PLAN – Ruling coalition
\nleaders are today expected to announce the final form of the support package addressing
\nthe population and the economy, in the context of soaring prices across the
\nboard. The list of measures includes an increase in the meal allowance for
\ninpatients, an increase of meal vouchers and further vouchers addressing
\nvulnerable categories. The minimum salary is also expected to go up, although
\nemployers will decide if they want to implement the measure or not.
\nAdditionally, the authorities will also allow people to postpone the payment of
\nbank installments, a measure previously introduced during the pandemic as well.
\nFurther support will be given to transporters, whose fuel purchases will be
\npartly subsidized, whereas grants will be awarded to SMEs. Liberal prime
\nminister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 said the package will help keep the economy going and
\nprotect vulnerable citizens. In turn, PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu pointed out
\nthis is the first time the Government comes up with such an initiative. The
\nplan is worth some \u20ac3.5 billion, of which \u20ac1.4 billion will be covered by the
\nEU. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
DEBATE – The Chamber of Deputies
\nis today debating a simple motion filed by USR against Environment Minister,
\nTanczos Barna. The vote is scheduled for Wednesday. The opposition party claims
\nthe UDMR minister in the ruling coalition government is to be blamed for
\nillegal logging, for the destruction of the environment, the state’s inability
\nto tap into green economy opportunities and the contempt shown to civil society
\nwhenever the latter signals environment issues. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
MEETING – EU Foreign
\nMinisters are today examining the sixth package of sanctions against Moscow
\nduring their meeting in Luxembourg. The EU’s 27 Foreign Ministers have their
\ndifferences over a possible ban on Russian energy. Germany, Italy, Austria and
\nHungary are largely reliant on Russian gas imports. Ukraine’s president,
\nVolodymyr Zelensky, has constantly asked European leaders to adopt harsher
\nsanctions, including to stop purchasing oil and fuel from Russia and to
\nprovide Ukrainian forces with heavy weapons in order to resist the Russian
\nattacks in Donbas. According to several European diplomats, EU Ministers are
\nexpected to disburse another \u20ac500 million to fund a new delivery of weapons to
\nKyiv. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
VISIT – Projects on future
\nmobility in the EU have three key words – sustainability, performance and
\nresilience, EU Commissioner for Transport, Adina V\u0103lean, said on the sidelines of Monday’s conference about the future of
\nEurope hosted by Bucharest. The EU official expressed hope Romania’s infrastructure
\nshould improve in terms of quality in the shortest time possible. On Tuesday,
\nCommissioner V\u0103lean will attend a videoconference with the ministers of
\ntransport of Romania, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. Adina V\u0103lean said she wants to discuss with Bucharest officials about a better
\nabsorption of European funds devoted to infrastructure and to find solutions
\nfor the rail, road, river and maritime transport of goods from Ukraine and the
\nRepublic of Moldova. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
REFUGEES – Over 85,000 people, of whom 7,915 Ukrainian
\ncitizens entered Romania on Sunday. According to a Border Police release, a
\nlittle over 677 thousand Ukrainians have reached Romania since the start of the
\nwar in Ukraine, most of whom were headed to Western Europe. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
GROWTH FORECAST – The World Bank has
\ndowngraded its economic growth forecast for Romania this year, from 4.3% in
\nJanuary to 1.9%. According to the World bank, economic uncertainty has gone up,
\nparticularly as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The World Bank has
\nupgraded its economic growth forecast for Romania in 2023 to 4.1%, while its
\nforecast for 2024 stands at 4.3%. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
ELECTION IN FRANCE – Emmanuel
\nMacron will face the leader of the far right, Marine Le Pen in the presidential
\nrunoff scheduled for April 24, following the result of Sunday’s first round of
\nthe French presidential election. Both will be trying to secure the votes of
\nthe other candidates, although experts believe young voters of the radical left
\nwill decide the vote. The traditional right and left wing parties that ruled
\nFrance for over 60 years have been again eliminated from the first round after
\nobtaining embarrassingly low scores. Conversely, the radical left and right
\nwings continue to gain ground. (VP)<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[35173,36581,31943,31458,36654,36583,36655],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-adina-valean","tag-economic-sanctions","tag-election-in-france","tag-eu-foreign-ministers","tag-social-and-economic-measures","tag-ukrainian-refugees","tag-world-bank-forecast"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n