January 10, 2025
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 10.01.2025, 13:45
BUDGET The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, has today said the government must endorse the 2025 budget by January 27 at the latest and has called on ministers to make all the calculations needed, which must also include job-slashing, in both the central administration and subordinated state-owned institutions. Finance Minister, Tanczos Barna, had earlier given assurances the budget draft this year would observe a deficit limit of 7% of the GDP, under the agreement with the European Commission. For 2025 Barna forecast an economic growth of 2.5% and an inflation rate of 5%.
PROTEST About 2000 people protested on Friday in front of the Parliament building in Bucharest a December 6th ruling by the Constitutional Court (CCR) on canceling the presidential elections in Romania. The protesters say the ruling infringes upon the will of the electorate and have called for the resumption of the election process. People took to the streets at the proposal of the former independent candidate, Calin Georgescu, a pro-Russia extremist, who had won the first round of the presidential election in Romania. Authorities say the protest is illegal. We recall the CCR cancelled the election after the country’s Higher Security Council had revealed foreign hybrid interferences in the election process and evidence on the undeclared funding of Georgescu’s campaign. Calin Georgescu has challenged the CCR ruling in court and at ECHR. The new ruling coalition PSD-PNL-UDMR has decided the presidential election take place on May 4 and 18.
VISAS The elimination of the US visas for the Romanian citizens will be officially recorded today at the US Department for Homeland Security in Washington. Technical details as well as the date of the effective activation of the Visa Waiver programme will be made public during the event today. According to Romania’s ambassador in Washington, Andrei Muraru, the Romanians travelling to the USA as tourists and for business will no longer have to give interviews at the US Consulate in Bucharest and pay for getting a visa. The only thing they are going to need is an electronic permit. People can also apply for US visas as these are valid for 10 years allowing them to stay for a maximum period of 6 months. The Romanians who want to study and work in the USA must apply for visas though.
STRIKE The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has cautioned the Romanian citizens traveling to Italy that the country’s transport network has been affected by nation-wide strikes. Railway transportation has been disrupted until midnight and only a couple of routes are still operational, such as those linking airports to the big cities and those crossing the peninsula. Workers in three airports in northern Italy have gone on strike and local transportation in all Italian cities has been interrupted four hours today. Teachers in Italy’s pre-university education are on strike, also calling for better working conditions and a revised payment politics. In another development, Belgium will also see this weekend a series of demonstrations involving the workers in public transportation and education; all these actions are expected to affect public transportation in Brussels and around the country.
(bill)
