Romanian cabinet meeting delayed
Romanian government has postponed a cabinet meeting scheduled on Wednesday at 11 AM. However, the meeting is expected later today, at 18 PM, according to a cabinet press release. A draft emergency order is finalised but further approval is needed, Radio Romania reports. The draft refers to state army pensions as the untaxed ceiling is expected to increase at RON 3,000. The project still needs an approval by the Social Economic Council with an increase expected to get into force on October 1. The government wants to extend the provision to include all pensions for special categories. Drafts usually refer to unfinalised documents still expected to be approved. The draft law on the topic was developed by Romania’s Labour Ministry while another came from the country’s Ministry of Finance.
Former NATO deputy secretary may become Romania’s next president
Former NATO deputy chief Mircea Geoană has officially announced his bid for Romania’s presidency on Wednesday. “I could promise you a perfect country, introduce myself as a perfect politician and assure you that all problems would disappear overnight when we knew very well this was untrue. We are not perfect. I am not perfect. Our country is not perfect. But you know what we can do? We can work together in order to build a country where every single voice matters and every single effort can be seen”, Mr. Geoană wrote in a message on social media. Mr. Geoană resigned from his NATO job on September 3 after serving NATO for nearly five years. He was awarded the NATO Meritorious Service Medal at a ceremony on Tuesday.
Army drones under debate in parliament’s upper house
A meeting on Wednesday of senators in the Defence Committee of Romanian parliament’s upper house and representatives of the country’s Defence Ministry is expected to discuss measures designed to change an existing law to include ways to combat hostile or unauthorised drones violating Romania’s airspace. Existing rules stipulate that the military is allowed to open fire only after trying to get in touch with the pilot. But drones are unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV), a fact allowing commissioners to improve the existing rules as commission chief Nicoleta Pauliuc said on Wednesday. The event comes after former Defence Minister Nicolae Ciucă, currently the senate speaker, called for an agreement between Romania and Ukraine allowing antiaircraft defence systems to destroy Russian weapons crossing the border.
Alexandru Danga
