Romania’s Higher Defence Council is to convene in Bucharest on
\nTuesday for its half-yearly session presided by the country’s head of state
\nKlaus Iohannis. High on the agenda is the stage of a programme on the
\ntransformation of the Romanian army by the year 2027 and even beyond. Aspects
\nrelated to illegal migration at European level are also to be discussed along
\nwith measures to contain illegal deforestation in Romania. <\/p>\n
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Diplomatic sources in Bucharest have announced that a serious car
\ncrash took place in Turkey on Monday involving a minibus with 16 Romanian
\ntourists. Two of the passengers are reported to have been killed in the crash,
\nwhile the rest 14 have been admitted to hospital for treatment. Road accidents
\ninvolving Romanian citizens have taken place in various European countries in
\nrecent years. The most serious took place in Montenegro in 2013, when a bus
\nwith Romanians fell off a bridge killing 18 on board and wounding 29. <\/p>\n
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The International Monetary Fund recommends
\nthat Romania postpone the fiscal relaxation measures due to come into effect in
\n2017, so that it may reach a budget deficit of 2% of the GDP, the head of the
\nIMF mission in Romania, Reza Baqir said at the end of the mission’s annual
\nevaluation of the Romanian economy. The VAT dropped from 24% to 20% at the
\nbeginning of this year and a new cut, bringing the tax down to 19%, is planned
\nfor 2017. According to the IMF, postponing the next VAT cut and the other
\nfacilities envisaged for the next year would generate 0.75 GDP points in savings.
\nThe IMF has also called for improving spending discipline and fiscal
\nadministration this year, also recommending the Romanian authorities to quickly
\npass the right legislation for improving corporate governance in state-owned
\ncompanies and make a list with the potential privatizations and stock exchange
\nlisting. Last but not least, the IMF representatives have hailed Romania’s
\nanti-corruption efforts urging Bucharest to continue them. <\/p>\n
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UN-led peace negotiations resumed in Geneva on Monday with a view to
\nfinding a political solution to the Syrian conflict. Meanwhile the rebels
\ninsist that president Bashar al-Assad step down, a scenario dismissed by the
\npower in Damascus. 5 years have passed since the outbreak of anti-government
\nviolence in Syria, which has so far killed 250,000 people. The war also
\nresulted in one of the worst humanitarian crises after the Second World War.
\nHalf of Syria’s population has fled the country. We recall that a ceasefire
\nbetween Government forces and rebel militias came into force on February
\n27. <\/p>\n
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