Ponta Says He Wants To Make Room For Younger Politicians After November
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta suggested in a Facebook post he is considering retiring from politics after winning “the last battle” in November.
Ponta wrote he wishes to make room in politics for the younger generation and make up for the last 13 years he spent away from family and other aspects of his personal life.
Deputy prime minister Liviu Dragnea said Ponta’ message was misinterpreted and he is not planning to quit politics but political feuds and may in fact be considering running for president. (Adevarul)
Bucharest Democrat Liberals Want To Collect Signatures To Dismiss Mayor Sorin Oprescu
The executive secretary of the Bucharest-Ilfov branch of the Democratic Liberal Party, Mircea Raicu, said Sunday the organization plans to raise signatures to dismiss Bucharest general mayor Sorin Oprescu.
“PDL Bucharest plans to start a signature collection campaign to dismiss general mayor Sorin Oprescu, which is the only solution to save whatever is left to save of the Romanian capital,” Raicu told a news conference. (Puterea)
EC Requires Romania To Pay Back EUR4.51M Spent Unduly Under Agricultural Policy
The European Commission is claiming back a total EUR318 million of EU agricultural policy funds, unduly spent by 11 member states, of which EUR4.51 million from Romania, the Commission said in a press release.
As some of these amounts have already been recovered from the member states the financial impact of the decision will be some EUR315 million. This money returns to the EU budget because of non-compliance with EU rules or inadequate control procedures on agricultural expenditure, the Commission said.
The impact of the correction on Romania will be EUR4.24 million. The correction was proposed for non-definition of certain agricultural and environmental conditions, controls only partially performed and deficiencies in its sanctioning system. (Adevarul)
EU Funding Conditions For Romanian Beekeepers Are Too Harsh
The limit imposed on beekeepers to be eligible for EU funding through a National Program for Rural Development measure targeting young farmers, said the Association of Beekeepers.
A beekeeper needs to have at least 220 families of bees to be eligible for the minimum funding of EUR12,000, which is too much, as Romanian beekeepers have not reached the same level of development as European beekeepers, said association president Ioan Fetea. (Evenimentul Zilei)
Zaher Iskandarani Wanted To Serve Five-Year Prison Sentence
Syrian Zaher Iskandarani is wanted countrywide to serve a five-year prison sentence for cigarette contraband, defrauding the state of some RON2 million.
Police officials said Iskandarani was not found at his address to be taken to prison and is now wanted.
Indicted eight years ago, Iskandarani was sentenced definitively Friday to five years in prison by the Bucharest Court of Appeals. (Evenimentul Zilei)