December 5, 2015

Draft 2016 budget made public; victims of Colectiv fire might be transferred abroad; France to hold elections

Bogdan Matei, 05.12.2015, 12:00

The Romanian Ministry for Finances made public the draft budget for 2016. The ministries that will receive more money than in the previous financial year include the defence, interior, education, culture and healthcare. Fewer funds than in 2015 will be allocated for the transport, labour, justice and finance ministries. According to the bill, the budget revenues for next year will be nearly 0.8 billion euros higher than in 2015, while expenses will be 3.5 billion euro higher, and cover all the measures approved this year by the Government and Parliament. According to the Government, next year’s budget reflects a number of principles, including fiscal predictability, aimed at encouraging private investments and enhancing the confidence of the business community, efficient budget spending, improved transparency in spending public money and a transformation of the relationship between the state and taxpayers, in the sense of a more friendly attitude of public institutions towards citizens.

The Romanian Health Ministry announced that all the victims of the October 30th fire at Bucharest’s Colectiv nightclub who are still in hospitals in Romania would be transferred abroad if their doctors recommend it and their families agree. The decision comes after the management of the Hospital for Plastic, Reconstructive and Burns Surgery in Bucharest admitted that three of the patients injured in the tragedy died from infections acquired in the hospital. Sixty people died in that fire and many others were injured. At present there are 31 patients in hospitals in Bucharest and 30 in clinics abroad. The protests against corruption in central and local administration that followed the tragedy led to the resignation of the Social Democrat Victor Ponta’s Cabinet.

Romanian troops will be training for a week, as of Monday, together with military from the USA and the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, at a shooting range in south-eastern Romania, which is hosting the Platinum Lynx 16.2 module of the Black Sea Rotational Force multinational exercise. The exercise is aimed at carrying on the joint training of troops, at enhancing the interoperability of participating forces and strengthening their partnership.

France is taking a day for reflection today, ahead of the first round of regional elections, scheduled for Sunday. According to opinion polls, the National Front, having little competition on the far right, ranks first with around 30% of the voting intentions, followed by right and centre-right parties and by the ruling Socialist Party with only 22%. The election campaign took place amid security measures taken after the terror attacks of November 13th in Paris, which left 130 people dead. The Radio Romania correspondent in Paris notes that for the second round the Socialists suggested an alliance with the moderate right, but the offer has been rejected by some of its leaders.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigations officially rated as an act of terrorism the attack that killed 14 people and wounded 21 others on Wednesday in San Bernardino, California. The FBI chief, James Comey, said there are indications that the attackers were inspired by foreign terrorist organisations, but added that there is no evidence that they were members of a terrorist group.

The Romanian women’s handball team is today playing its first game in the final tournament of the World Championship in Denmark, against the national team of Puerto Rico. The same Group D also includes Kazakhstan, Spain, Norway and Russia. The top four ranking teams in each group qualify into the eighth-finals. Ahead of the World Championship, the Romanian national team played four friendly games, outperforming the Czech, Cuban and Swedish teams and losing to France. Romania is the only country which has taken part in all the World Championships final tournaments since 1957. The Romanians won gold in 1962 and silver in 1973 and 2005.

(translation by: Ana Maria Popescu)