THE WEEK IN REVIEW
A review of the most important events of the week.
Ştefan Stoica, 19.08.2023, 13:52
The Romanian naval forces, an important role on NATOs eastern flank
The Romanian Naval Forces contribute significantly to the improvement of regional, European and Euro-Atlantic security, and the missions carried out by allies and partners from NATO and the European Union to make the territorial waters and those of the world safer fully prove this fact. This is what President Klaus Iohannis declared on Tuesday, at the celebration for military sailors. For the second consecutive year, Navy Day was marked in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The President stated that Romanias security has been strengthened and that efforts to strengthen the Alliances structures on the countrys territory, especially the NATO battle group established in 2022, will be continued. For his part, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu promised that the executive will maintain the budget allocation of 2.5% of GDP for the armed forces, and will ensure the necessary resources for the endowment and modernization of the Naval Forces. Former head of the General Staff, Nicolae Ciucă, now president of the Senate, said that the Black Sea area has become an area of great strategic relevance for the North Atlantic partners. The security of these waters ensures the stability of the entire region and turns Romania into an important security provider, Nicolae Ciucă believes. In the opinion of the Minister of Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, the war in Ukraine shows how important it is for Romania, a country with access to the Black Sea, to have the capabilities to protect its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. Minister of the Interior, Cătălin Predoiu, stated that, from the position of a border country of the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance, Romania fulfills its responsibilities as a member of these key organizations for the prosperity and security of the country .
Ukrainian civilian targets near Romania, targets of Russian attacks
The structures of the Ministry of Defense that ensure the monitoring of the airspace have not identified threats of a military nature to the national territory or the territorial waters of Romania. The information from the ministry in Bucharest was likely to calm the population after the drone attacks carried out in the middle of this week by the Russian army on the infrastructure in the Ukrainian Danube ports of Ismail and Reni, located near the borders of Romania. The explosions were also heard as far as the Romanian river port of Galati (south-east). The Ministry announced that it has strengthened the vigilance measures established according to national and allied plans, and constantly monitors the national land, sea, and air space in cooperation with NATO structures, acting to strengthen the defense on the entire Eastern Flan, and to deter any aggression against allied territory. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense strongly condemns the attacks repeatedly carried out by Russia against the areas inhabited by the civilian population and elements of the critical infrastructure of Ukraine, and reaffirms that the war of aggression launched by Moscow represents a flagrant violation of international law. Foreign Minister Luminiţa Odobescu condemned in firm terms Russias repeated attacks on innocent people and civilian infrastructure, including the grain silos in the Ukrainian ports of Reni and Ismail. Through these flagrant violations of international law, Russia continues to endanger global food security and the safety of navigation in the Black Sea, Luminiţa Odobescu wrote on Twitter. The ports of Ismail and Reni have become the main exit route for Ukrainian grain, after Russia withdrew from the UN-backed agreement that ensured safe transport on the Black Sea.
Economic data and forecasts, plus a warning
The National Institute of Statistics announced that the Gross Domestic Product of Romania increased by 0.9% in the second quarter, compared to the previous quarter, and in the first semester it increased by 1.7% compared to the first semester of last year. The National Strategy and Forecast Commission maintains, moreover, the economic growth forecast for 2023 at 2.8%, as it estimated in the spring version, but for 2024 it reduced it from 4.8% to 4.2% . The downward revision of GDP dynamics was based on the slow recovery process of the industrial sector in the conditions of maintaining uncertainty regarding the evolution of the conflict on Romanias border. The World Bank recently maintained at 2.6% the estimates regarding the growth of the Romanian economy this year, while the International Monetary Fund indicated a GDP advance of 2.4%. In the spring, the European Commission improved the estimates regarding the growth of Romanias GDP this year and next year, and, according to the new forecasts, the economy would register an increase of 3.2% in 2023 and 3.5% in 2024. On the other hand, the Fiscal Council revised upward the budget deficit projection for the current year, estimating that it will probably exceed 6% of GDP, in the absence of measures to correct the budget slippage. According to the institutions Annual Report, the fiscal-budgetary consolidation process calls for a significant increase in fiscal revenues, which are at an inadmissably low level in relation to the needs of Romania and the other EU member states. It is necessary, says the Fiscal Council, to remove the exceptions from the current legislation and increase the efficiency of collection by discouraging tax optimization and reducing evasion.
Two Romanian football teams in the Europa Conference League play-off
The Romanian soccer champion, Farul Constanţa (southeast), and the Cup holder, Sepsi Sfântul Gheorghe (center), qualified for the Europa Conference League play-off. In the middle of the week, Farul also won the return leg against the Flora Tallinn team from Estonia, and the Covasna team defeated Aktobe in Kazakhstan, after they had tied in Sfântu Gheorghe. Two northern teams will be the opponents of the Romanians in the play-off: HJK Helsinki (Finland), for Farul and FK Bodoe/Glimt (Norway) for Sepsi. Another Nordic team, FC Nordsjaelland, from Denmark, blocked the way of the vice-champion FCSB (Bucharest) to the Europa Conference League play-off.
