December 7, 2017 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 07.12.2017, 20:03
MOURNING Every evening until December 10th religious services will be held at King Mihai’s residence in Switzerland, where he spent most of his life in exile and where he also died, the Royal House has announced. In the country, Romanians continue to bring flowers and candles in front of the former royal palace in Bucharest and at the Elisabeta Palace, the late King’s residence in the capital city. The king’s body will be flown to the country on Wednesday, December 13th, and placed at the Peles Castle in Sinaia, in the southern Carpathians. On the evening of the same day, the coffin will be brought to the Royal Palace in Bucharest. The funeral will take place on Saturday, December 16th, in Curtea de Arges, southern Romania, where all Romania’s former kings are interred. The Government declared a national mourning on December 14th, 15th and 16th. On Monday, December 11th, the joint chambers of the Romanian Parliament will pay tribute to the former sovereign in a solemn session. The King of Romania between 1940 and 1947, Mihai I passed away on Tuesday, at the age of 96.
EUROSTAT Romania saw the highest growth rate in the EU in the third quarter of this year, a revised estimate published on Thursday by EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the European Union, says. In the period between July and September, Romania’s GDP rose by 8.6% as compared to the same period last year. Romania is followed by Malta and Latvia in this ranking.
FOOTBALL The National Arena in Bucharest will be hosting fixtures from EURO 2020 group C, UEFA announced after lots had been cast on Thursday. The other city designated to host group C fixtures is Amsterdam. The National Arena is also to host a round of 16 fixture and if Romania qualifies for the competition, it will play at least two games at home. The match to open the tournament is due to take place on the Olympic Stadium in Rome while the finals will be played on Wembley. EURO 2020, which marks 60 years since the first edition of the competition, will be hosted by 12 European cities.
PARLIAMENT Draft laws, on the 2018 state budget and social insurances, are to be passed by Parliament in Bucharest on December 21st, according to a roadmap adopted by the two Legislative chambers on Thursday. After amendments are discussed by specialized committees over December 7th and 16th, another round of talks on the two draft laws is to be hosted by the two joint Parliament chambers, according to the newly approved roadmap. The state budget bill got government approval on Wednesday and is based on a forecast economic growth rate of 5.5% and a 3.1% annual inflation rate. According to the country’s Prime Minister, Mihai Tudose, it’s for the first time that Romania’s GDP has exceeded 200 billion euros, which allows for rises in wages and pensions.
DECREE Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Thursday signed a decree on the promulgation of a law that sets December 18th as the Day of the National Minorities in Romania. Under the law, every year on this occasion various cultural events are to be staged while the central and local authorities as well as the NGOs interested are to provide logistic and financial support. Public radio and TV stations are to broadcast shows and reports from the events taking place on this occasion.
