September 2, 2019 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news.

Newsroom, 02.09.2019, 20:00

BRIDGE – The European Commission announced on Monday that it grants 363.3 million euro for the construction of a bridge over the Danube in the Romanian town of Braila. The funds come from the European Regional Development Fund. The construction should be completed at the end of 2023. The project also involves the construction of connection rods in order to improve transport from the Black Sea to the north-eastern part of Romania. The project, part of the trans-European transport network, will also improve connection between the northern part of the country, the city of Tulcea in the east, the Danube Delta and the port of Constanta in the south.

FORUM — The Ministry for the Romanians Abroad organizes between September 4 and 8 in Bucharest the Forum of the Romanians Abroad. The forum is aimed at creating a platform for debates on topics related to Romanians who live outside the country’s borders. Some 5.6 million Romanians are living abroad and another 4 million in the historical communities around the borders, according to data made public in July by 70 Romanian diplomatic missions.

DRILL – Around 300 military sailors from Ukraine and Romania will participate, as of Tuesday, in the Riverine 2019 bilateral exercise on the Danube, between Izmail and Tulcea. The exercise, which ends on September 7th, is aimed at consolidating cross-border cooperation. According to the Romanian Navy General Staff the cooperation between the military fleets of Romania and Ukraine has developed over the past few years through joint drills and partnerships.

PARLIAMENT – The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate on Monday resumed their plenary sittings, their first after the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats withdrew from the ruling coalition. Alliance leader Calin Popescu-Tariceanu has resigned as Senate Speaker. The new Speaker will be elected next week. Until then, the institution’s interim will be its deputy Speaker, the Social Democrat Serban Valeca. Social-Democrat leader and Prime Minister Viorica Dancila in turn said her Government would move on. The opposition threatens to file a no-confidence motion. President Klaus Iohannis has rejected the nominations made by the Prime Minister for the positions left vacant by outgoing Alliance members of the Government and will soon respond to the nominations of interim ministers.

REPATRIATION – The Romanian Foreign Ministry is trying to repatriate a Romanian minor from a refugee camp in Syria. Efforts have been made in this respect ever since June 4th, 2019, when the Ministry was notified about it. The case is coordinated by an inter-institutional crisis-cell. Syrian and Iraqi authorities have been contacted in this respect and steps have been taken for the safe repatriation of the Romanian minor.

PENSIONS – Pensions are being paid in their new increased format starting Monday, Labor Minister Marius Budai has announced. On Sunday, September 1st, the new pension law came into force, increasing pensions by some 15%. Five million pensioners in the public system will be benefitting from this increase. The opposition warns that the measure is likely to deepen the budget deficit, while the IMF has recommended Romanian authorities to review the law.

UNEMPLOYMENT – The unemployment rate in Romania at the end of July stood at 3.01%, by 0.49% lower compared to the same period of 2018, and by 0.06% higher than June this year, the National Employment Agency (ANOFM) reports. The slightly upward trend in the unemployment rate is influenced by the number of students who graduated forms of education and registered as unemployed. The total number of the unemployed stood at 262.044 people at the end of July, most of whom were reported in the rural area. As regards unemployment broken down in types of education, the number of unemployed people with primary or without any form of education accounted for the largest share, 29.61%.

DORIAN – The northwest of the Bahamas Islands was battered by Dorian Hurricane, with wind speed peaking at 300 km/h. Dorian has destroyed buildings, cars and uprooted trees, also causing flash floods. The National Hurricane Centre in the United States has confirmed Dorian to be a Category 5 storm, the most powerful to ever strike this region. The United States has declared a state of emergency for states on the eastern coast with Dorian drawing near, the BBC reports.

(Translated by Elena Enache)