May 23, 2022
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 23.05.2022, 13:55
Fiscal code – The Romanian Finance Ministry is analyzing a possible amendment to the Fiscal Code this week, after the National Liberal Party – PNL and the Social Democratic Party – PSD agreed that the collection of funds to the state budget should be improved. The Social Democrats are talking about the opportunity to return to progressive taxation, and the Liberals are defending the flat tax, which they say they are not willing to give up. Both parties give assurances that there will be no new taxes and duties for Romanians.
Ukraine – The number of people forced to flee the conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecutions has exceeded 100 million for the first time, as a result of the war in Ukraine and other deadly conflicts, shows a statement from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The figure of 100 million people is staggering, worrying and should have never been reached, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. By the end of 2021, the number of people displaced worldwide had reached 90 million due to new waves of violence or protracted conflicts in countries such as Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Nigeria, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. On February 24, the Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of neighboring Ukraine, throwing further millions of people into the streets to flee fighting and reach less exposed regions or other countries. Europe has not seen such a rapid inflow of refugees since the end of World War II, UNHCR points out. Nearly 6.5 million Ukrainians have left the country, mostly women and children, and the UN estimates that their number could exceed 8 million by the end of the year.
Refugees — The number of Ukrainian citizens who entered Romania on Sunday decreased by 17.4% as compared to the previous day, according to a communiqué of the Border Police General Inspectorate, issued on Monday. Since the onset of the crisis until Sunday, more than a million Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania. The Interior Ministry also states that the occupancy rate in the accommodation centers of the General Inspectorate for Immigration is almost 47%. Since March 18, the same Inspectorate has issued 27,353 residence permits for beneficiaries of temporary protection. Equally, since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, 4,349 Ukrainian citizens have applied for asylum in Romania, enjoying all the rights provided by national law.
Cannes — The Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu, competing at the Cannes Film Festival, hopes that his film R.M.N., in which a village in Transylvania is like an explosive laboratory of populism, will open the eyes of Europeans to this evil has been gnawing at them, AFP reports. Mungiu is in the race for the second Palme dOr Prize, 15 years after his film 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days. The film title, R.M.N., refers to the medical term MRI – magnetic resonance imaging: Mungiu scans the underbelly of populism, an evil that has metastasized in a still traditional village, on the borders of Europe, AFP reports. I hope that the spectators do not easily shy away from their responsibilities, do not think that this is happening in a remote, wild land. Im afraid thats not the case, said director Mungiu. The film takes place a few days before Christmas, in a village in Transylvania, where the Roma population disappeared, driven away by the inhabitants and the force of prejudice, and where the new cursed people of the Earth appeared, Sri Lankan workers who were brought to work at the local bakery after the Romanians went to work in the west.
Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Gabriela Ruse was defeated on Sunday evening by the Belgian Elise Mertens, seed no. 31, in the first round of the Roland Garros Grand Slam tournament. Also on Sunday, Sorana Cîrstea qualified to the second round, after defeating the German Tatjana Maria. Today, Irina Begu and Ana Bogdan will play at the French Open, and tomorrow three other Romanians Simona Halep, Irina Bara and Mihaela Buzărnescu will play in the inaugural round. Halep, seed no. 19, is a Roland Garros champion in 2018 and a finalist in 2014 and 2017. (LS)
