A strong Romania is more than an aspiration, it
\nis a national project we are already building, the Romanian president Klaus
\nIohannis told Parliament today, one year after taking office. He said 2015 has
\nshown that a wide consensus on public issues could be achieved, citing the 2016
\nbudget and the political agreement on boosting defence spending to 2% of the
\nGDP by 2017. The country’s new defence strategy, which for the first time
\nincluded aspects related to education, healthcare, the preservation of national
\nidentity and the protection of the country’s heritage also enjoyed a large
\nmajority. Speaking about Romania’s foreign policy, Iohannis said its priorities
\nin 2015 were the consolidation of the partnership with the US and of the
\nstrategic alliances with France, Poland, Germany, Spain, Britain and Turkey, as
\nwell strengthening ties with neighbouring states such as Ukraine, Serbia and
\nBulgaria. A privileged relationship with the majority Romanian-speaking
\nRepublic of Moldova has been and will remain a constant feature of Romania’s
\nforeign policy, Klaus Iohannis also told Parliament. <\/p>\n
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The
\ntwo houses of Romania’s Parliament today passed the state budget for 2016 with
\n309 yes and 13 no votes. Parliament finalised debates on next year’s budget on
\nTuesday without making any significant amendments to the version proposed by
\nthe government. Education, healthcare and research will generally be allocated
\nmore money. Government spending on state pensions will amount to more than 10
\nbillion euros, which accounts for almost 7% of the GDP. 4.7 pensioners will
\nbenefit from a pension increase as of January 1st. <\/p>\n
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An
\nanti-communist uprising that led to the toppling of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu
\nbegan on December 16th, 1989 in the western city of Timisoara. To
\ncommemorate the people who died 26 years ago, associations of revolutionaries
\nand local authorities are holding a series of events and ceremonies. The
\nprotests in Timisoara quickly spread across the country, leading to the ousting
\nof Nicolae Ceausescu on December 22nd. More than 1,000 people died
\nand around 3,400 were wounded between 16th and 25th
\nDecember 1989. Romania was the only country in the former eastern bloc where
\nregime change was accompanied by bloodshed and where the deposed communist
\nleaders were executed. <\/p>\n
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The
\nRomanian government today issued an emergency order to suspend the application
\nof several articles of the hunting law. The decision follows yesterday’s angry protests
\nby thousands of shepherds over provisions of the law that ban grazing from
\nDecember to April and restrict the number of sheepdogs that can guard the
\nsheep. <\/p>\n
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Romanian
\ndeputies on Tuesday passed a bill banning smoking in all enclosed public
\nspaces. Smoking will be permitted, however, in certain designated rooms
\nequipped with fire extinguishers and ventilation systems. Harsh penalties are
\nstipulated for infringements of the law. Apart from financial penalties,
\ncompanies also face suspension and even closure. The smoke-free bill will be
\nsent to the president to be signed into law and will be enforced within 45 days
\nof publication in the Official Gazette, most likely in February next year. <\/p>\n
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Romania face host country Denmark today in the
\nquarterfinals of the Women’s World Handball Championship. They need to finish
\nthe tournament in the top seven to qualify for the Olympic test events in Rio
\nin 2016. Romania are the only country to have taken part in every edition of
\nthe World Championship since 1957, winning three medals in the process: gold in
\n1962 and silver in 1973 and again in 2005.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated by: C. Mateescu)<\/p>\n
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A strong Romania is a national project, one we are already building, president Klaus Iohannis told Parliament one year after taking office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":100004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[29652,29572,28945,29650,29651],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-100714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-grazing-ban","tag-handball","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-romanian-revolution","tag-smoking-ban"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n