August 29, 2018

Romanias President Klaus Iohannis has called on the Government to urgently adopt all measures to contain the number of African swine fever outbreaks and to offer compensations to the affected producers as soon as possible

Ştefan Stoica, 29.08.2018, 13:58

SWINE FEVER – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis has called on the Government to urgently adopt all measures to contain the number of African swine fever outbreaks and to offer compensations to the affected producers, as soon as possible. Because of the mismanagement of this crisis situation, the government has pushed local producers on the brink of bankruptcy, the President writes in a communiqué. According to him, tens of million of Euros worth of losses have already been registered, thousands of jobs have disappeared and the country missed significant commercial opportunities. At present there are over 700 hotbeds in Romania, in 10 counties, mostly in the south-east and north-west. Hundreds of thousands of pigs have been slaughtered because the virus was spreading at a fast pace, including in a pig farm in Braila, in the south-east, the largest in Romania and the second largest in Europe.

POPULATION – Some 19.5 million people were residing in Romania on January 1, 2018, that is some 121,000 people less than in the same period of 2017, data released by the National Statistics Institute show. The drop is caused mainly by the negative birth rate, the number of the deceased exceeding the number of living newly born babies by some 71,000. The urban population and women are prevailing over rural population and men, the figures standing at 53% and 51%, respectively. Demographic aging is a phenomenon which continues to grow. Consequently, the difference between the elderly people, aged over 65, and the young population, in the 0 to 14 age bracket exceeding 500,000 people. In another move, Romania continues to be a source of migrants, the phenomenon being the second main cause leading to the decreasing number of the population, the National Statistics Institute shows. As regards international figures, they were negative in 2017, as the number of emigrants exceeded the number of immigrants by over 53,000 people.

THE ROMANIAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE – The Director of the Romanian Intelligence Service, Eduard Hellvig, has sent a letter to the leaders of the parliamentary parties in which he draws attention to the attacks on his institution. In his opinion, as a result of these attacks officers are less committed to their activity and unmotivated. Such attacks impact the support for the protection and promotion of the constitutional values of the rule of law. Eduard Hellvig reiterates, in his letter, that there is no longer any protocol in force, which can be associated with the act of doing justice in Romania. The head of the Romanian Intelligence Service and the Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazar, have recently said that there were two legal protocols between the two institutions, and the Supreme Council of Magistracy had been briefed on their existence. The protocols were later scrapped because they were no longer needed. Justice minister, Tudorel Toader, has however said that protocols are unnatural in a rule of law. He launched the assessment procedure for the Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazar. Representatives of the Save Romania Union, in opposition, say minister Toader should resign because he puts in jeopardy the stability and independence of the justice system, and that by assessing Augustin Lazars activity he intends to stop the investigation by the Prosecutor General ‘s Office into the anti-government protest rally of August 10. We recall that prosecutors are investigating the wave of violence at the meeting and the forceful intervention by the gendarmes, which has been considered excessive by the protesters, the opposition and presidency.

THE GOLDEN STAG MUSIC FESTIVAL – The 18th edition of the “Golden Stag International Music festival kick-starts in the central Romanian city of Brasov this evening. This is an anniversary edition, unfolding in the year of the Great Union Centennial. Renowned soloists and bands from the Romanian and international music industry will give recitals. Performing among others will be Nicole Scherzinger, James Blunt, Edvin Marton, Andra, Delia and The Motans. Running in the competition are 18 singers from 15 countries. Well revert to this issue, later in RN.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea has qualified to the second round of the US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, with some 53 million USD in prize money up for grabs. She defeated the American Alison Riske in three sets. In the next match, Cirstea will face 22nd seeded Russian Maria Sharapova. Romania is also represented in the singles at the US Open by Ana Bogdan and Irina Begu. Bogdan will face in the second round 8th seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czeck Republic, whereas Begu will play against Chinas Qiang Wang. On Tuesday, Monica Niculescu lost to Israeli Julia Glushko, and Mihaela Buzărnescu withdrew in the last moment because of an injury. In the mens competition, Marius Copil abandoned the match against Croatias Marin Cilici. We recall that Simona Halep, no.1 WTA, was surprisingly defeated in the inaugural round by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.