April 14, 2019

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 14.04.2019, 14:27

SOLDIERS The four Romanian servicemen wounded in a bomb attack in
Afghanistan on Saturday are now out of danger. An improvised explosive device went
off close to the military vehicles of the Romanian Battalion 300 Saint Andrew
on a patrol mission on that day. The explosion was followed by an attack with
light infantry weapons by insurgents, which was repelled with support from
the US ground and air troops. The four wounded soldiers were stabilized and
transferred to the Kandahar Air base. In 2019, the Romanian army will dispatch
780 servicemen to Afghanistan, the Romanian defense ministry announced last
year. Romanian Battalion 300 participates in a NATO- coordinated mission, which
has brought together 16 thousand servicemen from 40 countries. The most
numerous contingents have been deployed by the USA, 85 hundred soldiers,
Germany 13 hundred and Italy with 9
hundred.

POLL
Romania’s main opposition party, the National Liberal Party (PNL) estimates the
turnout in the EU parliamentary elections on May 26th and the
referendum on justice around 50%. Liberal leader Ludovic Orban believes
the Foreign Ministry will open only few polling stations for the Romanians
abroad and voiced his concern about this situation. According to Orban, most of
the Romanians who left the country did it because of the lack of prospects and
the way in which the Social-Democrats ruled the country, and that means the
Romanians abroad would vote for the opposition. The fact they aren’t allowed to
cast their vote would affect the outcome of the elections. In another
development, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats in Romania, (ALDE) currently ruling the country together with the
Social Democrats has said that president Klaus Iohannis is using this referendum for
a better start in the presidential race. Iohannis has recently announced the issues
to be voted on during the referendum – a ban on amnesty and pardon for
corruption offenses as well as a ban on emergency ordinances for crimes,
penalties and judicial organization, correlated with the right of authorities
to directly notify the Constitutional Court over these ordinances.

GROWTH The spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the
World Bank ended in Washington in an optimistic tone as the United States hinted
that its trade disputes with China might come to an end, and that could
translate into a genuine kick-start for the world economy. Trade disputes and
restrictive financial conditions are among the biggest threats to a world economy
that is currently slowing down. A strengthened global growth is expected for the
next year, while according to experts, 2019 has seen the slowest growth in the
past three years. Central Banks and fiscal authorities have limited options to
foster recovery next year though, an IMF communiqué also reads. Besides
expectations for global economic growth next year, the challenges the world
economy will be facing are: trade tensions, geopolitical risks and political
instability. Finance officials, including Romanian line minister Eugen
Teodorovici, have agreed to take action in order to protect economic growth.

TENNIS A pair made up Romanian tennis players
Sorana Carstea and Andreea Mitu is today taking on Veronica Kudermetova of
Russia and Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan in the doubles finals of the WTA
tournament in Lugano, Switzerland. For the two Romanians this is the first
finals in 2019. Cirstea has four WTA titles won in doubles matches and five
finals played, while Mitu has three titles and a finals.

(translated by bill)