April 7, 2024 UPDATE

A round-up of local and international news.

Newsroom, 07.04.2024, 19:00

Exercise. More than 2,200 troops from NATO and NATO partner states will be training in Romania in the Black Sea coastal area, on the river Danube and in the Danube Delta between 8^th and 21^st April as part of the Sea Shield 24 exercise for missions to combat illegal activities, maritime control, search and rescue at sea, providing assistance to vessels in danger and ensuring security at the level of critical infrastructure. The exercise is organised by the Romanian Naval Forces and brings together 12 countries, alongside Romania: Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Great Britain, the Republic of Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Turkey and the United States. The military will make use of 27 sea and river vessels, 17 aircraft and 91 vehicles and boats. The first edition of the Sea Shield multinational exercise took place in 2015, with the exercise being constantly adapted to respond, swiftly and efficiently, to the entire range of threats to regional security and stability, the Romanian defence ministry said in a statement.

NATO Day. Romania fully relates to NATO’s democratic values and acts responsibly and decisively at allied level, as a genuine pillar or security and stability in the Black Sea region and on the Eastern Flank, said president Klaus Iohannis in a statement issued on the celebration of NATO Day in Romania and the 75^th anniversary of the establishment of the North Atlantic Alliance. Together with our partners in Europe and Asia-Pacific, we will continue to strengthen NATO so that it remains the most solid political and military alliance in history, Iohannis also said. In its 20 years of NATO membership, Romania has consolidated its profile as a “responsible” ally, taking an active part in promoting democratic values and principles and security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area and beyond, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu also said. He added that with the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine, Romania enjoys, as a NATO member state, “the most comprehensive security guarantee it has ever had”. Established in 1949 as a security alliance between the United States, Canada and ten west-European countries, NATO has grown to 32 members today, with Sweden the most recent country to join, this year.

Population. The phenomenon of population aging deepened last year in Romania, according to data published by the National Institute for Statistics. The country’s population aged 65 and over exceeded by 27.5% that of people under 14. The 45-49 age group was the most numerous on 1^st January, accounting for 8.6%. Children under 4 account for 4.4% of all inhabitants and those aged between 5 and 9 for 4.9%. Romania has more women than men.

Demographics. Romania’s population by domicile reached 21,830,000 on 1^st January 2024, down 0.5% compared with a year earlier, according to the latest data published by the National Institute for Statistics. Its urban population numbered nearly 12,190,000 people, down 1% from the previous year, and the rural population was 9,650,000 people, up by 0.2%. The average age of the country’s population was 42.5. According to the Administrative Code, the number of local council members is established by prefect order depending on the number of residents, as reported by the National Institute for Statistics on 1^st January of the year when elections are held. Romania will see local elections on 9^th June, at the same time with the ballot for the European Parliament.

Salary law. The government in Bucharest has finalised talks with its social partners on the new unified salary law and now the labour ministry is working with the World Bank on a final version of the bill, said labour minister Simona Bucura Oprescu. She said the law will eliminate the inequalities in the salary system and explained that no salary will be higher than the president’s and the jobs hierarchy will depend on the complexity or importance of the work performed. The minister said the law also contains an element relating strictly to performance level. The unified salary law is a commitment made under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and has been much delayed, as it was initially due to be finalised last year.

Middle East. Israel is “one step from victory” in its Gaza war against the Hamas Palestinian Islamist movement, said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, quoted by press agencies. As the conflict entered its seventh month, he admitted the price his country has to pay is “painful and heartbreaking”. Netanyahu said Israel destroyed 19 of the 24 Hamas battalions and was determined to eradicate the movement across the Gaza Strip, including in Rafah, a city in the south of the strip, on the border with Egypt, and currently home to some 1.5 million Palestinians, mostly displaced by war.