BUDGET In 2022 Romania saw a budget deficit
\nof roughly EUR 16.5 bln, nearly 1% smaller than in the previous year. According
\nto the finance ministry, the deficit dropped from 6.73% to 5.68% of GDP. Revenues
\namounted to approx.. EUR 94 bln, up 21% since 2021, fuelled by the VAT rise,
\ngrowing EU funding and revenues in the energy sector. Expenditure exceeded EUR
\n110 bln, down 0.8% since the previous year. <\/p>\n
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\n
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DIPLOMACY Lithuania firmly
\nsupports Romania’s Schengen accession and
\nvoices willingness to carry on an active dialogue with the other EU partners in
\nthis respect, especially in today’s extremely difficult security context, the
\nLithuanian foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis told his Romanian
\ncounterpart, Bogdan Aurescu, in a telephone discussion. The talks were held as
\nRomania is set to resume this year its participation in the air policing
\nmissions in the Baltic Sea region. The 2 officials praised the very good
\nbilateral relations and the efficient coordination as part of the EU, NATO and
\nregional projects such as the Three Seas Initiative and The Bucharest Nine.<\/p>\n
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\n
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CORRUPTION The <\/strong>former manager of Romania’s national football team, Victor Pi\u0163urc\u0103, has
<\/p>\n
GOVERNMENT The government of Romania is to pass today a
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NATO NATO will continue to strengthen its partnership
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KOREA Also in Seoul, the US defence secretary Lloyd
Click here for a roundup of local and world news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[32986,29547,28950,32811,31270,29286,28952,29223,30820,30320,13794,28976,30028],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-106449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-accession","tag-budget","tag-corruption","tag-deficit","tag-diplomacy","tag-government","tag-investigation","tag-japan","tag-meeting","tag-military","tag-nato","tag-schengen","tag-south-korea"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\ntoday left the Bucharest Police Detention Centre, where he was held for 24 hours by
\nanti-corruption prosecutors in an influence peddling investigation. According
\nto judicial sources, Victor Pi\u0163urc\u0103 was placed under court supervision, and prosecutors
\nalso initiated criminal proceedings against his son, Alexandru. The case
\nconcerns the procurement of non-compliant production lines and the sale of face
\nmasks to the Defence Ministry during the Covid-19 pandemic.Gabriel
\n\u0162u\u0163u, the head of military producer and exporter Romarm, was also involved in
\nthe operation. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nbill authorising 2 loans from the European Investment Bank. The nearly EUR 294
\nmln will be used for investments, upgrade and rehabilitation works in 26 hospitals in Romania. Another bill on today’s agenda
\nprovides for up to 50% increases of the monthly allowances paid to the county
\ncouncil chairpersons and deputies and to the mayors and deputy mayors of the
\nadministrative units that implement projects financed from non-reimbursable EU
\nfunds, foreign loans and under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. The
\ngovernment is also to amend an order regulating energy subsidies and other
\nsupport measures for vulnerable citizens. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nwith Japan amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens
\nStoltenberg said on Tuesday during a visit to Japan, where he had a meeting
\nwith Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Jens Stoltenberg’s tour, which included a
\nstop in South Korea, is designed to strengthen ties with the Asian allies in
\nthe context of the war in Ukraine and rising competition with China. In an
\naddress in Seoul, the NATO official called on South Korea to increase its military
\nsupport to Ukraine. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nAustin and his South-Korean counterpart, Lee Jong-sup, promised to extend the
\nscope of the 2 countries’ joint military exercises, in a move by Washington to
\nreassure its Asian ally of its support amid growing threats from North Korea. Tensions
\nin the Korean Peninsula deepened in 2022, following North Korea’s frequent
\nmilitary tests, including launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"