March 2, 2024

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 02.03.2024, 13:51

Diplomacy. The Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu is attending the Antalya Diplomacy Forum whose overarching theme this year is “Advancing Diplomacy in Times of Turmoil”. According to a ministry statement, talks are focusing on current conflicts, regional and global security, geopolitical changes, disruptive technologies and climate change. The Romanian minister is the keynote speaker at a panel entitled “The Black Sea: A Regional Ownership Version 2.0”, alongside officials from Turkey, Ukraine and Georgia and the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, Lazăr Comănescu. According to the ministry statement, Odobescu is expected to highlight the need to consolidate regional cooperation among Black Sea countries. She is also due to meet counterparts and representatives of international organisations to discuss regional and international security and review the opportunities to consolidate bilateral and regional cooperation.

Congress. The Romanian prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party Marcel Ciolacu is attending the congress of the Party of European Socialists held in Rome, in the run-up to the upcoming European Parliament elections in June. The Social Democrats will adopt a common programme for the elections and choose the party’s candidate for president of the European Commission. The Romanian MEP Victor Negrescu said recently that the Social Democratic Party will soon finalise its political strategy for the European elections in keeping with the principles established within its European political group. An event attended by European Social Democrat leaders will take place in Bucharest in April. Next week, Bucharest will host the congress of the European People’s Party, of which Romania’s National Liberal Party is a member. The latter is in government together with the Social Democrats.

European elections. The president of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola is travelling to Bucharest next week to attend the congress of the European People’s Party hosted by the Romanian capital on Wednesday and Thursday. She is to visit all EU member states in preparation of the European Parliament elections of 6-9 June in order to boost interest in the European elections and encourage citizens, especially young people, to vote. In Romania, Metsola will have a dialogue with young Romanians about their involvement in European democratic life, the future of Europe and the importance of European elections. She is also due to meet president Klaus Iohannis, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu and other Romanian officials.

Rating. The finance ministry will continue to support the implementation of measures aimed at fiscal and budget consolidation over the medium term, as well as at ensuring the country’s sustainable economic growth, finance minister Marcel Boloş  said in a statement. Previously, Fitch rating agency affirmed Romania’s rating at BBB minus with a stable outlook. The rating is supported by the country’s EU membership and related capital inflows that support macro-economic stability. Analysts note that Romania’s budget deficit in 2023 was unchanged compared with the previous year, at 6.1% of GDP, well above the government’s initial target of 4.4% of GDP. Fitch also expects the Romanian economy to grow by 3% this year and the next, after the growth momentum slowed to 2% in 2023. There are uncertainties related to the post-election fiscal plans and recent fiscal slippage which has negatively affected policy credibility. The large inflows of EU funds, the new multiannual financial framework and other types of funds will remain the main drivers of growth and medium-term investment in Romania, Fitch also notes.

Moldova. The speaker of the Romanian senate Nicolae Ciucă on Friday met Moldovan president Maia Sandu in Chişinău. He said “the hybrid war promoted by Moscow did not achieve its goals in Chişinău” and that this is “a victory” and “very good news” in Bucharest as well. “The Republic of Moldova is an independent and sovereign state and it alone can forge its destiny”, said Ciucă on social media. He added that “the Republic of Moldova belongs in the European Union and Romania remains its main partner in this endeavour”. During talks with the speaker of the Moldovan Parliament, Igor Grosu, Ciucă emphasised that Bucharest would continue to support Moldova and provide it with the assistance it needs in its EU accession process. He also conveyed a message of solidarity to the Moldovan people “in this extremely complicated security context” and voiced hope that one day, Romania and Moldova would be together in the big European family.  (CM)