GREAT
\nUNION CENTENNIAL – Events were held on Sunday too in Alba Iulia, central Romania, to mark
\n100 years since the Great Union. Despite the freezing cold, tens of thousands
\nof people attended the military parades organized on Saturday in Bucharest,
\nAlba Iulia and Focsani. Attending the events, President Klaus Iohannis said he
\nwas honored to be president in the year of the Great Union Centennial. In turn,
\nPrime Minister Viorica Dancila called for unity in her speech in Focsani. The
\nmilitary parade in Bucharest was the largest event of its kind in the last
\ndecades. Some 4,000 military, of whom 500 from 20 partner and allied states,
\nparaded in Bucharest. More than 200 pieces of military equipment were presented
\nto the public, while 50 aircraft flew over the capital city. The combat equipment
\nincluded for the first time the Patriot missile air-defense system and the
\nPiranha 5 armored vehicles which, starting this year, are being manufactured in
\nRomania. Millions of Romanians in the Diaspora celebrated the National Day of
\nRomania as well. <\/p>\n
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DANCILA – Prime Minister Viorica
\nDancila on Monday is attending the Central-European Initiative Summit in
\nZagreb, which marks the end of Croatia’s one-year term at the helm of this
\ninstitution. The Initiative was founded in 1989 as a regional inter-government
\nforum engaged in supporting European integration and sustainable development by
\nmeans of cooperation among member states and the EU, international and regional
\norganizations, as well as other public or private institutions and NGOs. The
\nmain topic on Monday’s agenda is ensuring security, supporting the economy and
\nboosting progress. Italy on January 1, 2019 will take over the rotating
\npresidency. Attending the summit will be the president of the European Bank of
\nReconstruction and Development and European Commissioner for Enlargement,
\nJohannes Hahn. On Tuesday, a business forum on the role of innovation in
\ncompetitiveness will be hosted by Croatia’s Chamber of Commerce on the
\nsidelines of the summit.<\/p>\n
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BUSH – US Stock
\nMarkets on Monday will observe a moment of silence in homage to the former US
\nPresident George H.W. Bush, who passed away on Friday aged 94. Stock markets
\nwill be closed on Wednesday, declared a day of national mourning in the US.
\nRomania’s President Klaus Iohannis conveyed a message of condolences to his
\ncounterpart, Donald Trump. Iohannis said President Bush was a great leader and
\nstatesman, whose political legacy holds tremendous importance for Eastern
\nEurope. Due to his efforts, Romania and other states from the former Soviet
\nbloc found their liberty and started the path towards European and
\nEuro-Atlantic integration. It was also Bush, Iohannis argues, who laid the
\nfoundations of what was to become the Strategic Partnership between the United
\nStates and Romania. <\/p>\n
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PENSION
\nLAW
\n– The new pension law could be passed in Parliament by the end of the year,
\nLabor Minister Marius Budai has announced. The Senate has already voted the
\ndocument and submitted it to the Chamber of Deputies for approval. Under the
\nnew law, the pension point will be increased in stages until 2021. The minimum
\nperiod of contribution stays at 15 years, while MA and doctoral studies are now
\nremoved from the standard period of contribution. At the same time, the periods
\nof early retirement were reduced from six years to 12 months for extraordinary
\ncircumstances and from 2 years to 1 year for special circumstances. Women who’ve
\ncompleted their minimum period of contribution and given birth to three children
\nbenefit from a six-year reduction of their early retirement age. The Government
\nassures there will be no drop in pensions. <\/p>\n
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PROTESTS – French
\nPresident Emmanuel Macron on Sunday called an emergency meeting with the Prime
\nMinister and the Defense Minister after Paris saw violent clashes between the
\nriot police and protesters for the 3rd weekend in a row as part of
\nrallies caused by increased fuel prices. 75,000 people protested on Saturday in
\nParis, with clashes reported in other cities as well. The violent protests
\nturned to street violence in Pairs, after the peaceful protest was taken over
\nby groups of hooligans looting stores and setting cars and private lofts on
\nfire. Emmanuel Macron promised the guilty would be identified and brought to
\ncourt. Over 100 people were injured and the police detained some 300 people.
\nThe protest surfaced after the Government in early October announced they would
\nlevy an environment tax on fuel starting next year. Protesters also expressed
\ndisgruntlement with the low purchase power and the increasing number of taxes. <\/p>\n
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FOOTBALL – Romania’s national
\nfootball team will find out, on Sunday, its opponents in the preliminaries of
\nthe EURO 2020, after the draw hosted by Dublin, one of the 12 hosts of the
\ncontinental competition, among which Bucharest as well. Romania’s National
\nArena stadium will host 4 matches in 2020: 3 matches of Group C on June 14, 18
\nand 22, and a match in the eighth finals on June 29. The 55 teams to
\nparticipate in the draw for the preliminaries will be divided into 10 groups, 5
\ngroups of 5 teams each, and 5 groups of 6 teams. Qualifying to the EURO 2020
\nwill be the teams ranking 1st and 2nd in each group. The
\nmatches in the preliminary round will take place from March through November
\n2019.<\/p>\n
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HANDBALL – The Romanian
\nwomen’s handball team on Saturday grabbed its first win at the European
\nChampionship in France, defeating the Czech Republic 31-28 in Group D. In the
\nother group fixture, Germany surprisingly defeated Norway 33-32. Romania will
\nnext play Germany on Monday. The first three teams will advance to the main
\ngroup phase. This is the 13th time Romania takes part in the
\nEuropean Championships. In 2015 our team ranked 5, while its best performance
\nwas in 2010 when they scooped bronze. <\/p>\n
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(Translated
\nby V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
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