ROMANIA AND THE EU – Romanian PM Viorica Dancila
\nwill be presenting the priorities of Romania’s presidency of the Council of the
\nEuropean Union during Parliament’s plenary session scheduled for Tuesday in
\nStrasbourg. Brexit is one of top issues to be handled by Romania, with Viorica
\nDancila repeatedly saying that Bucharest is interested in protecting the rights
\nof Romanians working in the UK. The upcoming EU budget is another delicate
\nissue on Romania’s agenda. Viorica Dancila wants to build towards drafting the
\nbudget, so as to give more funding to common European policies, such as the
\nCommon Agricultural Policy and the Cohesion Policy. <\/p>\n
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PRESIDENCY – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is
\nreceiving on Tuesday in Bucharest his Slovenian counterpart, Borut Pahor, who
\npays a two-day official visit to Romania. The visit takes place in the context
\nof the celebration, last year, of 25 years of diplomatic ties between Romania
\nand Slovenia and of Romania’s taking over the EU Council presidency. In terms
\nof regional cooperation, special emphasis will be laid on perspectives for
\ndeveloping the Three Seas Initiative, with Slovenia due to organize the new
\nsummit in 2019.<\/p>\n
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INFLATION – The annual inflation rate was 3.27% in
\nDecember 2018, the National Statistics Institute reports. Last year potatoes
\nreported the largest price hike, by nearly 40%, in addition to air transport,
\npost services and other categories of vegetables and canned vegetables, with
\n20% price hikes and natural gas, with a 16% increase. Prices for eggs, sugar
\nand fresh fruit went down by as much as 20%. The inflation rate is estimated to
\ndrop to 2.9% this year, the National Bank has announced. <\/p>\n
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STRIKE
\n– Trade unions and
\nthe board of the Oltenia Energy Complex in southern Romania on Monday had talks
\nat the Energy Ministry over the demands of the miners, who have been on strike
\nsince Friday night. Employees want the minimum salary to be 850 euros, holiday
\nvouchers, the payment of extra hours for weekend days and improved working
\nconditions. In turn, the Energy Minister announced holiday vouchers can be
\nawarded starting May 1, while a 12% increase in salaries of employees in the
\nproduction line is possible, with an analysis of spending to allow further
\nsalary increases. The measures could be implemented once trade unions start
\nnegotiations officially and resume work. Officials say the situation in the
\nenergy sector is normal, with the coal-based energy share standing at over
\n23% <\/p>\n
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BREXIT – British PM Theresa May on
\nMonday called on MPs to vote in favor of the Brexit agreement with the European
\nUnion. Moreover, PM May warned that voting against the deal could eventually
\nlead to having Brexit cancelled. Also on Monday, European Council President
\nDonald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker sent a letter
\nto Theresa May saying that the withdrawal agreement is the right compromise and
\nis not open to renegotiation. The letter also points out the EU wants close
\nrelations with Great Britain in the future, saying the contingency solution for
\nthe Irish border is merely temporary. A final vote on Brexit is scheduled on
\nTuesday. <\/p>\n
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NATO – Romanian Chief of General Staff General Nicolae Ciuca on
\nTuesday and Wednesday is attending the NATO Military Committee session taking
\nplace in Brussels. The agenda includes hot topics on the military agenda regarding
\nstrategic challenges of NATO, the NATO military strategy, the Resolute Support
\nmission in Afghanistan as well as the regional security context. Talks will
\nalso focus on topics related to the development of military capability using
\nown funds, NATO-Georgia partnership and the security context in the Western
\nBalkans and the Kosovo Force mission. <\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
(Translated by E. Enache & V. Palcu) <\/p>\n
\n
<\/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":[34389,14005,28945,28921,31000,33238,29090],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-103275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-borut-pahor","tag-brexit","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-nato-meeting","tag-oltenia-energy-complex","tag-romania-and-the-eu","tag-strike"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n