March 1, 2016 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 01.03.2016, 12:15
Romania’s population is getting older, shows a latest report by the National Institute of Statistics. There are more than 210 thousand adults aged over 65 than children between 0 and 14 years, and the population’s average age has reached almost 41 years, slightly on the rise as compared to the figure reported last year. The National Institute of Statistics also announced that over 22 million people reside officially in Romania but not all of them are living or working in Romania. According to concordant assessments, as many as 3 million Romanian citizens have settled abroad, most of them in Italy and Spain.
An IMF mission is expected in Bucharest, between March 2nd and 15th, for an annual assessment of the Romanian economy. Headed by the new IMF chief for Romania, Reza Baqir, the mission will be holding talks with representatives of the political parties, trade unions and business associations, representatives of the academic environment and bankers. The assessment, under article 4 in the institution’s statute, is a mandatory monitoring mechanism, for all member countries. The assessment is followed by general recommendations regarding monetary, financial and economic policies in order to ensure economic stability and growth.
The Bucharest University officials are asking for the withdrawal of the PhD in Law title granted to the former Social Democrat PM Victor Ponta. In a press release issued on Tuesday, the Bucharest University officials announced they forwarded to the Education Ministry the documents proving the accusations of plagiarism made by the committee of experts in law and by the ethics committee of the University, and they once again asked for the cancellation of the order through which Ponta received the PhD title. The former Social Democratic PM claims the University officials’ request is based on political reasons. In a message posted on a social network he expressed conviction that he would win in court. In June 2015 Ponta was the first acting PM of post-Communist Romania to be accused of corruption. In November he resigned his PM position against the backdrop of street protests against the corruption of the political class.
The labor committee in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies has approved the draft law elaborated by the Social Democrat senator Georgică Severin, which modifies the law on the functioning of the public radio and television corporations. The Social Democratic deputies believe that the positions of President of the Board of Directors and of Director General should be separate. They claimed that a manager appointed following a contest could be more efficient than one appointed by Parliament on political reasons. The Liberal MPs voted against the draft law and accused the Social Democrats of wanting to take advantage of the public television’s bad financial situation, in order to control it. The draft law is to be approved also by the budget, legal and culture committees.
The Romanian Foreign Minister, Lazăr Comănescu, was received on Tuesday in Teheran by president Hassan Rouhani. The Romanian Foreign Minister hailed the openness policy promoted by Iran towards the international community. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, minister Comănescu said that signing nuclear agreements with Iran and the start of the process of lifting international sanctions would have a positive impact on the re-launch of Romanian — Iranian relations in all domains. Comănescu also met with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif with who he analyzed the prospects of cooperation between the EU and Iran. Also on Tuesday the Romanian official participated in an economic forum where 49 representatives of several big Romanian companies talked about resuming cooperation with Iran in such fields as agriculture, metallurgy, energy, the production of rolling stock and the car industry. Lazăr Comănescu is the first foreign official to visit Teheran after last week’s elections whose result shows a balance between Reformists and Conservatives.
Bucharest hosted the first meeting of the Romania- Moldova Mass Media Consultative Council, which aims at creating a joint communicational space between the two states and the implementation of European norms in the Moldovan media. The minister delegate for the Romanians in the Diaspora in the Romanian Government, Dan Stoenescu, underlined that the Republic of Moldova needed balanced information, from credible sources. Romania, as a EU member state, will do its best to help the population of Moldova, including the Russian-speaking population, to have access to correct information, he added. The Moldovan ambassador to Bucharest, Mihai Gribincea, in turn, deplored the fact that so far the Moldovan and Romanian press have not done enough to counteract the Russian propaganda in the Republic of Moldova. The Mass Media Consultative Council is made up of 31 members including representatives of the mass media channels in the two states, the civil society and communication experts. They will meet alternatively in Bucharest and Chisinau. (translation by Lacramioara Simion)
