“What the hell would it help me with? (the bill, ed.) Because I’ve had enough of all these lies. I understood that I am accused. Outside of myself, are there other people in this country? Do you ask them? Do only those in public offices get to be destroyed? After everything, I am a human and I’ve had enough of answering to this nonsense,” said the Lower Chamber chairman
Dragnea reiterated his party’s stance that most of the sentences handed out in the past decade were a result of judicial abuses, and that the situation “destroyed his life”.
“Talk with hashtag (anti-government group #Rezist, ed.) and with Iohannis to give a decree to shoot me the day after tomorrow. You are young people and you go on to support former Securitate members, abuses. What the hell does it favor me with, they destroyed my life for years, I’ve been accused without evidence both in the referendum and in the second case,” added the ruling party leader.
The bill in question, passed by the Romanian Senate on Monday, states that non-violent sentences of up to 18 months in prison will be automatically served in home arrest, while individuals sentenced to up to five years in prison might also have their sentences commuted to home arrest on a per-case basis.
The Lower Chamber will vote on the bill as a deciding body.
Dragnea was sentenced earlier in the year to three years and six months in prison for influencing fictitious hiring of PSD members at a state agency, in a case which is currently pending an appeal. According to the new bill, Dragnea would be eligible to serve the sentence, if it becomes final, in house arrest. (puterea.ro)
Real Madrid Offers EUR20M To New Coach
Real Madrid, in search for a new coach, offers an annual salary of £17 million (EUR20 million) to Argentinian Mauricio Pochettino to get him to leave Tottenham Hotspur.
According to The Sun, Real will offer to double Pochettino’s current wage packet to an eye-watering £17million-a-year – a salary that will make the 46-year-old one of the best-paid managers in the world.
It is believed Real want to offer Pochettino a five-year deal, worth a total £85million to the former Espanyol and Southampton coach.
Real president Florentino Perez wants to rush through the appointment of Pochettino now, but will wait until the summer to get his man if Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, refuses to entertain negotiations. (romanialibera.ro)
IMF Mission To Visit Romania On November 6–12
A mission of the International Monetary Fund will be in Romania in the period November 6–12 to assess the country’s economic and financial evolution, the IMF said in a statement Wednesday.
The IMF team will assess the country’s new economic and financial indicators, will update its macroeconomic forecast and will discuss the 2019 state budget draft, said the IMF representative in Bucharest Alejandro Hajdenberg.
Early October, the IMF lowered its economic growth projection for Romania to 4% and saw inflation at 4.7% in 2018. (evz.ro)
Euro Area Inflation Up To 2.2% In October 2018
Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.2% in October 2018, up from 2.1% in September 2018, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in October (10.6%, compared with 9.5% in September), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (2.2%, compared with 2.6% in September), services (1.5%, compared with 1.3% in September) and non-energy industrial goods (0.4%, compared with 0.3% in September).
The annual inflation rate in the EU was 2.2% in September, stable compared with the previous month, while in the eurozone, the inflation climbed to 2.1%, from 2% in August. Among EU Member States, the biggest annual inflation rates were recorded in Romania (4.7%), Hungary (3.7%) and Bulgaria (3.6%). The lowest rates were registered in Denmark (0.5%), Greece (1.1%) and Ireland (1.2%). (romanialibera.ro)