December 9, 2013
The latest news and current affairs from Romania
Ştefan Stoica, 09.12.2013, 13:51
Romanian road freight transporters went on strike for an unlimited period of time, angry at the newest additional excise worth seven Eurocents per liter of fuel. Union representatives claim that the Ministry of Transportation did not live up to its end of the bargain when it comes to improving legislation under which they conduct activities. In addition, they claim that the new tax would make them less competitive in relation to other Europeans. The trade union confederation representing them in this conflict said that the around 7,500 transporters are taking part in various forms of protest, negatively affecting supplies in stores as well as traffic in general.
American energy company Chevron has resumed activities in Pungesti, in Eastern Romania, after stopping work on Saturday due to violent protests from the locals against the shale gas extraction project. The police cordoned off Chevron’s perimeter of activity, taking special violence prevention measures.
Romanian PM Victor Ponta attends on Tuesday the funeral of former South African PM Nelson Mandela. Over 50 heads of state and government will be in attendance, including US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, and British PM David Cameron. Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize for his fight against race discrimination, and was the first president of color in South Africa’s history. He died on Thursday at age 95, and will be buried on December 15.
Georgia’s foreign minister, Maia Panjikidze, speaking in Bucharest after meeting the Romanian foreign minister, Titus Colatean, said that her country is ready to face any challenge from Russia. The official said that her country would handle any problem with Moscow calmly, and said she hoped Georgia’s European allies would support it. She was in Bucharest to discuss with her Romanian counterpart bilateral cooperation, the political agenda in the region, as well as economic issues such as energy and transportation. The two officials also discussed Georgia’s bid to join NATO, after recently signing the association agreement with the EU at the recent Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius.
The Romanian national women’s handball team plays Australia on Monday in Serbia, its second game in the world championships. In its first game, Romania defeated Tunisia 27 to 17. It shares group D with Hungary, Germany and the Czech Republic. The Romanian handballers aim for the first eight places in the world, as representing the only country that has been in all the final stages of the world championships since 1957. In 2005 they had their best performance, second place in the world.
