GOVERNMENT The government of
\nRomania is ready to pass an emergency order on new minimum wages in
\nconstructions, agriculture and the food industry, PM Marcel Ciolacu announced.
\nHe made the statement after a meeting with trade unions and employer
\nassociations. Both in terms of the new minimum salary in constructions (around
\nEUR 920) and of the ones in agriculture and the food industry (roughly EUR
\n690), not a penny of the net wages is being cut, Marcel Ciolacu explained. On the other hand, the government drafted an order on
\nreducing public sector expenditure at the end of this year.<\/p>\n
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EU The president of
\nRomania, Klaus Iohannis, takes part on Thursday and Friday in the meeting of
\nthe European Council and the inclusive Euro Summit meeting in Brussels, the
\nRomanian presidency announced. The agenda of the European Council meeting
\nincludes topics like the situation in Ukraine, updating the Multi-Annual
\nFinancial Framework, economic issues, migration management and the EU foreign
\nrelations, with a focus on the situation in the Middle East, Kosovo and Serbia,
\nand the developments in the Sahel region. As far as Ukraine is concerned, the
\nEU leaders will also discuss the Union’s multidimensional support. President Iohannis
\nwill emphasise that Romania will remain a firm supporter of Ukraine and will
\nplead for further support from the European bloc to that country for as long as
\nnecessary. Mr. Iohannis will also support opening accession negotiations with Ukraine
\nand the R. of Moldova by the end of this year. At the Euro Summit, the
\nparticipants will discuss the economic situation in the EU.<\/p>\n
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REVOLUTION The case
\nfile concerning the December 1989 anti-communist uprising will be tried on its
\nsubstance, the Bucharest Court of Appeals ruled after the magistrates dismissed
\nall the objections made by the defendants. The decision is not final and may be
\nchallenged. The defendants in the so-called Revolution case include the
\nformer president Ion Iliescu, former deputy PM Gelu Voican Voiculescu and the
\nretired general Iosif Rus, indicted by military prosecutors for crimes against
\nhumanity committed between December 22 and 30, 1989, when over 1,000 people died and some 3,000
\nwere wounded. Romania was the only Eastern Bloc country where the communist
\nregime ended in violence and the communist leaders Nicolae and Elena Ceau\u015fescu
\nwere executed.<\/p>\n
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ARMY DAY In all military units in
\nRomania and theatres of operations where Romanian troops are deployed, ceremonies
\nwere held on Wednesday to mark the Romanian Army Day. In Bucharest, president
\nKlaus Iohannis said this is a very complicated period, with global peace and
\nsecurity threatened by regional conflicts. Europe is facing the worst crisis
\nsince WWII because of Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, while the
\nOctober 7 terrorist attack on Israel might destabilise the Middle East in the
\nlong run, Iohannis added. In turn, PM Marcel Ciolacu said Romania’s NATO
\nmembership is a guarantee that the security of Romanian citizens will never
\ncome under threat. The defence minister Angel T\u00eelv\u0103r pointed out that the
\nRomanian Army has risen to NATO standards in many respects, and added that
\nearmarking 2% of GDP since 2017 and 2.5% of GDP this year to the defence sector
\nenabled the implementation of ambitious procurement programmes. Meanwhile, the
\nRomanian troops’ participation in UN, EU and NATO missions over the past
\ndecades has strengthened Romania’s security profile, Angel T\u00eelv\u0103r added.<\/p>\n
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ISRAEL Israel has demanded the resignation of the UN Secretary General, Antonio
\nGuterres, over accusations of justifying terrorism and the crimes committed by
\nHamas. Guterres said in a Security Council meeting that the attacks of Hamas on
\nIsrael did not happen without reason. He made it clear, however, that the
\nsuffering of the Palestinians in what he called 56 years of suffocating
\noccupation cannot justify the horrific attacks by Hamas, just as these
\nattacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. On
\nWednesday, Israel accepted a request from the US to delay its invasion of Gaza
\nfor the time being, so that the US may bring missile defence in the region, US
\nand Israeli officials announced, quoted by the Wall Street Journal. The United
\nStates says it will work with China to de-escalate the situation in the Middle
\nEast. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said he would work with
\nthe Chinese foreign minister, who is travelling to Washington at the end of this
\nweek, to prevent the conflict from expanding. The president of France, Emmanuel
\nMacron, Wednesday concluded his two-day tour to the Middle East, which included
\nEgypt, Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. His message was unambiguous, calling
\nfor preventing a spill-over of the conflict, for freeing the hostages taken by
\nthe terrorist group Hamas and for aid for the Palestinians in Gaza. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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