December 15, 2014
News and current affairs from Romania
Ştefan Stoica, 15.12.2014, 11:57
Romania’s Social Democratic PM Victor Ponta submits today to Parliament the future line up of his cabinet. The coalition government he leads is made up of the Social Democratic Party, the Union for the Progress of Romania, the Conservative Party, and the Reformist Liberal Party, which replaced the Democratic Union of Hungarians, which dropped out of the coalition. Before today’s plenary vote, Parliament will hold confirmation hearings. The new government line up has eight new names, among them the ministers for education, economy, energy and environment, with 14 ministries continuing with their present heads. The PM said that among the aims of the new cabinet are continuing projects in fundamental areas such as economy, agriculture, European funds or social projects.
Romania celebrates 25 years since the beginning of the anti-communist revolution. On December 15, 1989, in Timisoara, western Romania, the authorities tried to evict pastor Laszlo Tökes from his parish, sparking the street protests that eventually resulted in the ousting of the Ceausescu government. Over 1,000 people died and almost 3,400 were wounded between December 16 and 25 1989 in Romania, the only country in the former Soviet bloc where the regime change occurred violently, and where the leaders were executed. Stay tuned for more after the news.
Romania’s national women’s handball team plays today against Spain, its second game in Group 1 of the European Championships, held in Hungary and Croatia. After Saturday’s defeat by Hungary 19-20, Romania, holding a single point, has the slimmest of chances to play the semi-finals. In its last group game, scheduled for Wednesday, Romania plays Poland.
Romania’s hotels and tourist accommodations have hosted around 1.5 million foreign tourists in the first three quarters of the year, according to data published today by the National Institute of Statistics. The study also reveals that foreign guests spent 830 million Euros. Around 60% of foreign tourists came to Romania for business, conferences, classes, fairs and exhibitions. The other 40%, here on private business, came for leisure, visiting friends and relatives, medical treatment, or simply transit.
