Romania's lower house of parliament votes to withdraw graft decreeBucharest, 21 February 2017 (MIA) - Romania's lower house of parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly endorsed a government order to scrap a graft decree that triggered mass street protests, international condemnation and a consequent U-turn by the month-old cabinet, Reuters reports.
The cabinet of Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu enraged people when it quietly approved on Jan. 31 a decree that would have decriminalised several corruption offences, prompting the largest display of anger since the 1989 fall of communism.
The lower house, as expected, backed the order comprehensively by 291 votes to none against with three abstentions.
The upper house of parliament, the senate, approved the withdrawal of the decree last Tuesday after all ruling party leaders agreed to scrap the decree as quickly as possible.
The ruling Social Democrat-led coalition holds a comfortable majority in both houses of parliament following its victory in the Dec. 11 election.
The decree would have shielded dozens of public officials from prosecution and would have undermined a drive to stamp out high-level graft.
After the protests, the decree was repealed and its main architect, Justice Minister Florin Iordache, resigned.
Last week, parliament unanimously endorsed a presidential plan to hold a national referendum over anti-corruption reforms.
President Klaus Iohannis, a former leader of the centre-right opposition, strongly criticised the government over the decree but has not yet set a date for the referendum.
The wording on the ballot paper will be up to the president, who said last month he wanted to hold the vote to see "the sovereign desire of Romanians" over the anti-graft drive. lk/15:17
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Not good for Western Balkans that some in Washington want to water down EU, says Juncker
Zagreb, 21 February 2017 (MIA) - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Tuesday it was not good for Western Balkan countries that some people in the new US administration gave the impression of being against the European Union because those countries needed the prospects of EU membership, Hina reported.
Speaking in an interview with Croatian and Slovenian journalists in Brussels, Juncker was asked if he planned to visit Croatia soon.
"I intend to go, but my people are blocking me because they want me to be in Brussels. I intend to visit the Western Balkan countries, including Croatia, which is a (European Union) member state," he said.
"I was explaining to US Vice President Mike Pence yesterday that it's bad news for the Western Balkans that some in the new US administration give the impression that they want to water down the EU. That's bad news for the Western Balkans because I think those countries, except Croatia which is a member state, expect European prospects. They can't join before 2019 but they will join later. However, if someone in Washington says the EU is nothing, that other countries should follow Brexit, that's bad news for our friends in the Western Balkans which, for the obvious reason, need European prospects, and I believe that," Juncker said.
He will visit Slovenia in early March, but said he would not talk about the dispute over the Teran wine, because of which Slovenia has objections against the European Commission which wants to allow Croatian wine makers to sell the wine under that name too.
"I want to go to Slovenia because I haven't been there in years, because I love that country. However, I won't talk about wine, but about Europe's future. I want to find out how Slovenia's government and president see Europe's future," Juncker said.
He reiterated that he did not want another term at the helm of the European Commission. ba/17:44
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NATO general: Troops will stay in Kosovo as long as needed
Pristina, 21 February 2017 (MIA) - A senior NATO commander has assured Kosovo that the military alliance will maintain troops in the Balkan country "for as long as it's necessary."
NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, met with local officials and Western ambassadors during a visit Tuesday to Kosovo, AP reports.
Some 4,500 troops from 31 countries have been deployed in Kosovo since June 1999, after NATO's 78-day air campaign to stop a bloody Serbian crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia has not recognized it as a country.
"We will keep in place a flexible, determined presence and will make changes only when the security situation allows. KFOR remain a robust and credible force, capable of carrying out its mission for as long as it's necessary," Scaparrotti said. lk/19:43
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Greece should be able to borrow on markets from mid-2018, ESM head says
Berlin, 22 February 2017 (MIA) - Greece will probably be able to borrow money on the markets from the middle of next year and if the next 18 months are put to good use Athens probably won't need another bailout, the head of the euro zone bailout fund told a German newspaper.
Greece and its international lenders agreed on Monday to let teams of experts work out new reforms to Greek pensions, income tax and labor market that would allow Athens to eventually qualify for more cheap loans, Reuters reports.
Klaus Regling, head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), told Sueddeutsche Zeitung he expected that from mid-2018 Greece would "stand on its own feet and be able to get money on the markets by itself".
In comments due to be published on Wednesday, Regling said: "If the next 18 months are used well, I'm optimistic that this is the last program that Greece will need to do."
He said he could imagine the ESM rescuing troubled euro zone states on its own in the future.
But he added that in the case of Greece, different agreements had been made and without the involvement of the International Monetary Fund, no further payments could be made.
"If the IMF doesn't participate, it won't be in line with what governments have agreed with their parliaments." ik/08:25
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Turkey lifts ban on army officers wearing Islamic headscarf
Istanbul, 22 February 2017 (MIA) - Turkey's army is lifting a historic prohibition on female officers wearing the Islamic headscarf in a reform ordered by the defence ministry, the official Anadolu news agency said on Wednesday.
The lifting of the ban applies to all female officers working in the general staff and command headquarters and branches, it said.
Women may wear the headscarf underneath their cap or beret so long as it is the same colour as their uniform and does not cover their faces, AFP reports.
The reform will come into force once it is published in the official gazette. It is not immediately clear if it applies to women on combat missions. It will also apply to female cadets.
The ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) co-founded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long pressed for the removal of restrictions on women wearing the headscarf.
Turkey lifted a ban on the wearing of the Muslim headscarf, known as the hijab, on university campuses in 2010.
It allowed female students to wear the headscarf in state institutions from 2013 and in high school in 2014.
And in the latest key reform before the army’s move, Turkey in August for the first time allowed policewomen to wear the Islamic headscarf as part of their uniform.
Erdogan’s critics have long accused the president of eating away at the secular pillars of modern Turkey as set up by its founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk when he established the Turkish republic in 1923.
The government rejects the suggestions, saying it is allowing freedom of worship for all Turkish citizens whatever their beliefs.
At the time of the controversy over the lifting of the ban on the headscarf in the police forces, pro-government media pointed out that several Western states have already granted female police officers permission to wear the headscarf.
The army has traditionally been seen as the strongest bastion of the secular state and had been traditionally hostile to any perceived Islamisation of state institutions.
But its political power has ebbed after the government increased control over the armed forces in the wake of the failed July 15 coup bid blamed on followers of US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen.
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