January 28, 2020
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 28.01.2020, 13:55
DEFICIT – Last year, Romanias budget deficit stood at 4.6 of the GDP, 0.2 % above the level estimated during Novembers adjustment, finance minister Florin Citu has announced. In 2018, the budget deficit was 2.88% of the GDP. The increase was triggered by a 0.1% drop in total revenues and a 1.7% increase in spending. According to experts, the budget deficit in 2019 was the highest in the past nine years. Citu has also announced that on January 21st, Romania borrowed 3 billion Euros from the foreign market, by means of two bond issues with 12 and 30 years maturity respectively.
PENSION BILL – The Romanian Chamber of Deputies is to vote today the bill on the elimination of special pensions. The bill, drafted by the governing National Liberal Party, will be debated in plenary session in the form adopted last year by the MPs members of the Labour Committee and should eliminate all special pensions, with the exception of those for military and police staff. The opposition Social Democratic Party says they will vote the document, but will request the removal of the amendment that eliminates annuity for athletes, artists and scientists. The Chamber of Deputies is the decision-making body on this matter. In the meantime, across Romania, magistrates and clerks have been protesting against the Governments intention to eliminate service pensions.
ELECTION – The Romanian Government decides today which amendments it will pass from those filed by MPs to the bill on the election of mayors in two rounds. Yesterday was the last day when senators and deputies could file such amendments, and tomorrow Parliament will hold a joint session, during which the prime-minister will take responsibility for the bill. The opposition Social Democratic Party has announced it will file a no-confidence motion on Friday. The Social Democrats say that election laws cannot be amended less than a year before the election and want to inform the Venice Commission about the Governments intention to revert to the old, two-round election system. Local elections are due in Romania this summer.
ARMY – The Romanian Defense Minister Nicolae Ciuca has established in Portugal the main stages in the process of strengthening Romanian armys F-16 multirole fighter squadron. Besides the 12 fighters that have already been purchased, military aviation will purchase from Portugal four multirole planes this year, and another one next year. Minister Ciuca has met with his counterpart Joao Gomes Cravinho, who has stated that Portugal and Romania share the same vision on challenges and threats within NATO.
VLACK VIPERS – The first detachment of the Romanian Armys “Black Vipers” 21st battalion has arrived in Afghanistan, the Romanian Defense Ministry has today announced. Over February – August 2020, the 21st battalion will participate in the Resolute Support mission in Kandahar. Last year, Romanias Supreme Defense Council approved the deployment of 2,100 military and civilian staff to take part in missions abroad this year.
FLU – Eight people have died from the flu in Romania this winter, according to the National Center for Control of Infectious Diseases. The latest victims are a 65 year-old woman and a 46 year-old man, both suffering from other diseases and who had not been vaccinated against the flu virus. Specialists say that Romania is not faced with an epidemic, but the number of cases might grow in the coming weeks. More Romanians got the flu shot this year as compared to 2019, when some 200 people died from the flu. Several schools have already been closed for fear of viral infections.
CORONAVIRUS – According to the World Health Organization, the risk posed by the new coronavirus is “very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level.” The number of deaths caused by the new virus has increased significantly since it was first identified in the city of Wuhan, in December. Some 100 people have died and the increase rate on the last day of reporting stood at 25%. 4,500 cases have been reported in China. The coronavirus has spread in Asia, the US, Australia and Europe. One first case has been confirmed in Germany, which thus becomes the second European country affected by the infection, after France, where three cases have been reported. No such case has been reported in Romania.
