Senate

Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Tuesday said that the adoption by the Senate of the new Tax Code would be a first step before the actual implementation of the new fiscal relaxation measures on January 1, 2016, and he also reminded that the VAT cut down to 9 per cent for foodstuffs will come into force on June 1, 2015, as planned by the government.

AGERPRES special correspondent Florentina Peia reports: President Klaus Iohannis, on a two-day official visit in Rome, has met on Monday with his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella.

Presidents Klaus Iohannis and Sergio Mattarella meet at Quirinale Palace in Rome
Photo credit: (c) Radu TUTA / AGERPRES PHOTO

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls revealed April 23 that five terror attacks had been "foiled" in France in recent months.

Senate President Calin Popescu Tariceanu on Tuesday said that Parliament "starts to share sovereignty regarding its law-making mission" with the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR).

Photo credit: (c) Alex MICSIK / AGERPRES PHOTO

U.S. State Secretary John Kerry noted his country's awareness of the challenges Greece is going through and referred to the close relations of the United States and Greece. On his part, Kotzias said that he was in the U.S. as a friend to someone who works with Greece for democracy and peace against terrorism.

Here is the full transcript of their talk:

With the elections nearing, President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has started to spell out more clearly the kind of presidential system he wants for Turkey. He says they are studying examples from the U.S. and France to Argentina, Mexico and Brazil. He nevertheless wants a system that is suited to Turkey?s ?customs and traditions.?

The joint Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate for the review of the Constitution reunites on Tuesday in session, as of 13:00 hours, at the Upper House's headquarters.

Photo credit: (c) Radu TUTA / AGERPRES PHOTO

Some 177,000 Turkish Cypriots went to the polling booths April 19 to vote to elect a president that would lead the tiny Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in talks with Greek Cypriots, expected to resume next month, to achieve a federal resolution.

A version of Victor Eftimiu's magic poem 'Insir'te margarite' (String, pearl!) adapted and directed by actor Dan Puric premiered on Saturday evening in the Grand Hall of the National Theatre of Bucharest (TNB) after four years of renovation works on the building.

Photo credit: (c) AGERPRES ARCHIVE

US Secretary of State John Kerry on April 15 welcomed a compromise with Congress on giving lawmakers a say on any final deal on Iran's nuclear programme.

Kerry said the measure approved April 14 by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which raises the threshold for critics in Congress to block any accord with Tehran, made him "confident" ahead of a June 30 deadline.