November 21, 2013 UPDATE
For a roundup of domestic and international news, click here.
Florentin Căpitănescu, 21.11.2013, 12:05
There has been no agreement, protocol or secret understanding between the Romanian Intelligence Service and the United States National Security Agency regarding tapping activities. The statement was made on Thursday by Romanian Intelligence Service chief George Maior in a hearing before a parliamentary committee, against the backdrop of international scandal revolving around the revelations made by former NSA agent Edward Snowden. Moreover, Mario said the Service held no information, based on its own investigations, with respect to any actions conducted by US secret service on Romanian territory. At the level of secret service, Romania and the United States have a strategic cooperation.
Thursday was the last day for Romanian MPs to submit their amendments to the 2014 state budget bill. The speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Valeriu Zgonea, said Parliament might hold its final vote on the bill on the 3rd of December. The budget for next year proposed by Victor Ponta’s Social Democratic government is based on a 2.2% economic growth rate and a 2.2% budget deficit, while its priorities are the healthcare system and road infrastructure. Instead the draft law is vocally criticized by education trade unions, which call on the government to allot 6% of the GDP to education.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry will donate 150 thousand euros worth of humanitarian aid to the authorities in the Philippines after the havoc wrought two weeks ago by the typhoon Haiyan. The ministry encourages Romanian citizens to support fund-raising campaigns for the victims of the worst typhoon ever recorded. Haiyan has killed thousands and has left over 10 million people stranded.
A new round of talks between Health Ministry representatives and trade unions will be held on Saturday, in order to avert an all-out strike as of November 28. The announcement was made by Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu following Thursday’s round of negotiations. The main demands of the trade unions refer to the allocation of 6% of the GDP to the healthcare system, legislation that guarantees the staff’s professional independence, a special law tailored to the characteristics of the healthcare system and better working conditions. In recent weeks, healthcare employees have staged a series of protests and picketed the government and health ministry headquarters.
Over 200,000 second-hand cars entered Romania in the first 10 months of the year, the Environment Fund Administration announced on Thursday. Over the same period, the number of new car registrations dropped by 45,000. Carmakers claim the main cause behind the phenomenon is the means of calculating the current environment fee for cars. This should be replaced with an annual tax that should account for each car’s pollutant emission.
The biggest concern for more than 80% of Romanians is the good health of their family, shows a survey made public by the daily paper Adevarul. Romanians are concerned about hikes in food prices, taxes, energy prices and about the decrease of their revenues. Other reasons of concern are natural disasters, losing their job or their family. In difficult times, Romanians mainly rely on themselves, then on their family, the study also points out.
The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep is WTA’s Most Improved Player of the Year. She won 6 titles this year and climbed to number 11 in the world ranking. According to WTA, she has a good chance of making it to Top 10 at the beginning of 2014, which would make her only the third Romanian to reach Top 10 after Irina Spirlea in 1997 and Virginia Ruzici in 1979.
Bucharest is playing host to the 20th Gaudeamus Educational Book Fair, the biggest event of its kind in Romania. The event hosts over 600 editorial activities and exhibitions and brings together around 400 participants. Gaudeamus is organised by Radio Romania, the only media institution in Europe to hold such an event. The focus this year is on the Nordic countries, namely Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. A special partner of this edition of the fair is the Group of Francophone Embassies, Delegations and Institutes, which, through its stand dedicated to francophone literature from around the world, celebrates the 20th anniversary of Romania’s entry into the International Organisation of La Francophonie.
