GOVERNMENT
\n– The Government in Bucharest on Wednesday adopted the draft state budget and
\nthe social security budget for next year. Romanian PM Ludovic Orban has
\nofficially announced that the Bucharest Government will seek Parliament’s vote
\nof confidence over the two bills. Next year’s draft national budget and social
\nsecurity budget have been published on the finance ministry’s website for debate.
\nThe national budget is built on a 4.1% economic growth rate, a budget deficit
\nof 3.59% and an average inflation rate of 3.1%. Nine ministries will receive
\nmore money, among which labor, defense, home affairs while smaller amounts will
\nbe allocated to regional development. President Klaus Iohannis, who chaired the
\nHigher Defense Council meeting on Tuesday, where the budgets of the military
\ninstitutions were decided on, said he is satisfied with the draft law. <\/p>\n
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COMMEMORATION
\n– Events marking 30 years since the anti-communist revolution continued on
\nWednesday in the city of Timisoara, in western Romania. On December 18, 1989,
\nprotesters were shot on the stairs of the Orthodox Cathedral, while 43 corpses
\nwere stolen from the morgue of the county hospital and taken by the Securitate,
\nthe former political police, to the crematory in Bucharest, in an attempt to
\nhide the truth. Tuesday was a day of mourning in Timisoara, in memory of the
\nvictims. <\/p>\n
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MINORITIES
\n– By promoting policies based on respect, mutual observance of rights and
\nvalues, dialogue and democratic representation at political and institutional
\nlevel, Romania has become one of the most appreciated models of minority rights
\nprotection, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said on Wednesday, on the occasion of
\nthe National Minorities Day. The Romanian society has evolved in the last 30
\nyears from multiculturalism to interculturalism, by proving that diversity does
\nnot mean division, but a plus for all, Orban has also said. As many as 18
\nethnic minorities live in Romania at present. In Romania’s Parliament, 17
\nminorities have one MP while the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
\nRomania holds 21 deputy seats and 1 senator seat.<\/p>\n
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VISIT – Defense Minister
\nNicolae-Ionel Ciuca, Interior Minister Marcel Vela and the Chief of General
\nStaff, General Daniel Petrescu paid a working visit to Afghanistan. According
\nto a Defense Ministry release, Nicolae Ciuca visited the military bases in
\nKandahar, in the south, and in Kabul, where he met with the military deployed
\nto these areas. Nicolae Ciuca met with General Giles Hill, deputy commander of
\nNATO Resolute Support. The two officials looked the security context in
\nAfghanistan, Romania’s contribution to the Resolute Support Mission, the
\nsixth-largest contributor to this theatre of operations, US support to Romanian
\nmilitary as well as the prospects of the 2020 Multinational Command. In turn,
\nInterior Minister Marcel Vela met in Kabul with the 24 Romanian gendarmes who
\nare taking part in the Resolute Support mission. The Romanian gendarmes are
\ntrusted by their partners and are completing their missions with
\nprofessionalism. Right now, the Romanian Army has deployed over 1,200 military
\nin external missions, of whom 775 in Afghanistan. Since 2002, 30 Romanian
\nmilitary were KIA in theatres of operations in Afghanistan, Irak and Kosovo, 27
\nin Afghanistan alone. <\/p>\n
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FIGHTER JETS – President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday ratified the law on the
\nprocurement of an additional five F-16 fighter jets from Portugal. The law was
\npassed as a top priority in Parliament, as the offer to the Government expired
\nat the end of the year, Defense Minister Nicolae Ciuca has said. Romania right
\nnow has 12 F-16 fighter jets, all bought from Portugal. <\/p>\n
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FOOTBALL
\n– At the Romanian Football Awards, Razvan Lucescu has been designated coach of
\nthe year for having won the championship and cup of Greece with PAOK
\nThessaloniki and the Asian Champions League with the Saudi side Al-Hilal. From
\nthe beginning of his career Lucescu proved to be one of the best Romanian coaches.
\nAged 37, Lucescu in 2006 coached Rapid Bucharest to the quarterfinals of the
\nUEFA Cup after beating teams like Feyenoord Rotterdam, Shaktar Donetsk, Hertha
\nBerlin and SV Hamburg. Rapid failed to qualify to the semifinals after two
\ndraws against Steaua Bucharest. Between 2009 and 2011 Lucescu coached Romania’s
\nnational team<\/p>\n
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(Translated by Elena Enache & V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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