July 8, 2016 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 08.07.2016, 12:15

NATO The NATO Secretary
General Jens Stoltenberg has announced that a Romanian brigade will be turned
into a multi-national one, in order to strengthen NATO’s presence in
south-eastern Europe. In a speech delivered prior to the summit in Warsaw,
Stoltenberg presented the challenges facing the Alliance, in particular with
regard to enhancing security, strengthening the defense capacity and projecting
stability beyond the NATO borders. Measures are envisaged for the northern part
of the eastern flank, as well as measures aimed at counter fighting threats
coming from the south, Stoltenberg also said. President Klaus Iohannis, who
represents Romania at the summit in Warsaw, will plead for more attention to be
paid to the Black Sea region and for ensuring a balanced allied presence along
the entire eastern flank. He will also point to the importance of fully
complying with the commitments made at the previous NATO summit, held in Great
Britain.

MOLDOVA Supporting the
Republic of Moldova to reach its European goals and carrying on major projects,
such as the social ones or projects in the energy sector, are among the
priorities of Daniel Ionita, the new Romanian ambassador to neighboring
Moldova, a country with a predominantly Romanian speaking population. He has
encouraged Chisinau authorities to carry on and deepen the reforms. He has also
stated that Romania is Moldova’s most reliable and honest partner as regards
that country’s European aspirations. The Republic of Moldova is a constant
priority for Romania’s foreign affairs, said the new ambassador, quoted by the
Radio Romania correspondent in Chisinau. We recall that the Republic of Moldova
was created on part of the Romanian territories annexed by the former USSR in
1940, following an ultimatum, and proclaimed its independence on August 27th
1991, after the failure of the neo-Bolshevik coup in Moscow.

EU ADVISER The former Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan
Aurescu, currently a presidential foreign affairs adviser, has been invited by
the Slovak presidency to take over the office of honorary special adviser for
legal and inter-institutional affairs. Aurescu has announced on his twitter
account that he has accepted the invitation and will work pro-bono, while at
the same time fulfilling his duties as presidential adviser. Between 2004-2009
Aurescu was the Agent of Romania before the International Court of Justice in
the Hague. He represented Bucharest in the trial against Ukraine concerning the
delimitation of the Black Sea continental plateau, a case won by Romania in
2009. Between November 2014 and November 2015 Aurescu was Romania’s Foreign
Minister.

NAVY EXERCISE Three Romanian
military ships are taking part in the BREEZE 16 multinational exercise
unfolding between July 11- 17 in Bulgaria’s territorial waters and in the Black
Sea international waters, the Romanian Navy Chief of Staff announced. The ships
are the Queen Marie frigate, with a 240-strong military crew, the
Sub-Lieutenant Alexandru AXENTE Maritime Dragon, a ship fighting sea mines
and the Lastun missile carrier ship with a 60-strong military crew. The Romanian military ships are part of the
joint forces made available to NATO by Romania, and the participation of the
Romanian navy in the NATO drills help consolidate interoperability between ship
crews and the partners’ similar military structures.

SALARIES In Romania, more
than 3 million employees (65% of the total of 4.7 million) have monthly
salaries below 440 euros, which means their salaries are below the current
level of the average salary, according to data centralized by the ‘Ziarul
Financiar’ daily. As many as 1.3 million employees (27% of the total number of
employees) have wages ranging from 443 to 885 euros per month. Only 7% of the
local employees have monthly wages of more than 885 euros. They work as experts
in such fields as banking, IT, air transport, oil extraction and the tobacco
industry. The net average salary in Romania reached 456 euros this May, which
is 14% more than in the same month of 2015, show data published on Thursday by
the National Institute of Statistics. A Romanian employee earns 5 times less,
on an average, than an EU employee.

BRUSSELS The Brussels
International Airport, which was the target of a bloody attack on March 22nd,
does not have a plan against terrorism. That was the conclusion of the
investigation conducted by a Belgian specialized parliamentary commission. A
report drawn up after many hearings shows that on the day of the double attack
in Brussels, there were many security breaches, but also communication problems
between the emergency services, in particular in the few hours after the
attacks. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in Brussels, local and
federal authorities blame each other for failing to ensure proper security.