BRUSSELS – Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis is attending in Brussels
\nthe European Council meeting and the Euro Summit. The Council’s agenda includes
\nnegotiations on the future EU budget after 2020, the Union’s Single Market,
\nmigration, climate change and the fight against racism and xenophobia. As
\nregards the future budget of the EU, Romania’s president pleads for its rapid
\nadoption, specifying that Romania, while holding the presidency of the Council
\nof the EU, will act towards ensuring significant progress in the negotiations. Also,
\nhe supports the efforts made by the members states with regard to the external dimension
\nof migration and an active involvement in the dialogue with the external
\npartners, the countries of origin and transit. On the sidelines of the summit,
\npresident Iohannis has had a meeting with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
\nThey have discussed the informal summit on the future of Europe to be hosted by
\nthe Romanian city of Sibiu on May 9th, 2019, which will play a major
\nrole in outlining the strategic agenda of the EU for 2020-2024. <\/p>\n
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COOPERATION – Romania benefits from
\nthe US’s unequivocal support for a quick accession to the Organization for
\nEconomic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to the conclusions drawn
\nat the meeting in Washington between the Romanian Minister for the Business Environment,
\nStefan-Radu Oprea, and the US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. The two
\nofficials discussed Romania’s priorities during its term at the helm of the Council
\nof the EU and boosting investment under the strategic partnership between the
\ntwo countries. According to statistics, bilateral trade exchanges stood at a
\ntotal 2 billion dollars in the first nine months of the year, 6.8% more than in the same period last year.
\nRomanian exports to the US grew by 29%, up to 1.15 billion dollars, and imports
\nfrom that country dropped by 15%, to 800 million dollars. <\/p>\n
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NO-CONFIDENCE -
\nA no-confidence motion against the Government formed by the Social Democratic
\nParty and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and headed by the Social
\nDemocrat Viorica Dancila will be filed in the Romanian Parliament on Friday.
\nThe document has been signed by 163 Senators and Deputies members of the opposition National Liberal Party,
\nSave Romania Union and People’s Movement Party, as well as by non-affiliated
\nMPs. The initiators of the motion say that this is not a just request from the
\nopposition, it’s a national emergency, and those who will try and reject it
\nwill carry a historic responsibility on their shoulders. The motion will be
\ndebated and voted on next week. <\/p>\n
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MOLDOVA – The local and parliamentary elections that are
\ndue in the Republic of Moldova next year pose risks to the economic development
\nof the former Soviet state, with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population,
\naccording to analysts with the Expert-Grup Center in Chisinau, quoted by Radio
\nRomania correspondents. In their opinion, a drop in foreign assistance and
\nbudget revenues could increase the internal debt and also fees and taxes. For
\n2019, experts forecast an economic growth within the 3.5 – 5.2% range. However,
\nthey also warn that decreasing taxes only a few months before the elections
\nwill diminish budget revenues and therefore, after the election, the future
\nGovernment might increase other taxes and resort to loans from the internal
\nmarket, especially given that foreign financing has been dropping. Business
\npeople are reluctant to investing, waiting for the result of the elections.
\nParliamentary elections are scheduled for February, and the local ones are due
\nin June. Opinion polls indicate the pro-Russia Socialists as the favourites,
\nfollowed by the pro-European opposition and the ruling Democratic Party. <\/p>\n
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HANDBALL – On Friday night in Paris, Romania’s national women’s handball
\nteam will face the Russian team, in the semi-finals of the European
\nChampionship hosted by France. In the same stage of the competition, the host
\ncountry plays against the Netherlands. The Romanian handballers have also
\nsecured their participation in the World Championship in Japan, next year. The
\nstar and leader of the Romanian team, Cristina Neagu, dubbed the best scorer in
\nthe history of European competitions, has unfortunately sustained an injury and
\nshe will not be able to play. <\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/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":[29735,31998,34280,28997,31311,34281,29130,29284,32502,29568,34282],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-103209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-cristina-neagu","tag-eu-council","tag-euro-summit","tag-european-council","tag-european-handball-championship","tag-minister-for-the-business-environment-stefan-radu-oprea","tag-moldova","tag-no-confidence-motion","tag-oecd","tag-romanian-president-klaus-iohannis","tag-us-secretary-of-commerce-wilbur-ross"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n