August 17, 2017

The summer university continues in Izvorul Muresului; UK reports record number of EU workers

Daniela Budu, 17.08.2017, 14:10

BUCHAREST — The summer university Izvoru Muresului continues, attended by students and opinion leaders from the historical communities around the borders, the Balkans, and the diaspora. Yesterday, the main topic of discussion was the preservation of national identity for Romanians in the Transylvanian counties of Harghita and Covasna, with a majority ethnic Hungarian population. The representatives of Romanian associations in the two counties pointed out that their situation was delicate, that it is harder and harder for them to preserve their identity, and that the Romanian state has to take responsibility for solving the problems they face.

LONDON — The number of EU citizens working in the UK is at a record level, partially because a significant increase in the number of Romanians and Bulgarians finding jobs there, according to the Financial Times. Official data indicates that around 2.37 million EU workers were in the UK in April-June this year, 126,000 more compared to the same period of 2016. The number of Romanian and Bulgarian workers went up over 25% in the last 12 months, reaching 337,000. Around one third of citizens from the ten Central and East European countries working in Great Britain work in home care, construction and food sales.

FOOTBALL — Romanian football champions FC Viitorul play today at home against Red Bull Salzburg in the decisive game for the Europa League groups. The return leg will take place in a week. Romanian vice-champions FCSB, formerly Steaua Bucharest, has already secured its presence in the groups of the second continental competition. FCSB, hoping to qualify to the Champions League, on Tuesday tied nil-all against Sporting Lisbon, in the first leg of the play-offs for qualifying in the main European competition. The return leg is in Bucharest, on 23 August.

TENNIS — Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, second ranked in the world, plays today against Latvian Anastasija Sevastova(16WTA), in the 8th finals of the WTA tournament in Cincinnati, the US, with prize money totaling over 2.5 million dollars. Halep leads 4-3 in her games against Sevastova. Halep lost in the 2015 finals in Cincinnati to Serena Williams, while last year she was defeated in the semi-finals by Angelique Kerber. In the doubles in Cincinnati, the pair Monica Niculescu- Su-Wei Hsieh, of Romania and Taiwan, qualified to the quarter finals, winning against the French-Russian team Kristina Mladenovic- Anastasia Pavliuchenkova. The all Romanian pair Irina Begu and Raluca Olaru has qualified for the quarter finals in the competition as well.

BUCHAREST — The Romanian town of Sighisoara hosts today the 15th edition of the Proetnica Intercultural Festival, with 700 participants, members of 20 ethnic minorities. The program includes conferences on minority protection, the situation of the Rroma in Europe, interfaith dialog and multiculturalism. The event will also host an arts and crafts fair, a fine arts exhibition, film screenings, and workshops.

INFLATION — The annual rate of inflation in the EU was stable in July by 1.5% as compared to June. According to data published by Eurostat, the lowest annual rates were recorded in Ireland (minus -0.2%), Cyprus (minus 0.1%), Bulgaria and Finland (0.6%), France, 0.8%, and Romania (0.9%). The Romanian National Bank issued a revision of its forecast for the end of this year, from 1.6 to 1.9%. The National Bank expects a rate of inflation of 3.2% for the end of 2018.