April 2, 2024
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 02.04.2024, 13:55
CONSULTATIONS – The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, is hosting a working meeting tomorrow with European Council president, Charles Michel, focused on the future strategic agenda of the EU. Taking part will be the prime ministers of Belgium, Hungary and Croatia, the Presidency announced. Consultations held in Bucharest are part of a wider process of defining the priorities of the EU for the 2024-2029 period, kicked-off on the sidelines of the informal meeting of the European Council in Granada on 6 October 2023, the Presidency release also reads. Talks on the future strategic agenda of the EU will continue with a view to adopting a final document at the European Council summit scheduled for late June.
NATO – The Romanian Parliament is today convening in a joint session to mark 20 years since Romania joined NATO and 75 years since the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Romanian MPs will also debate and vote a related resolution. On March 29, 2004, Romania deposited the ratification instrument for its NATO accession to the Department of State of the USA, the depositary for the NATO Treaty. Then, on April 2, Romania officially joined the Alliance as the Romanian flag was raised at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. In a post on social media, NATO deputy secretary general Mircea Geoană said Romania enjoys respect and influence at NATO level, and makes its voice heard.
STRIKE – Employees of the Romanian Post service are today expected to decide whether they continue the strike action launched yesterday. The company board and the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization have proposed a two-installment pay rise, which in autumn would lead to a total increase of around 75 EUR, trade unions say. Romanian Post workers have called for an 80 EUR increase in salaries, saying most of them earn minimum wages.
JCET 2024 – Servicemen of the Romanian army are joining counterparts from the Republic of Moldova and the USA in taking part in the multinational exercise Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) 2024, hosted by Moldova. The exercise will occasion joint training drills and experience-sharing between the military of the three states and is aimed at boosting interoperability between participants.
RESERVES – On March 31, the currency reserves of the National Bank of Romania went up to 64.2 bln EUR. The gold reserves stood at 103.6 tons. Against the evolutions on international markets, Romania’s gold reserves now stand at some 6.9 bln EUR. Public debt payments in foreign currency due in April, direct or guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance, amount to approximately 2 bln EUR. The National Bank also announces that the IRCC, the reference index for consumer loans, fell to 5.90% per year. The downward trend will determine the reduction of mortgage rates for hundreds of thousands of Romanians. The three-month ROBOR index, which sets the value of consumer loans with variable interest in Lei, also went down.
DEEPFAKE GUIDE – The National Cybersecurity Directorate launched a guide on identifying deepfakes. The document provides detailed information about the creation and identification of deepfakes and teaches users what to do when targeted by such phenomena.
ESCALATION – Israeli fighter jets are reported to have bombed the Iranian Embassy in Syria, killing a high-ranking commander of the Revolutionary Guard, marking an escalation of Israeli attacks on Iranian military installations and Teheran’s allies in Syria, in the context of Israel’s war against the Hams Palestinian terrorist organization in Gaza, backed by Iran. According to AFP, Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, said the air strikes attributed to Israel “will not remain unanswered”. The Iranian official condemned what he described “an inhumane, aggressive and spiteful act of invasion” which he labeled a “gross violation of international law”. Several Arab countries from the Middle East, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, have condemned the attack. (VP)
