Land Forces Day.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n
Conference.<\/strong> The
<\/p>\n
Challenge.<\/strong> The
<\/p>\n
Protests.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n
Health system.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n
Budget deficit.<\/strong> Romania’s budget deficit stood at 2.9% of
<\/p>\n
Macron-Trump talks<\/strong>. French
<\/p>\n
Tennis.<\/strong> Romania’s Simona Halep
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":75903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[30079,33444,28945,33443,33445,28900,31676],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-102720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-budget-deficit","tag-conference-of-speakers-of-european-union-parliaments","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-land-forces-day","tag-railway-protest","tag-simona-halep","tag-tudorel-toader"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nOrthodox and Catholic Christians in Romania today celebrate the Feast of St
\nGeorge, a Christian martyr from the 4th century. A former general in
\nthe Roman army during the time of emperor Diocletian, he was executed by
\ndecapitation in 304 for not renouncing his faith. More than 900,000 people in
\nRomania are named after this saint. St George is also the patron of the Land
\nForces, which account for around 70% of Romania’s armed forces. In a special
\nmessage, president Klaus Iohannis said Romania today is a democratic and modern
\ncountry that needs a strong army to strengthen its position within NATO and the
\nEuropean Union, while Euro-Atlantic cooperation must form the basis of European
\nsecurity and stability. A number of military events are held throughout the
\ncountry. An exhibition is opening in Bucharest in which the Land Forces present
\ntheir combat technology, weaponry and equipment. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nSenate and Chamber of Deputies speakers, Calin Popescu Tariceanu and Liviu
\nDragnea, respectively, are attending the Conference of the Speakers of the
\nEuropean Union Parliaments in Tallinn, Estonia. The conference is attended by
\nover 40 speakers of national Parliaments and the speaker of the European
\nParliament, Antonio Tajani. The topics discussed are the future of the Union
\nand its security and defence. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nRomanian justice minister Tudorel Toader is today seeing prime minister Viorica
\nDancila to agree on a final version of the challenge to the Constitutional
\nCourt on the dismissal of the anti-corruption chief Laura Codruta Kovesi. The
\nminister says he wants to incorporate into the challenge the arguments used by
\npresident Klaus Iohannis to deny his request to dismiss Kovesi, whom Toader
\naccuses of serious violation of duty. The president believes the reasons
\ninvoked are unconvincing and do not meet the legal requirements, while the
\njustice minister, supported by the ruling Social Democratic Party and the
\nAlliance of Liberals and Democrats, says this refusal creates a conflict
\nbetween state’s institutions. Earlier, Toader’s request had received a
\nunanimously negative opinion by the Superior Council of Magistracy. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nRailway workers are staging a fresh protest in Bucharest today. They demand the
\nadoption of a railway worker status ensuring additional salary rights, the
\nrecovery of the freight division of the Romanian Railways Company and
\ninvestment in the maintenance and development of the railways network. The
\nleader of the National Trade Union Bloc Dumitru Costin says a general strike is
\nthe only solution to resolve the demands. Transport minister Lucian Sova says
\nhe supports the promotion of a railway worker status and increasing investment
\nin the field. 700 speed restrictions are in place in Romania, which has the 7th
\nlongest railway network in Europe, while the railways company’s 1,200 trains
\nare formed by only 300 carriages. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nRomania’s prime minister Viorica Dancila is today expected to have talks
\nwith hospital managers to discuss salaries in the healthcare system. Last
\nWednesday, Dancila asked the healthcare, labour and finance ministers to
\nidentify the problems in the system by the end of the week, so that solutions
\ncan be found. A series of spontaneous protests have erupted recently in
\nhospitals following the application of a new pay scheme. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nthe GDP last year, according to a preliminary estimate published by Eurostat
\ntoday. The lowest budget deficit levels were recorded in 2017 in Ireland and
\nEstonia, both with minus 0.3%, Latvia, with minus 0.5% and Finland, with minus
\n0.6%. The estimate also indicates that at the end of 2017, Romania had one of
\nthe lowest levels of government debt to GDP ratio in the European Union, at
\n35%. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\npresident Emmanuel Macron today begins an official visit to the United States
\nduring which he will try to convince the White House leader Donald Trump not to
\nwalk out of the deal with Iran. Trump warned he would pull the US out of the
\nnuclear agreement unless tougher conditions are imposed on Iran by the 12th
\nof May. Washington says the agreement with Tehran should also impose
\nrestrictions on the Iranian ballistic missile programme. Talks are also expected
\nto tackle Washington’s new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. These mainly
\ntarget China, but other exporters can also be affected, such as the European
\nUnion. Washington temporarily excluded the EU from these tariffs, but the
\nexemption expires on the 1st of May. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nis still no. 1 in the WTA ranking published on Monday. Six other Romanian
\nfemale players are in Top 100. Sorana Cirstea retains the 34th
\nposition, Irina Begu climbed one place to no. 37, Mihaela Buzarnescu climbed to
\n39, also one position, as did Monica Niculescu, who is in the 63rd
\nplace. Ana Bogdan has kept her 66th ranking. The Race to Singapore
\nranking hasn’t seen any major changes, either, with Denmark’s Caroline
\nWozniacki still in the no. 1 spot, followed by Halep. On Sunday, Romania’s Fed
\nCup team, composed of Halep, Begu, Cirstea and Buzarnescu, defeated Switzerland
\n3-1 in the World Group I promotion play-offs. <\/p>\n