Joe Biden: Corruption Is Just Another Form Of Tyranny
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday at the presidential palace in Bucharest corruption is just another form of tyranny and when politicians can be bought, courts can be manipulated, when the media becomes a tool of propaganda, that society is susceptible to manipulation from the outside.
“Corruption is just another form of tyranny. And corruption can represent a clear and present danger not only to a nations economy, but to its very national security. There are nations, and we’ve seen it recently, that exploit corruption to exercise malign influence and undermine the very sovereignty and independence of their neighbors, said Biden.
“When politicians can be bought, when courts can be manipulated, when the media becomes a tool of propaganda, there you will find a society that is susceptible to manipulation from the outside. We’ve recently seen that in Ukraine. We saw how over a decade and a half of corruption, literally has hollowed out their military institutions and weakened that country’s very capacity to defend itself,” he added. (Romania Libera)
Foreign Investors Seek To Limit Effects Of Tax On Special Constructions
The Foreign Investors Council says the introduction of a tax on special constructions in its current form will have strong negative effects on the economy and seeks discussions with authorities to limit those effects.
“Introducing this tax without a prior consultation of the business environment and without an impact study affects companies that have invested in Romania, questioning the viability of their businesses. Although we understand the country’s financial constraints, we hope to intensify dialog with authorities to limit the effects of this tax in its current form,” said Council board member Serban Toader. (Adevarul)
IMF: Corruption Hinders Economic Growth Om Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary
Economic growth in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary is slowed down by corruption, said Aasim Husain, deputy director of the IMF’s European department.
Countries with the fastest economic growth in Eastern Europe will be Poland and Latvia, which is quickly recovering from the downturn it took during the economic crisis, said Husain.
The IMF sees Romania’s economy growing 2.2% this year and 2.5% in 2015. In 2013, Romania’s GDP increased 3.5%. (Evenimentul Zilei)
Former Communist General Atanasie Stanculescu Released On Parole
A Romanian court has accepted former communist general Victor Atanasie Stanculescu’s request to be released on parole.
Stanculescu, 86, has served five years of a 15-year prison sentence for his involvement in repressing civilian demonstrators in the 1989 anti-communist revolution in Timisoara. (Evenimentul Zilei)
Over 1.7 Million Romanians Have Diabetes
Over 1.7 million Romanians suffer from diabetes and three million others are at high risk of developing diabetes in the next ten years, according to a countrywide study presented Wednesday in Sibiu.
The head of the Romanian Society for Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Disease, Dr. Maria Mota, presented the study, revealing the prevalence of diabetes is of 11.6%, which places Romania on the second place in Europe, After Turkey, where the prevalence of the illness is 14.85%. (Jurnalul National)