News review of the day – November 10th

Romanian Foreign Minister resigns

The Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean has resigned, after thousands of Romanian organized protests to support their co-nationals abroad, who failed to vote in the first round of presidential elections in Romania. Romanians living abroad have complained of long queues at the polling stations and the insufficient number of ballots, a situation that prevented them from exercising their right to vote. After the scandal, the Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has threatened Titus Corlăţean with dismissal if no action is taken for the second round on November 16th .

Prime Minister Victor Ponta nominates a new Foreign Minister

The Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has nominated Teodor Meleşcanu for the position of Foreign Minister, after the resignation of Titus Corlatean. In a press statement made at the Victoria Palace, Mr Ponta said he was waiting for the President Traian Basescu to set up the time when the new Foreign Minister will be sworn in. The Presidential Administration has not announced yet whether the President has accepted his nomination of Teodor Melescanu. In the same statement, Prime Minister Victor Ponta argued that there was no legal basis for the creation of new polling stations abroad and denounced the pressure put on the former Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean in this respect.

The trade deficit has increased to 108.7 million euros

The trade deficit has increased, in the first nine months of the year, by 606 million lei (108.7 million euros) compared with that recorded during the same period last year, 19.024 billion lei (4.284 billion euros). The exports have grown faster than imports, the National Institute of Statistics has announced. „Compared with the January 1st – September 30th, 2013, exports have increased by 8.1 percent at values expressed in lei (7.1 percent at values expressed in euro) and imports increased by 7.6 percent at values expressed in lei (6.6 percent at values expressed in euro). ” Exports and imports are covered mostly by groups of products: cars and transport equipment (42.2 percent in export and 35.0 percent in import) and other manufactured products (32.9 percent in export and 30, 9 percent in import). The trade deficit balance was 2.139 billion lei (485.4 million euros), higher by 279.7 million lei (69.2 million euros), than in September of 2013./npolikar