THE WEEK IN REVIEW
October 16-20, 2023
Roxana Vasile, 20.10.2023, 14:00
Romania stands by Israel
The Romanian Prime Minister was among the first leaders to go to Israel this week to express his solidarity with the Jewish people. Marcel Ciolacu conveyed the sympathy of Romanian society for the victims of the war started by Hamas terrorists on October 7, and thanked the Israeli authorities for their support in the repatriation of Romanians from the area. More than 2,000 Romanian citizens have been brought home from Israel so far, and the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is looking into another 350 – Romanians and family members – in the Gaza Strip. Romania remains a promoter of peace and will unconditionally stand by its allies in these difficult moments – said Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. He demanded the immediate release of all persons kidnapped by terrorists, and refraining from any act of aggression against the civilian population. The prime minister insisted, equally, on the opening of humanitarian corridors in Gaza and the provision of assistance to refugees. The President of Romania firmly condemned the terrorist attacks on the territory of Israel as well. On Tuesday, at the extraordinary meeting of the European Council, in videoconference format, Klaus Iohannis emphasized that Bucharest unequivocally supports Israel’s legitimate right to self-defense, which must be exercised in accordance with international humanitarian law.
The Romanian government goes to Kyiv
Kyiv hosted, this week, the first joint meeting of the Governments of Romania and neighboring Ukraine. A memorandum was signed on strengthening cooperation in ensuring the safe transit of Ukrainian products, which also includes an addendum on the strategy for the development of border crossing points and road infrastructure. An agreement on the construction of a border road bridge over the Tisa River and cooperation documents in the fields of the defense industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and on the readmission of people were also signed. At the same time, the Ukrainian Government adopted a document by which it recognizes that the Romanian minority in Ukraine – second in numbers after the Russian one – speaks Romanian, not Moldovan, as was erroneously stated until now. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu was received by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Green light for new fiscal-budgetary measures
The fiscal-budgetary measures for which the Government recently assumed responsibility in order to balance Romania’s budget can enter into force, the Constitutional Court decided. It had rejected, on Wednesday, the notification submitted by USR and Forţa Dreptei, in parliamentary opposition. After endorsement by the country’s president, the law can be enforced. Moreover, some of the provisions of the fiscal-budgetary package, such as those regarding the reduction of the positions of heads of public institutions, or those for the payment of the health contribution by construction and agricultural employees, were supposed to enter into force on October 1. Next week, the representatives of the Executive will have a meeting with social partners, when they will establish the level of increase of the minimum wage in construction and agriculture, so that the employees in these sectors will not be affected by payments to the state health insurance fund. It is hoped that, following the application of these fiscal-budgetary measures, Romania’s deficit will decrease, this year, to 5.7% of the Gross Domestic Product.
The special pensions law was endorsed
President Klaus Iohannis endorsed the new version of the law on huge special pensions enjoyed by certain categories of state employees. The normative act was re-examined and voted in, on Monday, by the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body, in line with the summer decision of the Constitutional Court, but also with the observations of the European Commission,. The parliamentary opposition, which wanted to eliminate any privileges, vehemently criticized this version as well, which it says is unacceptable, humiliating, and does not respect the principle that applies to ordinary Romanians – that of calculating a pension according to the contribution, during their period of activity, to the national pension fund. According to the law, magistrates, some of the beneficiaries of this law, can retire with a pension of 80% of the average gross monthly allowances and raises from the last four years of their activity. Net pensions cannot be higher than the net income of the last month of activity before retirement. At the same time, starting next year, magistrates can retire if they have 25 years of seniority. and are at least 47 years and four months of age. The retirement age will increase, annually, by four months, until the magistrates reach 60 years of age.
A new meeting for the Republic of Moldova
The 4th edition of the Support Platform for the Republic of Moldova took place in Chisinau. It was created last year at the initiative of Romania, France and Germany, in order to help Romania’s small neighbor overcome the effects generated by Russian aggression in Ukraine. It was an opportunity for President Maia Sandu to declare that the Chisinau government’s plan is to preserve peace and ensure European living conditions for Moldovan citizens. The participants in the meeting agreed that European support is important, while infrastructure, connectivity, and structural reforms are the key to getting closer to the European Union. Moreover, Romania hopes that, by the end of the year, the Republic of Moldova will receive the invitation to start accession negotiations, which would represent a historic decision for the Romanian-speaking ex-Soviet state.
