November 13, 2023
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 13.11.2023, 14:08
PENSIONS – The new pension law is entering an accelerated debate in the Bucharest Parliament. The law provides for two increases next year, on January 1st and on September 1st. The Minister of Labor, Simona Bucura-Oprescu, says that the new law will eliminate inequities in the current pension system. The opposition criticizes the draft law and argues that the pension reform does not even cover the inflation rate. The executive the law rushed through Parliament until November 20. Another legislative package, on the reform of the social assistance system, adopted last week by the Cabinet, has also reached Parliament.
REPATRIATION – Another 86 Romanian citizens and their family members left the Gaza Strip through Rafah check point on Sunday and are now on Egyptian territory, the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry announced. They will be flown to Romania in the upcoming days. 134 Romanian citizens and their families, evacuated from Gaza, have arrived in Romania. The Foreign Ministry continues the dialogue with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities to facilitate the evacuation of the other Romanians who requested repatriation, depending on the developments on the ground and the approval of the parties involved.
TRAINING CENTER – The European F-16 Training Center is inaugurated todaty at the 86th Air Base in Feteşti, in the south of Romania. The Center will be an international hub for the training of pilots on this type of aircraft. Pilots from Romania and from allied and partner states, including Ukraine, will be trained at the Center, which will enhance interoperability between the allies, the Romanian Defense Ministry said in a release. At the same time, it will speed up the training of Romanian pilots, in the context in which the Romanian Army will receive 32 F-16 aircraft, purchased from Norway.
PRESIDENCY — The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, is starting his 10-day tour of Africa. Iohannis will make state visits to Kenya, Tanzania, Cape Verde and Senegal. According to the Presidential Administration, this is the first high-level political and diplomatic visit to the region in the last 30 years, it aims to re-launch Romanias relations with the African continent and to revive the European Unions relations with Africa. During talks with counterparts and other high-ranking African officials, President Iohannis will try to find ways to boost commercial ties, promote cooperation in areas of common interest, and consolidate Romanias image as an education provider. Romania has recently adopted the National Strategy for Africa.
GAZA – The largest hospital in Gaza, al-Shifa, has stopped working and deaths among patients are increasing, the head of the World Health Organization said, while the intense Israeli attack continues in the Hamas-controlled region, Reuters reports. Israel says the hospital houses Hamas militants who launched attacks in southern Israel on October 7 and that the terrorist group has command centers under and near the hospitals. The WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus joined other senior UN officials in calling for an immediate ceasefire. Joko Widodo, the president of Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, called for an end to hostilities, before meeting today, in Washington, with his American counterpart Joe Biden. The European Union condemned Hamas for using hospitals and civilians as human shields, while urging Israel to show maximum restraint in order to protect civilians. Palestinian officials claim that more than 11,000 residents of Gaza have been killed in airstrikes and artillery strikes, some 40% of whom are children. (EE)
