June 27, 2023

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 27.06.2023, 13:55

NATO — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is taking part later today in a working dinner in the Hague, co-hosted by the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, and also attended by the prime ministers of Albania, Belgium and Norway, and the presidents of Lithuania and Poland. The working dinner is part of the preparations for the NATO Summit in Vilnius, due on 11-12 July 2023. Talks will cover Russia’s war against Ukraine, the need for concrete progress in the full implementation of the decisions taken at the NATO summit in Madrid in 2022 and the support granted to Ukraine to speed up the country’s NATO accession.





PROTEST – About 700 employees with the police and penitentiary systems as well as court clerks protested, on Tuesday, in front of the Romanian Parliament, against the revision of the military and service pensions of clerks. Protesters also asked for the elimination of all wage inequities, ceilings and postponements imposed by the Government since 2010. According to protesters, the increase in the retirement age from 60 to 65 is unjustified and will turn Romania into the country with the most unfavorable retirement conditions in the NATO bloc. We remind you that on Monday, the Romanian MPs passed a bill on the reform of all special pensions received by some professional categories in Romania. The changes concern, among other things, the increase in the retirement age for some beneficiaries and the taxation of amounts that exceed the net average salary. On the same day, Parliament eliminated the special pensions of senators and deputies.





FARMERS – Romania will receive 30 million euros from the European Commission in aid for farmers affected by the import of cheap grain from Ukraine. The support package, the second approved by Brussels after the one in March, has a total value of 100 million euros and is granted to five border countries – Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia. Poland, with almost 40 million euros and Romania with 30 million euros, are the biggest beneficiaries of this aid. The deadline for payments to farmers is September 30. We remind you that, after the Ukrainian Black Sea ports were blocked following the Russian invasion, the Romanian port of Constanţa has become the most important alternative shipping route.





THEATER – In Sibiu (central Romania), the International Theater Festival (FITS) entered its fifth day. On Monday, a special moment was dedicated to the one who founded the festival in 1993, the director of the Radu Stanca Theatre, actor Constantin Chiriac. His personality was praised by theatre professor and historian Octavian Saiu, at a meeting with the artists. FITS, which unfolds until July 2, includes more than 800 events, attended by approximately 5,000 artists and guests from over 80 countries.





FOOTBALL – Romania is up against Croatia this evening in Bucharest, in its last match in Group B of the European Under-21 Football Championship, which it hosts together with Georgia. The Romanians have been eliminated without scoring any goals in the first two matches, which were won by Spain and Ukraine. The final tournament brings together 16 teams, divided into four groups, two of which are hosted by Romania, in the cities of Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca (northwest). Romania will host two quarterfinals and one semifinal. The first three ranked will qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris next year. BUCHAREST – Government representatives are today having a new meeting with representatives of the large commercial chains, before establishing the form in which the measures aimed at lowering the price of basic food products will be promoted. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said that the decision whether to be a voluntary agreement of traders or a normative act will be taken on Thursday. “We need this joint effort of the state and the private sector, to achieve by year-end a single figure inflation rate, stability and an increase in the living standards ” Ciolacu said . According to the latest statistical data published by the INS for May, the annual inflation rate was 10.6%, which is the average price increase compared to the similar month of 2022. (EE)