October 29, 2024
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 29.10.2024, 13:55
IMF. An International Monetary Fund mission will arrive in Romania on 5th November to assess the latest economic and financial developments and revise its macroeconomic forecasts. In its latest World Economic Outlook survey published last week, the International Monetary Fund revised its forecast with respect to Romania’s economic growth level this year down to 1.9% from 2.8% last April. On Monday, the National Institute for Statistics published a survey on the perception of business managers on Romanian economy, estimating an increase in construction and retail costs. Analysts are warning that things will change in the economic sector once the government stops financing salary and pension rises.
Drones. The drones entering Romanian airspace without permission will be destroyed, neutralised or their flight can be taken under control, based on new provisions proposed by the defence ministry. A bill on the control of the use of national air space was published on Monday on the website of the defence ministry. It lays down the measures that can be taken commensurate to the level of threat, within the confines of applicable international law, after an analysis of all specific circumstances of the event and taking into account the priority of protecting human lives – with the last possible solution being the destruction of the unmanned devices using national air space without permission. Romanian defence officials have recently invoked the need to adapt the legislation in the field to the situations reported near Romania’s border with Ukraine, with fragments of Russian drones falling here on a number of times and with functional devices entering Romanian airspace.
Moldova. The pro-European president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, said she would reshuffle the government in the event of a win in Sunday’s second round of presidential elections. Sandu, who on Monday evening attended an election debate on the public television station in Chişinău, said she was considering replacing a number of ministers in Dorin Recean’s cabinet by the end of the year. Her rival, the pro-Russian socialist and former prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo refused to attend the debate. In the first round of the presidential elections last Sunday, Maia Sandu won 42% of the votes and Stoianoglo 26%.
UNRWA. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” about the banning of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Israel and the occupied territories approved by the Israeli Parliament. Israel says the agency, which is the main supplier of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, is infiltrated by members of the Hamas Islamist movement, some of whom were involved in the attacks of October 7th 2023. The decision to ban UNRWA has sparked protests at international level. In a statement, Antonio Guterres recalled that Israel has obligations under international law and that no legislation can change these obligations. News agencies recall that the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem were the target of Israeli protests, some violent, in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks of 7th October 2023.
Film. The trophy of the Romanian Film Makers Union this year went on to Mihai Mincan’s film To the North, which also won the prize for best script, editing, soundtrack and male lead, the last of which went to Niko Becker. Tudor Giurgiu won the best director award and Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World won the special jury prize. Actress Simona Bondoc and film maker Mircea Daneliuc won the Mihnea Gheorghiu academic prizes.
