January 22, 2024

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 22.01.2024, 13:55

Visit. The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, has stated that the time has come for relations between Romania and Vietnam to move to the ‘next level’, after almost seven and a half decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. After the discussions in Bucharest with his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Minh Chinh, Ciolacu pointed out that Romania was one of the main promoters of the development of Vietnam’s relations with the European Union and stated that he wanted Romania to become the main partner of that country in terms of its commercial access on the European market. He also proposed to his Vietnamese counterpart a partnership aimed at promoting medicines produced in Romania in the Southeast Asian area. For his part, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized his country’s interest in developing partnerships in fields such as science, technology, innovation, agriculture. The head of the Hanoi government will be received by President Klaus Iohannis.

Senate. In Bucharest,
the Senate was convened, today, in an extraordinary session to adopt the
emergency ordinances recently issued by the Government, in the context of the
farmers’ and transporters’ protests. There are several normative acts,
including one on the excise duty on diesel fuel, and another modifying
regulations in the field of road transport. The emergency ordinances were
approved by the executive during the parliamentary recess and, according to the
Constitution, Parliament must be convened within five days to turn them into
laws. On the other hand, the first day of the three-day rally authorized by the
Capital City Hall in front of the Parliament building was, on Sunday, a
failure. Only a few people came and it was not about farmers or transporters.
The protest continues, however, near the capital and across the country. The
demands of farmers and transporters remain the same, from the reduction of the mandatory
insurance fees and the recovery of a percentage of the excise duty on fuels, to
fiscal fairness and the shortening of border crossing times.

IMF. An IMF mission
will come to Bucharest next week, approximately four months after the previous
visit, to analyze the latest economic and financial developments. According to
a press release, the institution estimates an economic growth of 2.3% for
Romania this year and a budget deficit of 6% of the GDP. The IMF recommends authorities
in Bucharest to implement additional reforms, of some two percent of the GDP.
At the end of the previous visit, the head of the mission for Romania, Kees
Martijn, said that the fiscal package adopted by the government was a step in
the right direction, but other reforms were needed, especially regarding taxes,
to increase revenues, efficiency and fairness.

FAC. The head of Romanian
diplomacy, Luminiţa Odobescu, is participating, today, in Brussels, in the Foreign
Affairs Council. The main topics on the agenda are Russia’s aggression against
Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, reads a press release issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest.
There will be both formal debates in the EU-27 format, as well as informal,
separate discussions, with the participation of several foreign ministers from
the region. On the sidelines of the FAC meeting, there will be an informal
breakfast with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, S.H. Shoukry, in
preparation for the tenth meeting of the EU-Egypt Association Council, on
January 23, 2024. Minister Odobescu also has a meeting with the Secretary
General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg.

Gaza. Intense Israeli
air raids and street fighting with Hamas militants continue in the Gaza Strip,
where Palestinian medical officials have reported that the death toll has
exceeded 25,000. As street fighting intensifies between Israeli forces and
Hamas militants in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, the southern town of
Khan Yunis is being hit by heavy Israeli bombardment. Meanwhile, the United
States, Qatar and Egypt continue their attempts at mediation, but Hamas demands
that Israel end the war and withdraw its forces before the hostages are
released, an option rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
During the night, the hostages’ relatives and sympathizers gathered near the
prime minister’s official residence to demand an agreement for their release.
The French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, is meeting today
with the families of the hostages, and then with Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant. (MI)