ROMANIA-EU RELATIONS – Romania is a serious,
\nresponsible partner committed to attaining EU goals and implementing
\nregulations adopted by community institutions, Romania’s Prime Minister Ludovic
\nOrban said on Thursday on the sidelines of his meeting in Brussels with
\nEuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The EU is Romania’s ally as
\nit prepares for the digital era, relying on Bucharest’s support, which enjoys
\nan outstanding reputation in this field, the EU official said in turn. The
\nagenda for talks also included the economy and the judiciary. The two officials
\nalso discussed the issue of Romania’s Schengen accession, our country’s plea
\nhaving been met with both support and opposition from member states. Prime
\nMinister Orban expressed hope Romania would join the travel-free area within a
\nreasonable timetable. <\/p>\n
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ROMANIA-NATO
\nRELATIONS – Prime Minister Ludovic Orban and NATO Secretary General Jens
\nStoltenberg met in Brussels on Thursday. They discussed, among other things,
\ncooperation within NATO, the developments in the Middle East and security in
\nthe Black Sea region. Secretary Stoltenberg hailed Romania’s efforts to earmark
\n2% of its GDP to defense spending, pointing out the Black Sea region is of
\nstrategic importance to NATO. Jens Stoltenberg thanked Romania for our
\ncountry’s participation in the Iraq missions, stating NATO has the possibility
\nof doing more in the Middle East, just as President Donald Trump has asked.
\nLudovic Orban said the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance is a major partner of
\nRomania, reiterating Bucharest’s full support for the fulfillment of the
\norganization’s goals. The Romanian Prime Minister said Romania would continue
\nto take part in NATO missions and initiatives concerning NATO’s advanced
\npresence on its eastern flank, as well as in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq. <\/p>\n
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IRAN -The
\nescalating tensions in the Middle East are in the interest of neither the
\nregion, nor the international community, Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis
\nKlaus Iohannis told a press conference on Thursday. He gave assurances that
\nRomania has so far not been affected by any of the developments, neither have
\nbeen its citizens and military deployed to the area. Romania is in permanent
\ncoordination with NATO and the EU as well as with its strategic bilateral
\npartners, first and foremost the United States, as regards its fundamental
\nsecurity goals, Klaus Iohannis went on to say. The Romanian president also
\nhailed Wednesday’s declarations of President Donald Trump, underlining that the
\ncommon fight against terrorism in Iraq should definitely continue. <\/p>\n
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FORECAST
\n– The World Bank has revised up to 3.9% its forecast for Romania’s economic
\ngrowth in 2019, 0.3 % more than the forecast in June last year, shows the
\nGlobal Economic Prospects report published on Wednesday. According to the same
\nsources Romania is expected to register a GDP growth of 3.4%, 0.1 % higher than
\nthe previous forecast. In spite of improved performances, the World Bank
\nbelieves the GDP growth will significantly slow down to 3.1% in 2021 and 2022.
\nThe World Bank estimates a slight economic growth all over the world in 2020,
\nwhich is expected to reach 2.5% after the slowdown last year. The World Bank
\nhas cautioned about this growth, which it described as fragile and subject to
\npotential risks.<\/p>\n
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HANDBALL
\n– The Romanian men’s handball team is in Italy. There our handballers are to
\ntake on Italy, Georgia and Kosovo over January 10-12 in the first stage of
\ntheir qualification for the World Championship in Egypt next year. Coach Rares
\nFortuneanu, who is also coaching French side Saint Raphael, has voiced optimism
\nconcerning Romania’s qualification for the final tournament next year, the
\nfirst attended by 32 sides. We recall that the Romanian women’s representative
\nhad made it to the main groups of the World Championship held last month in Japan.<\/p>\n
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(Translated by V. Palcu & D. Bilt)<\/p>\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":[35308,29715,28945,30168,33238,35307,29022,35212],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-economic-forecast","tag-iran","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-ludovic-orban","tag-romania-and-the-eu","tag-ursula-von-der-leyen","tag-world-bank","tag-world-handball-cup"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n