lipped as to speculation relating to their relationship with their guide and translator, Mohamad Munaf, and Omar Hayssam, the Syrian-Romanian businessmen, who were both charged with organising their kidnap. Business groups reacted angrily to the arrest and short detainment of Dinu Patriciu, the chairman of one of Romania’s largest companies, Rompetrol, in relation to accusations that the company had failed to pay income tax and make good its promise of upgrading the Petromidia plant after its purchase. Some said it was an abuse of power, and that it cast renewed doubt on the fairness of the legal system. Romania’s Competition Council fined Lafarge Romcim $13.1 million, Holcim Romania $10.1 million and Carpacement $10.8 million, saying that the country’s three large cement producers had formed a cartel with the aim of imposing price levels between 2001 and 2004. Bucharest’s city council launched an issue of municipal bonds worth 500 million euros, with a ten-year maturity. ABN AMRO’s Henk Mulder is to become the head of ABN AMRO in Indonesia; Peter Weiss is to be his replacement. Cosmote, Greece’s largest mobile phone operator, bought a controlling stake in Cosmorom, Romania’s smallest mobile phone operator, for $150 million. Tennis player Victor Hanescu progress in Grand Slam tournaments continued when he made it to the quarterfinals of the French Open. In the 2006 World Cup qualifiers Romania’s football team lost 2-0 to Holland, and then won against Armenia 3-0. In rugby, Scotland beat Romania 39-19 in Bucharest. Raluca-Ioana Olaru reached the finals of both the girls’ singles and doubles tournaments at the French Open, but lost both. Bill Clinton visited to launch the Romanian translation of his autobiography and play saxophone with local band the Nightlosers.

Michael Jackson departs the courthouse in Santa Monica, California, after being found not guilty of all ten charges of child abuse.

The EU Constitution was roundly rejected in national referendums held in France and Holland. In Brussels, EU politicians were saddened by the repudiation of the charter, but said it would not stall the EU’s 50-year integration drive. “The European process does not come to an end today,” said Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg, which will hand over the presidency of the EU to Britain in July. Jean-Pierre Raffarin was sacked as prime minister of France and replaced by Dominique de Villepin. Ahead of the G8 meeting at Gleneagles in Scotland, finance ministers announced a plan to write off about $40 billion of debt owed to them by the world’s poorest countries. The US government stepped up pressure on North Korea to resume the six-nation talks concerning its nuclear ambitions by announcing that it would send 15 F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter-bombers to South Korea, a major US ally, for an undetermined period. Iraq’s security services suffered their deadliest month since the fall of Saddam Hussein; at least 220 police officers and soldiers were killed in May, mainly the victims of suicide bombings. Nearly 500 civilians and 77 US military personnel were also killed. US President George Bush dismissed Amnesty International’s recent comparison of Guantanamo Bay with a gulag as “absurd”. Kuwait’s parliament granted full political rights to women, enabling them to vote and run for office in elections; but they will have to “abide by the laws of Islam” which men are not obliged to do. Russia said that it would withdraw its remaining 3,000 troops from Georgia by 2008. Australia withdrew the last of its peacekeeping troops from East Timor. Colombian authorities seized more than 12 tons of cocaine, valued at $300 million, from a jungle riverbank near the southwest Colombian border. Europe’s biggest ever bank merger, between Italy’s Unicredito and Germany’s HVB Bank, worth $23.2 billion, was concluded. The euro was sold aggressively and traded at its weakest against the US dollar for nine months. Japan’s unemployment rate hit 4.4 per cent, the lowest for six years. Kim Woo-Choong, the former head of Daewoo, who fled South Korea six years ago after his business empire collapsed with debts of more than $70 billion, returned from Vietnam and surrendered to police. Indonesia is to vaccinate 6.4 million children against polio, after the first outbreak of the disease in a decade was discovered. Anne Bancroft, the actress best known for her role in The Graduate, died, aged 73. Rafael Nadal won the mens title at the French Open tennis tournament and Justine Henin-Hardenne won the womens title. Volunteers successfully maneuvered 61 false killer whales back out to sea after they had become stranded on a beach south of Perth. King Mswati III of Swaziland married his eleventh wife, who is pregnant with his 25th child.